Kudoz to WorkingPoint for this software. I still think it’s only the first step to making all-in-one software available to small businesses.

Thanks for the pointer.

For far too long small businesses have been force fed ‘accounting’ solutions by unscrupulous and thoughtless vendors who really do not understand that business is a lifecycle from marketing lead to cash and all of the bits that happen in between.

Buying an accounting system only gives you the end of the story, and you wouldn’t buy a book on that basis would you? Large enterprises worked out years ago they needed one system to run their business, instead of buying point solutions (like accounting, CRM etc)and trying to get them to work together. Massive software vendors now exist because of this need. SAP, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Workday etc etc.

Big businesses have big budgets and access to all of the software and expertise they want. More than 55% of all small businesses don’t survive past five years – if this was the case in the corporate world then we would all know about it. When a small business dies its just like a tree falling in a forest, not that many see it and only a few bystanders are affected.

Every small business is different, the market is huge and the mess left by the accounting system and CRM system vendors needs cleaning up.

The good news is the tide is beginning to turn. Salesorder.com is small business ERP Software as a Service, we have customers in 21 countries. Like WorkingPoint we ‘get’ small businesses, we dont ask for long term commitments, we don’t cost a fortune and we know that we are providing a service not a product. WorkingPoint and Salesorder.com isn’t for everyone but they are both great examples.

Salesorder.com provides a ’boutique’ service…every one of our customers is not a small business – its a team of individuals doing something different to the next business. This means we don’t try and sell a one size fits all solution. We engage, listen, understand and suggest a way forward. We let everyone use the system for free.

We ain’t afraid to tell any prospect our service isn’t for you and point them towards something that is. That’s how you get loyal customers and we have lots of them.

The team at salesorder.com applaud solutions like Working Point, we like what you do and we are glad to be in the same tribe as you.

Keep it up

Nick

CEO salesorder.com

small business heroes

Moobiz includes CRM, accounting (with bank account reconciliation), invoicing (and statements), cost estimates, project management (with workspaces and file management); the business management aspects even include a shared calendar, to-dos, holiday management, business mileage tracking, company minutes and purchase orders.

You can also create and manage a fully featured website/ecommerce site, all of which ties into the main CRM.

It’s web based and is all available for a small business friendly monthly fee.

I’ve been in the world of mid-tier accounting and CRM software for five years now and have always kept my eyes on the lower end of the market to know what’s out there. One product that particularly caught my attention is SageCRM, which isn’t really what you’d call a low-end software product. Actually it’s decidedly mid-tier. It’s a full-blown customer relationship management product from Sage, developers of Peachtree, ACT! and SalesLogix.

What’s interesting about SageCRM is that it used to only integrate with the more advanced accounting software products like MAS 90 and Sage Accpac ERP. Now, however, thanks to Gretrix, there is a link between SageCRM and QuickBooks. The Greytrix link now provides true bi-directions flow of data between the two products!

What does that mean for QuickBooks users? They can now utilize a robust, browser-based CRM system to enter orders and check customer status in QuickBooks either from the office or from a remote location such as a home, an airport or a customer location. From quote creation to invoicing, SageCRM will allow companies that use QuickBooks to be more nimble and responsive to customer needs.

This isn’t something to sneeze at either! With so much integration, SageCRM is poised to push productivity through the roof for some small companies. The reason I’m sharing this is because, as you astutely recognized in your review WorkingPoint, an accounting solution alone is not enough for small businesses to thrive any more. They need an integrated system that can schedule sales calls, follow up on leads, create quotes, log key communications with customers and vendors, track marketing campaigns, see a customer’s account status, automate A/R collections and more.

To be successful today, you have to have a 360-degree view of business. Indeed, a business must be nimble enough to respond to changing customer tastes and needs. A business must stay fresh on the minds of customers and prospects to be remembered. Bottom line – a business must operate with fewer resources yet somehow do more than ever before. That can only come with greater integration between key business software.

What Greytrix has done with its new link is allow millions of QuickBooks users to start running like a Fortune 500 company, without the corresponding price tag. SageCRM is not expensive for most small companies, especially compared to the productivity boost they will get by having so much more flexibility to conduct their business.

QuickBooks and SageCRM are now unlikely partners and the beneficiaries are small businesses across the US.

To follow these thoughts and others impacting small businesses, check out my blog: http://www.mindovercorp.com/blog.
David Manzer