This quick video will walk you through the easy steps to set up a bank account and import transactions into your WorkingPoint account. It’s so easy!
We are thrilled to announce the release of the 2nd part of our online banking integration: importing transactions from banks and credit card providers.
With WorkingPoint’s banking integration you can easily and securely connect your WorkingPoint bank and credit card accounts to over 4,800 financial institutions so you can view current financial institution account balances in WorkingPoint and import your bank and credit card transactions into your WorkingPoint account activity.
By creating a simple connection between your financial institution accounts and your bookkeeping accounts where you track your business activity in WorkingPoint, you gain real-time insight into your actual cash and credit card liabilities all from where you manage your business: WorkingPoint.
After your secure connection is established, you’ll be able to import your bank and credit card transactions directly into your WorkingPoint account activity. Importing transactions saves you data entry time allowing you to import the transactions instead of manually entering everything.
We’re so excited to hear what you, our loyal subscribers, think about this new feature that we’re offering a month of premium service to one lucky user who leaves a comment on this blog post.
Try it out today and let us know what you think!
Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company with over $8 billion in annual revenue. As the world’s largest direct seller, Avon markets to women in well over 100 countries through over five million independent Avon Sales Representatives, who earn more than $3 billion annually. Avon has more than one billion annual Customer transactions. By the end of 2006, total Avon philanthropy worldwide will have raised and awarded more than $500 million for initiatives and organizations of vital importance to women. Voted “a most trusted brand” on three continents, Avon was also selected by Businessweek as one of “The Top 100 global Brands” and honored as one of Fortune magazine’s “50 Best companies for Minorities.”
A devoted Avon user since she was a little girl, Dena from WorkingPoint decided to learn more about AVON’s business model, why these great independent sellers choose to use WorkingPoint, as well as some insider information on what great AVON products to buy. The following is her interview with WorkingPoint user and AVON independent seller Jackie Cumberbatch:
WorkingPoint: Why did you decide to start your own business working for AVON?
Jackie: I like the fact that Avon has been in business for a long time. The name speaks for itself. I did my homework and I felt that AVON was the best choice for me.
WP: What’s your favorite and/or bestselling AVON Product that you would recommend?
Jackie: My favorite AVON product is AVON Basics Care Cocoa Buttter Lotion. My family and I both use the product. We like the texture, and scent of it as well as the price. The best selling AVON product is their Skin So Soft line. Among my customers the Skin So Soft Original Bath Oil is the favorite product of that line. One of my customers loves it so much that this is her main purchase. I have another customer whose husband uses it and wouldn’t be without it. I would recommend both these products.
WP: What’s the best part of working for yourself?
Jackie: I am able to set my own hours and the earning potential is unlimited.
WP: What’s one piece of advice you would give to others people running their own home based business?
Jackie: Don’t limit yourself or depend on family and friends for support. Most of the customers that I have are not related to me nor were they friends prior to purchasing AVON from me.
WP: How did you hear about WorkingPoint? Why did you decide to use it? What’s your favorite feature?
Jackie: I found WorkingPoint while searching the web for an easier way to bill my customers. I found it easy to use. My favorite feature is the calculation of sales tax. Prior to using WorkingPoint I manually prepared invoices and that process included manually calculating the sales tax. It was very time consuming and at times very frustrating. With WorkingPoint I just have to enter the information using my computer and WorkingPoint does everything for me.
WP: Thank you Jackie! How can people get in touch with you to purchase products? Anything else they should know about AVON?
Jackie: I have been an Independent Sales Representative for AVON for about 2 years. I enjoy it and I have met some very nice people. It is a good way to earn extra cash and for some people it could turn into a career opportunity. Interested purchasers can visit my website at www.youravon.com/jcumberbatch. With my website not only can one shop 24/7 from the convenience of their home or office, they can learn about the AVON organization as well as get beauty tips, see how other women have become successfull selling AVON and also read my blog. If anyone has any questions or concerns about making an AVON purchase, about AVON products or becoming an agent they can contact me at browny665@aol.com.
Jackie Cumberbatch has been an Independent Sales Representative for AVON for about 2 years. You can buy AVON products by visiting her website at www.youravon.com/jcumberbatch.
Marketing Gone Horribly Wrong! Courtesy of Sparky Firepants (also known as David), a WorkingPoint user! Check out his other awesome work at www.sparkyfirepants.com.
The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to
know each other. We’d like to introduce you to Rockin Robots:
“The rockin robots are a high energy robotic perfomance group that tours around the world performing to hi energy music that consist of acting & dance fun for all ages to veiw go on youtube type in (rockin robot rock the stage across america).”
Don’t have a profile for your small business? Learn more or Sign up for an account and create your free company profile today!
The WorkingPoint Community is made up of small business owners, like yourself, and we want you to get to 
know each other. We’d like to introduce you to Alison Goldman and Allison Pezzack of Astarte Creative:
“Astarte Creative offers Graphic Design, Prepress, Website Design and Development, Packaging, Branding, Copywriting, Editing and Print services”
Don’t have a profile for your small business? Learn more or Sign up for an account and create your free company profile today!
by Dena Stern
Mommypreneurs might be the unsung heroes of the small business world. These ambitious women somehow manage to juggle running a home and the care of small & large children (and sometimes their husbands!), and the complex tasks of building and running a business.
My mother Kathy is a Mommypreneur. She single handedly started and ran a successful Beauty Salon for over 35 years. (She of course started doing this when she was 10, sorry Mama I didn’t mean to reveal your age!). She did everything, cut hair, ordered and tracked stock, marketed the business , balanced the books, learned new innovations in the field, provided exceptional customer service and everything in between that is required to run a successful sustainable business for over 3 decades.
I think her least favorite part was balancing the books. This book balancing usually happened late at night, after a hard day on her feet working and it usually happened while she cooked dinner, helped me with my homework, entertained my father and cleaned the house. I swear she had 8 arms. I still remember seeing that thick black ledger spread on on her crossed legs, one hand poised with pencil, the other one rubbing the bottom of her (no doubt aching) feet.
I think that image is how I ended up here. With online financial tools like WorkingPoint, she no longer needs to spend so much time on those books! She can spend that time with her family instead or doing the more fun parts of running the business, like building lasting relationships with her clients (some have been coming to her for over 35 years, some commute hours to see her) and learning the latest cutting edge styling tools and techniques.
In honor of my Mother, I am going to start sharing some strategies which I saw her use to sustain and grow her business each week. I hope they help and inspire those of you with the entrepreneurial (or mommypreneurial spirit) to be successful!
Kathy’s Relationship Building Rule #1: People like to feel special.
For Kathy, this meant that anyone who came to her more than 3 times in a year got a Holiday present. This also meant that as soon as I could wrap a present I was recruited to wrap hundreds of bottles of hair products (mother daughter bonding time!). She remembered what products people liked or if they weren’t buying products from her, what products would work best for their hair. This meant that she usually got more product sales (people couldn’t live without them when they tried them!) but also that her clients felt that she knew them, remembered them and cared about them.
She also kept detailed client records on what they purchased, what colors she used on their hair, and their birthdays and would call or send birthday cards to everyone.
These days, technology makes it easy to track all of these details for your clients. There are tons of great free applications you can find now to track birthdays of your loyal clients, I like to use a Google Calendar which will work with the new WorkingPoint Google App!
Botpreneur is a comic series that tells the truth about what it’s really like to start and run a small business in the age of Social Media. This is the crazy stuff we all encounter on the super killer awesometastic highway to entrepreneur heaven.
Created by Sparky Firepants (also known as David). Visit his website at http://sparkyfirepants.com/
By Larry Keltto
On my Web site I have a feature called “Featured Soloist.” Its purpose is to get a glimpse of how other solopreneurs operate their small businesses and to learn from their experiences.
One of the questions I ask of the soloists each week is: “What’s the best thing you did when starting your business?” Below is how some of the “Featured Soloists” answered the question. The responses are representative of the business owners I have worked with over the past 17 years, and as you read, try to identify if the solopreneurs occupy any common ground.
Barbara Milgram, owner of Pomegranate Planning, Los Angeles: Despite the conventional wisdom and advice of many people, I actually did not have a master plan. This turned out to be more helpful than I would have thought. Without something etched in stone, I was able to remain flexible so I could evolve and adjust to new realities, aligning my talent and interests with the marketplace as it did its own zigs and zags.
Linda Lopeke, owner of Lexicorp Services Inc., Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Every contract was set up in a way that gave me absolute creative control and ownership of the intellectual property created. And, after one of the early clients defaulted on a critical deal leaving me financially stranded, I amended our standard contract so that I was always paid in advance. That ended all worrying about cash flow. Our corporate lawyer thought I was insane. But it’s really all in how you position these things with clients.
Bill Dwight of Palo Alto, Calif., owner of FamZoo.com, an online family banking application: I opened up the initial unpolished application to a group of “charter” families very early on, while simultaneously resisting the prevailing “common wisdom” of throwing it out there too early to the general public.
Laura Petrolino, owner of Flying Pig Communications in Tampa, Fla.: I reached out to those around me and offered to help them with their businesses in any way I could. I worked to form coalitions with fellow business owners, create a referral train and donate my services in little ways.
Heather Claus, owner of 365 Days of Everything in Wilmington, North Carolina, who started out by offering sewing classes: I did what felt right to me. In 1996 NO ONE thought online sewing classes would work. I proved them very wrong.
Laurie Gay, owner of BluePrint Balance in Atlanta: I hired several different people to help me get clear on exactly how I was going to make this thing work, and exactly what I wanted it to look like. You need support, and if your resources are limited, there are a lot of very good, free options, too.
Shayna Walker, owner of Williamsburg Wedding Design in Williamsburg, Va.: I immediately launched my own small bridal shows. As events they were well-received but not spectacular in terms of attendance. But the vendor relationships I made during the production and publicity of those shows were invaluable.
Did you find anything in common among the soloists’ answers?
What I take away is that there is no 10-step process, no foolproof system, no conventional wisdom or common path that works for everyone. Sometimes I wish there was! It would make solopreneurship a lot easier!
Ultimately, you have to make decisions that fit your personality and the unique characteristics of your small business and its market. I recommend that you swiftly run away from anyone who tells you there’s only one way to launch your solopreneur enterprise.
Larry Keltto owns TheSolopreneurLife.com, which provides resources for aspiring, new and established solopreneurs. Since 1993 he has been providing marketing, communications and coaching services to solopreneurs.
For the past year and a half, I have been struggling to figure out how to apply a decade’s worth of invaluable experience working for other people into my own business model. Like most things, it’s often much more difficult than I expected. However, the good news is that the three most important lessons I’ve learned are pretty universal for anyone freelancing or trying to run a services business.
Being realistic about hours doesn’t just apply to estimating the size and duration of jobs. The most important lesson when it comes to hours is that, as a freelancer or business owner, it is not realistic to assume that you are going to be able to consistently bill for 40 hours of work per week.
Unless you’ve got a long-term, hourly consulting arrangement, make sure that the hourly rate you are establishing for yourself and your business is based on a realistic assumption of hours. For most freelancers I know, 25 hours per week is a more realistic number.
Don’t ever forget that, as chief cook and bottle washer, you are responsible for networking, business development, sales proposals, customer support, marketing and advertising, and bookkeeping. Those activities all take time. And even if you are single with no kids, and very few outside commitments, assuming that you are going to get all of those things done around 40 hours of billable client work per week is unrealistic — and doesn’t factor in other life needs like dentist appointments, and emergency auto repairs, etc. Lessons about time management are almost always the most difficult because most of us are overly optimistic about the things we can control.
So sit down, calculate out how much you need to make per hour, assuming that you are limited to 25 billable hours per week. Does that change the hourly rate you need to charge? Probably. You may not be able to retroactively raise your rates with all of your clients (though, if you can, I’d recommend doing it incrementally), but any new work you bid should be at rates that meet a 25 hour work week, rather than a 40 hour one.
One of my most painful lessons this past year is that, contrary to previous times in my life, I am not a process person, anymore. Sort of, anyway. I actually like developing process. But I’m naturally a contrarian, and so I just don’t like following them. This is a huge problem when it comes to running my own services business, because so much of being successful at it is having a defined, repeatable, easy-to-explain process for both myself and my clients.
Without a clearly defined process — including project definitions, sign-offs, milestones, roles and responsibilities, assumptions, etc. — it is impossible to properly define the scope of a project. And if you don’t do that, you are setting you and your client up for frustration. This lesson will be hard to ignore the first time you have a job that runs painfully long, a client that feels you mismanaged their expectations, or you are so sick of looking at a project that you just want to throw your computer out the window. Don’t let it come to this.
Consultative work is, by its very nature, almost always project work. And the definition of a project includes a definitive start and a definitive end. If you don’t sort out exactly what those mean, what approval needs to include, and what it’s going to cost to go back and re-open a closed issue, then you are not making sure that you, the project and your client are set up for success.
Knowing your value is more than understanding what rate you can charge for your services in your given market — though, of course, that is important, too. One of the biggest surprises I have learned over the past 18 months is that the services I intended to sell are almost never the services that my clients find of the most value. As a result, my service offering has continued to change, as I move my business farther away from what I had originally envisioned, and closer to the true pain my clients’ experience. This lesson has been invaluable, because it’s helped me better understand things that previously seemed like contradictions.
In the end, I have realized that the value I thought I was providing to my clients is actually no where near the value they really need from me. Happily, I was providing the real value as a by-product of the services I was trying to sell. Over time, though, it has become clear that my best value proposition is far more interesting and complex than I originally believed, and it’s really my key differentiator. And that’s where my value is.
The bottom line, of course, is that a services business is about people. It’s about the services I provide, and my clients who need them. Often I have clients coming to me assuming they need one thing, when in fact they need something else. As a service provider I have two choices: either continue to sell them something they don’t need, or to help them get what they do need — even if that’s not me.