You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Export thread
Large Commercial contracts starting out
#1
E
EcoMax
E
EcoMax
Hello guys I'm new here and to lawn care. My question really isn't about mowing,equipment,how to run a business or my competition. My question to you guys is what business software are you using? I am employed full time outside of lawn care and picked up a few very large commercial jobs this year and wanted to utilize technology to keep track of expenses etc and relieve my burden at tax time and also something that will have a pretty good P&L sheet..... It is 2016 and I might move completely into this market, commercial with emphasis on "Going green" if I can make the numbers work. Thanks for the help!!!!
Mike Chavis
EcoMax INC
Mike Chavis
EcoMax INC
#2
BlazNT
BlazNT
I use Quickbooks
#4
Lawnboy18
Lawnboy18
Simply
#5
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
And because I am Mac based I use MYOB which was the only business softwear available for this platform way back in the 80's.
If I was doing the same thing now I would be looking at some of the freewear as MYOB has become way too bloated and two expensive for small business.
Most important is to make sure you paper system works before you put it on computer because all the computer will do with a badly set up system is to accelerate the downfall.
If you are going to try to work paperless then the magic word is backup, backup backup & backup.
Buy a carton of flash drives and label 7 of them with the days of the week ( a lot cheaper that way)
then 5 more marked W1 through to w5 ( weekly back ups )
and 12 more labled with months according to your financial year.
I did not do this an paid the price having to reconstruct a full year of trading on more than one occasion ( slow learner ).
I now run MYOB on a totally seperate computer, which is not connected to the web and has 2 internal hardives and 3 external hard drives set up as mirrors.
Only 1 of the external drives is ever connected to the computer at any 1 time thus the other 2 become the "last week" and "last month" active back up.
Because they are mirror drives, when any one is plugged in the computer will automatically update it in the background whie the computer is turned on.
Whatever you do, do not under any circumstances go with any "cloud" based system none of them are secure.
The other trick that I found works, is to never open any mail or write a cheque unless I am sitting in front of the computer, in fact the computer actually writes all my cheques.
I connect it to the web, download the emails, send orders and make cedit card payments then pull the plug and work off line.
While this might sound silly it ensures that everything goes into the "box"and you are not chasing a missing item at the end of the month when accounts do not reconsile.
A customer who was a book keeper who showed me another trick which is to set up your company with all the accounts, then export them into another file which you work from.
At the end of the financial year, you export the account list again, add your current amounts as the opening balances the use this data file for current financial year.
Thus you can go back and fix up problems from last year without affecting this year.
If I was doing the same thing now I would be looking at some of the freewear as MYOB has become way too bloated and two expensive for small business.
Most important is to make sure you paper system works before you put it on computer because all the computer will do with a badly set up system is to accelerate the downfall.
If you are going to try to work paperless then the magic word is backup, backup backup & backup.
Buy a carton of flash drives and label 7 of them with the days of the week ( a lot cheaper that way)
then 5 more marked W1 through to w5 ( weekly back ups )
and 12 more labled with months according to your financial year.
I did not do this an paid the price having to reconstruct a full year of trading on more than one occasion ( slow learner ).
I now run MYOB on a totally seperate computer, which is not connected to the web and has 2 internal hardives and 3 external hard drives set up as mirrors.
Only 1 of the external drives is ever connected to the computer at any 1 time thus the other 2 become the "last week" and "last month" active back up.
Because they are mirror drives, when any one is plugged in the computer will automatically update it in the background whie the computer is turned on.
Whatever you do, do not under any circumstances go with any "cloud" based system none of them are secure.
The other trick that I found works, is to never open any mail or write a cheque unless I am sitting in front of the computer, in fact the computer actually writes all my cheques.
I connect it to the web, download the emails, send orders and make cedit card payments then pull the plug and work off line.
While this might sound silly it ensures that everything goes into the "box"and you are not chasing a missing item at the end of the month when accounts do not reconsile.
A customer who was a book keeper who showed me another trick which is to set up your company with all the accounts, then export them into another file which you work from.
At the end of the financial year, you export the account list again, add your current amounts as the opening balances the use this data file for current financial year.
Thus you can go back and fix up problems from last year without affecting this year.
#6
Ric
I think BlazNT and Lawnboy18 gave you some good options and my advice is to keep simple, don't make it something it's not. Get something you can install on your desk top and that can use the cloud as well as have mobile flexibility. There are different options available online that you can get accounting software for free or at a monthly fee and use fairly cheap.
Ric
Hello guys I'm new here and to lawn care. My question really isn't about mowing,equipment,how to run a business or my competition. My question to you guys is what business software are you using? I am employed full time outside of lawn care and picked up a few very large commercial jobs this year and wanted to utilize technology to keep track of expenses etc and relieve my burden at tax time and also something that will have a pretty good P&L sheet..... It is 2016 and I might move completely into this market, commercial with emphasis on "Going green" if I can make the numbers work. Thanks for the help!!!!
Mike Chavis
EcoMax INC
I think BlazNT and Lawnboy18 gave you some good options and my advice is to keep simple, don't make it something it's not. Get something you can install on your desk top and that can use the cloud as well as have mobile flexibility. There are different options available online that you can get accounting software for free or at a monthly fee and use fairly cheap.
#7
Lawnboy18
Lawnboy18
When I said Simply, I was talking about Simply Accouting (Simple Comptable). It is a wonderful software for accounting. Yes, it is pricey, but worth every penny! Trust me!
If you have a MAC, no problem. Intsall Parallel and Windows and you are good to go. Do backup copies on a USB key or external hardrive for a good backup.
A part from that, keep it simple yes.
If you have a MAC, no problem. Intsall Parallel and Windows and you are good to go. Do backup copies on a USB key or external hardrive for a good backup.
A part from that, keep it simple yes.
#8
Ric
To many people make things to technical and complicated, that's why I said keep it simple. The Simply Accounting or the Quick-books Self- Employed either are good programs. Quicken also has a Home and Business program that I'll bet would be a real good program, there's a ton of stuff that's available. A lot of small business guys even create there own systems using Google or Excel spreadsheets. It all depends on how big you want to make your business and how much money you want to spend.
Ric
When I said Simply, I was talking about Simply Accounting (Simple Compatible). It is a wonderful software for accounting. Yes, it is pricey, but worth every penny! Trust me!
If you have a MAC, no problem. Install Parallel and Windows and you are good to go. Do backup copies on a USB key or external hardrive for a good backup.
A part from that, keep it simple yes.
To many people make things to technical and complicated, that's why I said keep it simple. The Simply Accounting or the Quick-books Self- Employed either are good programs. Quicken also has a Home and Business program that I'll bet would be a real good program, there's a ton of stuff that's available. A lot of small business guys even create there own systems using Google or Excel spreadsheets. It all depends on how big you want to make your business and how much money you want to spend.
#9
Lawnboy18
Lawnboy18
True. I just wanted to let people know what I use and like. Simply is used by small and big companies. It is really versatile.
#10
Carscw
Carscw
I use Simply Accounting. Very easy to use.
#11
B
bertsmobile1
No matter which programme you run, they are all spreadsheets.
A couple of older ones were true data bases but they have since been dropped.
A very large number of them are based on Lotus who sells its code to developers rather than trying to take on Excel in the market place.
The only difference is you get a nice screen with only a few relevant cells to fill with names that make logical sense to the layperson in place of a 1200 x 360 spreadsheet that only an accountant can fathom out.
MYOB does a cut down verson that will run on a tablet and another that runs on a phone with the option to live update or download & syncronise when hooked up to the main computer & I am sure most of the common programs have similar features.
As for keeping your data on the cloud ?
They pinched a 13 year old girl last year who was hyjacking peoples data files & demanding ransoms to allow you to access them again.
She got pinched when she used the Bitcoins she was being paid in to buy tickets to a rock concert.
She had over 50,000 bit coins in her account from people she had attacked. ( worth well over $ 1,000,000 )
Apparently not a single person made a complaint to the police, they just paid the rather small randsom of a few bit coins.
The fact she was only 13 & female was only on the 11 0'clock news, the next bulletin called her a "gang of computer hackers involved in ransoms" no doubt after some pressure from the big cloud operators had been applied so people would feel confident that their personnal & business details were secure "in the cloud" when all the time they are not.
A lot of people with no understanding jump on board to prove they are up to date or for fear of being left behind.
When the computer nerds I associate with tell me they are storing their sensative data on the cloud I will believe it is safe.
Same as computer banking, none of them do it, bar one who has enough money to have a personnal banker and an account with an access dongle.
When asked about the safety of on line banking the universal reply is that the banks have no idea about personnal security so there are two types of internet bank customers.
Those who have been robbed and those who will be robbed.
It is your money , it is your business so it is your decision how big a risc you are willing to take for a very tiny bit of convienence
B
bertsmobile1
To many people make things to technical and complicated, that's why I said keep it simple. The Simply Accounting or the Quick-books Self- Employed either are good programs. Quicken also has a Home and Business program that I'll bet would be a real good program, there's a ton of stuff that's available. A lot of small business guys even create there own systems using Google or Excel spreadsheets. It all depends on how big you want to make your business and how much money you want to spend.
No matter which programme you run, they are all spreadsheets.
A couple of older ones were true data bases but they have since been dropped.
A very large number of them are based on Lotus who sells its code to developers rather than trying to take on Excel in the market place.
The only difference is you get a nice screen with only a few relevant cells to fill with names that make logical sense to the layperson in place of a 1200 x 360 spreadsheet that only an accountant can fathom out.
MYOB does a cut down verson that will run on a tablet and another that runs on a phone with the option to live update or download & syncronise when hooked up to the main computer & I am sure most of the common programs have similar features.
As for keeping your data on the cloud ?
They pinched a 13 year old girl last year who was hyjacking peoples data files & demanding ransoms to allow you to access them again.
She got pinched when she used the Bitcoins she was being paid in to buy tickets to a rock concert.
She had over 50,000 bit coins in her account from people she had attacked. ( worth well over $ 1,000,000 )
Apparently not a single person made a complaint to the police, they just paid the rather small randsom of a few bit coins.
The fact she was only 13 & female was only on the 11 0'clock news, the next bulletin called her a "gang of computer hackers involved in ransoms" no doubt after some pressure from the big cloud operators had been applied so people would feel confident that their personnal & business details were secure "in the cloud" when all the time they are not.
A lot of people with no understanding jump on board to prove they are up to date or for fear of being left behind.
When the computer nerds I associate with tell me they are storing their sensative data on the cloud I will believe it is safe.
Same as computer banking, none of them do it, bar one who has enough money to have a personnal banker and an account with an access dongle.
When asked about the safety of on line banking the universal reply is that the banks have no idea about personnal security so there are two types of internet bank customers.
Those who have been robbed and those who will be robbed.
It is your money , it is your business so it is your decision how big a risc you are willing to take for a very tiny bit of convienence
#12
BlazNT
BlazNT
I am one of the computer geeks. No cloud ever. Government is another thing in the cloud. They have back doors into almost anything they want. I will never ever use the cloud.
#13
Ric
Well there's millions of people that use the cloud for any number of things. You just have to be half way intelligent about what you save or store there. There's also millions and millions of people that bank online, shop online at most any store there is anymore. I do everything online and have never had any issues.
Crap :laughing: if I didn't have a computer, how would I order my pizza and have pizza delivery. Doing things online is just faster and cheaper in this day and age. I mean really tell me something that is 100% safe and secure and can't be hacked into, your taking chances with what ever you use or do.
Ric
I am one of the computer geeks. No cloud ever. Government is another thing in the cloud. They have back doors into almost anything they want. I will never ever use the cloud.
Well there's millions of people that use the cloud for any number of things. You just have to be half way intelligent about what you save or store there. There's also millions and millions of people that bank online, shop online at most any store there is anymore. I do everything online and have never had any issues.
Crap :laughing: if I didn't have a computer, how would I order my pizza and have pizza delivery. Doing things online is just faster and cheaper in this day and age. I mean really tell me something that is 100% safe and secure and can't be hacked into, your taking chances with what ever you use or do.
#14
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Correct Ric you need to be intelligent.
So put your BMW photos there.
Put the monster ford truck videos there.
Put your baby photos there with a non descriptive background, fine.
Put your business there and you may as well walk between two street gangs with a wad of $ 100 bills hanging out of your pocket.
As for millions of people using it, millions of people also smoke crystal meth does that mean it is a good idea ?
The cloud is nothing more than a cunning ploy to suck peoples wallets dry, in tiny amounts.
Can't afford a copy of photo shop to remove you flabby fat belly on your face book images, then get Adobe on the cloud, only $ 45 / month.
Want to make some "fake" selfies of you in famous places the add some stock images ony $ 5,00 / month or how about putting yourself in a video, just another $ 10,00 / month.
But wait for only another $15 you can get auto correct, need more space, only a tiny $12 extra, want to intergrate with your mobile just another $ 5.00 and on and on.
Try to google your self and see just how much personal information about you the entire world has access to.
Where you work what you do when your are at home when you are not at home.
Then from your spending habits on line the IRS can pretty well work out exactly how much money you have , how much you are making and how much you declare & pay tax on.
The cloud photo storage apps annalyse your photos, work out who your family & friends are and this information gets sold to advertising companies.
It also gets stolen by criminals.
You spend $ 50,000/pa on line, try proving to the bank you did not make the $ 20,000 fraudulent purchase or even worse the tiny $20 one you just don't remember x millions of other saps out there who think they are safe.
Last year they arrested a clot who was using one of those wave card readers to take a small amount out of lazy mugs credit cards.
He had it in a suitcase with some real smart amplification gear and a laptop so any one who he got closer than 3' to got a fictitious sale added to their card.
He used to walk through trains in the morning peak and then ride up & down in elevators in big buildings which is how he got caught because one of them was using facial recognition and his face was recognized making an abnormal number of trips in the elevator.
Security nabbed him, he panicked and tried to run out of the building so he was detained in a revolving door till the police arrived.
HE had a gambling problem and had been doing this for a long long time to support his addiction.
A friend is one of the guards that nabbed him, the banks ( several ) gave the entire security team a healthy "thank you" deposit provided they kept quiet about it.
The whole thing never made the news.
Would you notice a pizza purchase from a pizza shop you never went to ? Or even more cunning some pizza orders from a pizza shop you regularly order from.
Would you believe the shop owner when he said that he did not bill you for the pizzas you did not order ?
And if yes, will this be the day it happened or a month latter when you reconcile your statement ?
That is if you are one of the less than 30% of credit card users who actually do reconcile their credit cards.
So yes there are millions of users out there who get stung all the time and most don't even know it has happened.
Good chance you are one of them.
So put your BMW photos there.
Put the monster ford truck videos there.
Put your baby photos there with a non descriptive background, fine.
Put your business there and you may as well walk between two street gangs with a wad of $ 100 bills hanging out of your pocket.
As for millions of people using it, millions of people also smoke crystal meth does that mean it is a good idea ?
The cloud is nothing more than a cunning ploy to suck peoples wallets dry, in tiny amounts.
Can't afford a copy of photo shop to remove you flabby fat belly on your face book images, then get Adobe on the cloud, only $ 45 / month.
Want to make some "fake" selfies of you in famous places the add some stock images ony $ 5,00 / month or how about putting yourself in a video, just another $ 10,00 / month.
But wait for only another $15 you can get auto correct, need more space, only a tiny $12 extra, want to intergrate with your mobile just another $ 5.00 and on and on.
Try to google your self and see just how much personal information about you the entire world has access to.
Where you work what you do when your are at home when you are not at home.
Then from your spending habits on line the IRS can pretty well work out exactly how much money you have , how much you are making and how much you declare & pay tax on.
The cloud photo storage apps annalyse your photos, work out who your family & friends are and this information gets sold to advertising companies.
It also gets stolen by criminals.
You spend $ 50,000/pa on line, try proving to the bank you did not make the $ 20,000 fraudulent purchase or even worse the tiny $20 one you just don't remember x millions of other saps out there who think they are safe.
Last year they arrested a clot who was using one of those wave card readers to take a small amount out of lazy mugs credit cards.
He had it in a suitcase with some real smart amplification gear and a laptop so any one who he got closer than 3' to got a fictitious sale added to their card.
He used to walk through trains in the morning peak and then ride up & down in elevators in big buildings which is how he got caught because one of them was using facial recognition and his face was recognized making an abnormal number of trips in the elevator.
Security nabbed him, he panicked and tried to run out of the building so he was detained in a revolving door till the police arrived.
HE had a gambling problem and had been doing this for a long long time to support his addiction.
A friend is one of the guards that nabbed him, the banks ( several ) gave the entire security team a healthy "thank you" deposit provided they kept quiet about it.
The whole thing never made the news.
Would you notice a pizza purchase from a pizza shop you never went to ? Or even more cunning some pizza orders from a pizza shop you regularly order from.
Would you believe the shop owner when he said that he did not bill you for the pizzas you did not order ?
And if yes, will this be the day it happened or a month latter when you reconcile your statement ?
That is if you are one of the less than 30% of credit card users who actually do reconcile their credit cards.
So yes there are millions of users out there who get stung all the time and most don't even know it has happened.
Good chance you are one of them.
#15
Ric
Ric
Bert the problem with you is your paranoid. You just can't accept things for what they are. As far as finding information about anyone, I mean really who cares? You have something to hide? I don't. If your trying to hide your doing a PP job of it when you leaving your IP address all over the internet. Just because your paranoid of the Government and the cloud and probably a dozen or more things doesn't make them a bad thing for everybody. I know a lot of people who store there business information on the cloud, I mean what's the difference if it gets hacked there or your business computer gets hack and held for ransom at your place of business.
Information about anyone can be had in a ton of different ways. Please don't do a home loan application, or a car loan or even a loan for a mower because at that point they know your complete life history, so I should worry about the cloud right :laughing:. Bert your in a bad way my friend... Your afraid of Living but scared to Die.
Information about anyone can be had in a ton of different ways. Please don't do a home loan application, or a car loan or even a loan for a mower because at that point they know your complete life history, so I should worry about the cloud right :laughing:. Bert your in a bad way my friend... Your afraid of Living but scared to Die.
#16
Carscw
LMFAO
Carscw
Correct Ric you need to be intelligent. So put your BMW photos there. Put the monster ford truck videos there. Put your baby photos there with a non descriptive background, fine. Put your business there and you may as well walk between two street gangs with a wad of $ 100 bills hanging out of your pocket. As for millions of people using it, millions of people also smoke crystal meth does that mean it is a good idea ? The cloud is nothing more than a cunning ploy to suck peoples wallets dry, in tiny amounts. Can't afford a copy of photo shop to remove you flabby fat belly on your face book images, then get Adobe on the cloud, only $ 45 / month. Want to make some "fake" selfies of you in famous places the add some stock images ony $ 5,00 / month or how about putting yourself in a video, just another $ 10,00 / month. But wait for only another $15 you can get auto correct, need more space, only a tiny $12 extra, want to intergrate with your mobile just another $ 5.00 and on and on. Try to google your self and see just how much personal information about you the entire world has access to. Where you work what you do when your are at home when you are not at home. Then from your spending habits on line the IRS can pretty well work out exactly how much money you have , how much you are making and how much you declare & pay tax on. The cloud photo storage apps annalyse your photos, work out who your family & friends are and this information gets sold to advertising companies. It also gets stolen by criminals. You spend $ 50,000/pa on line, try proving to the bank you did not make the $ 20,000 fraudulent purchase or even worse the tiny $20 one you just don't remember x millions of other saps out there who think they are safe. Last year they arrested a clot who was using one of those wave card readers to take a small amount out of lazy mugs credit cards. He had it in a suitcase with some real smart amplification gear and a laptop so any one who he got closer than 3' to got a fictitious sale added to their card. He used to walk through trains in the morning peak and then ride up & down in elevators in big buildings which is how he got caught because one of them was using facial recognition and his face was recognized making an abnormal number of trips in the elevator. Security nabbed him, he panicked and tried to run out of the building so he was detained in a revolving door till the police arrived. HE had a gambling problem and had been doing this for a long long time to support his addiction. A friend is one of the guards that nabbed him, the banks ( several ) gave the entire security team a healthy "thank you" deposit provided they kept quiet about it. The whole thing never made the news. Would you notice a pizza purchase from a pizza shop you never went to ? Or even more cunning some pizza orders from a pizza shop you regularly order from. Would you believe the shop owner when he said that he did not bill you for the pizzas you did not order ? And if yes, will this be the day it happened or a month latter when you reconcile your statement ? That is if you are one of the less than 30% of credit card users who actually do reconcile their credit cards. So yes there are millions of users out there who get stung all the time and most don't even know it has happened. Good chance you are one of them.
LMFAO
#17
B
bertsmobile1
You run a business, you hire people and you fire people.
You fire some one and their life goes down the toilet and they blame you so they google you find out your granddaughters birthday is next month & you always have a BBQ party at your place for her birthday so the crash the party with some assault rifles.
This is not my fantasy, it is USA news, happens almost daily.
As for being paranoid, I don't own nor carry a gun, although the green machine did teach me how to kill very effectively with my bare hands, my front gate, and door is never locked, in fact no house I have ever lived in had the front door locked.
My workshop is not locked, the access gate to the workshop is not locked and I have contractors just like yourself who come & go before I get there to pick up parts or equipment which is why I now have all bar 3 of the local contractors on my books.
The workshop is on camera, some obvious some hidden and I am yet to have anyone rip me off. I shop local , support the local schools churches & charities.
I can do all of this because locals value me and the contractors particularly like being able to grab a new blade, filter, can of oil or the piece of kit they dropped off last night at 4 am when they are heading off to the first job.
And I buy all my vehicles used for cash, the houses are in my wife's name and the credit card ( one only) is in the business name. The email address I used to join this and every other forum I frequent or in fact run can not be traced back to me.
I use an ISP and have a floating IP address, I do not use wi-fi and the computer goes off line when I walk out and goes on line when I walk in, The internet connection passes through a modem, then a stand alone firewall/ router then to an old mac I use as a network server then through another firewall and finally a secure switch to this computer. And if I need a pizza I ring one of the two local pizza shops tell them when I want it and it will be sitting on the kitchen table when I walk in the door. They trust that I will pay them when I come past. Village mentality, community security works. It is difficult to steal from some one who knows you and you feel personally connected to , unless you have a serious addiction that warps your view of reality.
When any new technology presents itself it gets evaluated carefully as to the amount of benefit I get compared to what I am giving up and how the "free" service is making money out of me.
We use drop box for example to exchange newsletters I use drop box to send articles for publication, but those documents are encrypted.
However I do not drop the contents of my camera on Google photos because it has auto caption so can analyze the photos work out who the people in it are then index the photo because I am too bone lazy to caption & store my own photos in a searchable method.
B
bertsmobile1
Bert the problem with you is your paranoid. You just can't accept things for what they are. As far as finding information about anyone, I mean really who cares? You have something to hide? I don't. If your trying to hide your doing a PP job of it when you leaving your IP address all over the internet. Just because your paranoid of the Government and the cloud and probably a dozen or more things doesn't make them a bad thing for everybody. I know a lot of people who store there business information on the cloud, I mean what's the difference if it gets hacked there or your business computer gets hack and held for ransom at your place of business.
Information about anyone can be had in a ton of different ways. Please don't do a home loan application, or a car loan or even a loan for a mower because at that point they know your complete life history, so I should worry about the cloud right :laughing:. Bert your in a bad way my friend... Your afraid of Living but scared to Die.
You run a business, you hire people and you fire people.
You fire some one and their life goes down the toilet and they blame you so they google you find out your granddaughters birthday is next month & you always have a BBQ party at your place for her birthday so the crash the party with some assault rifles.
This is not my fantasy, it is USA news, happens almost daily.
As for being paranoid, I don't own nor carry a gun, although the green machine did teach me how to kill very effectively with my bare hands, my front gate, and door is never locked, in fact no house I have ever lived in had the front door locked.
My workshop is not locked, the access gate to the workshop is not locked and I have contractors just like yourself who come & go before I get there to pick up parts or equipment which is why I now have all bar 3 of the local contractors on my books.
The workshop is on camera, some obvious some hidden and I am yet to have anyone rip me off. I shop local , support the local schools churches & charities.
I can do all of this because locals value me and the contractors particularly like being able to grab a new blade, filter, can of oil or the piece of kit they dropped off last night at 4 am when they are heading off to the first job.
And I buy all my vehicles used for cash, the houses are in my wife's name and the credit card ( one only) is in the business name. The email address I used to join this and every other forum I frequent or in fact run can not be traced back to me.
I use an ISP and have a floating IP address, I do not use wi-fi and the computer goes off line when I walk out and goes on line when I walk in, The internet connection passes through a modem, then a stand alone firewall/ router then to an old mac I use as a network server then through another firewall and finally a secure switch to this computer. And if I need a pizza I ring one of the two local pizza shops tell them when I want it and it will be sitting on the kitchen table when I walk in the door. They trust that I will pay them when I come past. Village mentality, community security works. It is difficult to steal from some one who knows you and you feel personally connected to , unless you have a serious addiction that warps your view of reality.
When any new technology presents itself it gets evaluated carefully as to the amount of benefit I get compared to what I am giving up and how the "free" service is making money out of me.
We use drop box for example to exchange newsletters I use drop box to send articles for publication, but those documents are encrypted.
However I do not drop the contents of my camera on Google photos because it has auto caption so can analyze the photos work out who the people in it are then index the photo because I am too bone lazy to caption & store my own photos in a searchable method.
#18
Ric
Definitely Paranoid.
Ric
You run a business, you hire people and you fire people.
You fire some one and their life goes down the toilet and they blame you so they google you find out your granddaughters birthday is next month & you always have a BBQ party at your place for her birthday so the crash the party with some assault rifles.
This is not my fantasy, it is USA news, happens almost daily.
As for being paranoid, I don't own nor carry a gun, although the green machine did teach me how to kill very effectively with my bare hands, my front gate, and door is never locked, in fact no house I have ever lived in had the front door locked.
My workshop is not locked, the access gate to the workshop is not locked and I have contractors just like yourself who come & go before I get there to pick up parts or equipment which is why I now have all bar 3 of the local contractors on my books.
The workshop is on camera, some obvious some hidden and I am yet to have anyone rip me off. I shop local , support the local schools churches & charities.
I can do all of this because locals value me and the contractors particularly like being able to grab a new blade, filter, can of oil or the piece of kit they dropped off last night at 4 am when they are heading off to the first job.
And I buy all my vehicles used for cash, the houses are in my wife's name and the credit card ( one only) is in the business name. The email address I used to join this and every other forum I frequent or in fact run can not be traced back to me.
I use an ISP and have a floating IP address, I do not use wi-fi and the computer goes off line when I walk out and goes on line when I walk in, The internet connection passes through a modem, then a stand alone firewall/ router then to an old mac I use as a network server then through another firewall and finally a secure switch to this computer. And if I need a pizza I ring one of the two local pizza shops tell them when I want it and it will be sitting on the kitchen table when I walk in the door. They trust that I will pay them when I come past. Village mentality, community security works. It is difficult to steal from some one who knows you and you feel personally connected to , unless you have a serious addiction that warps your view of reality.
When any new technology presents itself it gets evaluated carefully as to the amount of benefit I get compared to what I am giving up and how the "free" service is making money out of me.
We use drop box for example to exchange newsletters I use drop box to send articles for publication, but those documents are encrypted.
However I do not drop the contents of my camera on Google photos because it has auto caption so can analyze the photos work out who the people in it are then index the photo because I am too bone lazy to caption & store my own photos in a searchable method.
Definitely Paranoid.
#19
(deleted)
Sometime you need no software. They are mostly spreadsheet anyway. But to keep historical data and to feelas professional touch we use business accounting software or bookkeeping software or business software. Jobber is a good choice for the specific reason. We use Zipbooks for double entry bookkeeping and sending invoice template.
(deleted)
Hello guys I'm new here and to lawn care. My question really isn't about mowing,equipment,how to run a business or my competition. My question to you guys is what business software are you using? I am employed full time outside of lawn care and picked up a few very large commercial jobs this year and wanted to utilize technology to keep track of expenses etc and relieve my burden at tax time and also something that will have a pretty good P&L sheet..... It is 2016 and I might move completely into this market, commercial with emphasis on "Going green" if I can make the numbers work. Thanks for the help!!!!
Mike Chavis
EcoMax INC
Sometime you need no software. They are mostly spreadsheet anyway. But to keep historical data and to feelas professional touch we use business accounting software or bookkeeping software or business software. Jobber is a good choice for the specific reason. We use Zipbooks for double entry bookkeeping and sending invoice template.
#21
B
bertsmobile1
B
bertsmobile1
Careful or you will be labled as parranoid as well.
However you are of course quite correct.
Also very hard for cyber criminals to get access you computer then force you to pay a ransom to get it back if the computer is not turned on & connected to the net 24/7
Apparently last year 2,500,000 small businesses last year were subjected to ransom wear and most of them paid the hackers cause it was quicker & cheaper than trying to recover their data.
Apparently less the 10% of small businesses actually keep an off site back up of their data.
However you are of course quite correct.
Also very hard for cyber criminals to get access you computer then force you to pay a ransom to get it back if the computer is not turned on & connected to the net 24/7
Apparently last year 2,500,000 small businesses last year were subjected to ransom wear and most of them paid the hackers cause it was quicker & cheaper than trying to recover their data.
Apparently less the 10% of small businesses actually keep an off site back up of their data.