InfinIT Solutions

Eskom Leaves SA Business’ in the Dark AGAIN !

Daryn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:10:17 +0000

Ok so surprise, surprise Eskom shocked us this year by saying we can expect rolling load shedding. Their reason was simple yet politically evasive, ” we have shortage of capacity” Well we all know what they are short of !

So even though we have had 120% increase in electricity so that we can avoid this costly exercise, its seems the fat cats need more buck to keep their coffers lined.

They say forewarned is forearmed, so take a look at the load shedding schedules to see where your business fits in so you can take the necessary precautions.

REMEMBER – Electrical equipment such as computers and the like will not be covered by insurance if they are not fitted with surge protectors and a suitable UPS.

Check your insurance policy to make certain what you are and are not covered for.

Good bye 2011 Out with the old and In with the new !

Daryn — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:43:07 +0000

There is a saying that goes “Good riddance to bad rubbish” and that is how many business owners are feeling after a tough and unpredictable 2011. We saw that South Africa however more resilient is still feeling the after effects of the recession. 2012 does not bring with it all the answers but it does bring about optimism and new opportunities to do things differently.

With the belts tightened in 2011 we still saw small growth in business from the previous year, and in true resilient SA style business people found more cost effective ways to do business. One of the major growth areas were online, where business is South Africa has finally caught up with the social media trends and have begun with social and online marketing.

SA Business has begun to see the value in Facebook, Social Commerce like Groupon, and having an online presence. Businesses also became customer orientated and customer focused, investing time and energy into CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools. Finding new ways to get and keep new clients is not a small task especially with staff who are used to order taking and not order making.

Business owners began re-skilling their staff to create better and lasting customer relationships, as well as managing them better. Using these varied skills SME’s were able to even grow their customer databases in this unsteady market.

2012 Shows great promise in these areas and we are definitely seeing a trend towards online marketing, social marketing and CRM systems implementation. After all you have the customers already.

Social Media Marketing – Help or Hinder ?

Daryn — Wed, 25 May 2011 06:12:13 +0000

Social media, has hit the world by storm as well as the business world. There are mixed feelings about social media and social networking in the work place. Some businesses have embrassed the use of social media to boost their business, while others have avoided it totally due to mis-use by staff, and the negative connotations it has brought with it regarding wasted office time and unproductivity.

The secret to harnessing the power of this beast is simple, with IT policies and procedures in place staff can be reprimanded for poor production or ‘stealing’ company resources. Your business can not be left in the dark ages for the sake of a small minority.

In some recent surveys it has been noticed that there has been a 36% increase in the use of social networking sites by small business, such as facebook, twitter, and linkedin. Not only do these tools help you compete in your industry, they also help you keep in contact with your customers and get valued feedback.

There are a few things to consider, here are some examples:

Who do you want to contact ? ie your demographic
What do you want to tell your customers and how ?
Strategise as to what you can offer the customer other than information on products. ie discounts, freebies.
Integrate with your blog so that customers are informed of other uses and potentials for your product.
Most importantly remember this is a new kind of marketing known as engagement marketing, not the old broadcast marketing which is what we get bombarded with on the TV etc. So there will be some new ways of thinking, but if you want to keep up with the times you have to keep up with the technology !

Now do not think for one minute that you can just go an create a fan page, there is lots of things to consider before throwing yourself out there. Rather contact us to have an in depth planning and strategy session about what it is exactly you want to do. Remember failing to plan is planning to fail.

Free Business Tools For Small Business !

Daryn — Fri, 13 May 2011 05:39:54 +0000

Yes you heard me correctly, FREE. Many small businesses or startup businesses can not afford the high prices of Accounting pacakges and all the costs that go with it.

As a result we have researched and come up with a few tools that can help your business kick off, without crippling you financially.

Full Accounting Products, with Debtors, Creditors, Cash Book and General Ledger Reporting – Great for any new business, there is no stock control in the free edition but the package on the whole is awesome, and there is an upgrade path as your business grows !
Web Products, a product that allows you to create invoices, track payment of invoices and create quotes. This is great for people with businesses such as cleaning service etc or for people on the move.
Scheduling and Collaboration, get web based products that will allow you to schedule meetings, and remind you of up and coming events.

There are even rental agreements for the bigger packages which allow you to budget for the product monthly, no contracts just 1 months notice period. Hows that for clever thinking?

At InfinIT Solutions we try to mentor small business into big business, by finding innovative products and that help you run your business better.

Should you know someone, or if you are interested in finding some great free business tools to help you get up and running, then contact us today!

So What is CRM, and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?

Daryn — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 11:29:15 +0000

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers’ needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them.

Thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake. A more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together pieces of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends. CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers and establish long lasting relationships, and of course return business.

Why everyone is talking about this is the fact that for a small fee, you will be able to track all your sales, follow up leads more effectively record client history and interaction. So all in all making you work smarter instead of harder.

Grow your business.
Track and project your sales for the month.
Track and record history with individual contacts and with companies as a whole.
Automatic reminders of upcoming meeting and events.
Shared diaries for complete collaboration with everyone in the business.
Standardised communication with clients.
Generate personalised communication in bulk with clients.
Reminders about potential business leads.

For customised CRM solutions that will generate sales, streamline your business and not cost you an arm and a leg, contact us today!

Prepare For Pastel Accounting Financial Year End

Daryn — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:52:03 +0000

Its that time of year again, when we need to run around preparing for the end of the financial year. We have put together some tips and tricks to help you get through this time unscathed and stress free.

Backup your data not once, not twice, but three times, in different locations eg. memory stick, CD and hard disk or Network Drive.
Print your Trial Balance and Balance sheet and check for any anomalies.
Correct balances with journals and write off bad debts and clear rounding amounts.
Reconcile your Vehicle asset accounts and journal the interest and capital payments.
Update bank recon and ensure you are in balance.
Do your year end stock take.
You should be going into your 13th period at the end of Feb which then gives you a few weeks for correcting journals.
If you finance assets ensure you have requested the interest certificates which lets you know what you have paid on the capital for the year.
Process your depreciation journals.
Confirm the balances of your customer statements and supplier statements, this helps with correcting incorrect balances or outstanding credits or invoices.

For a more in depth consultation contact us today