TimeClick Quick-Tip: Divide up your employees into departments from within TimeClick. http://bit.ly/O37ms

TimeClick QuickTip: How to back up your employee information from within TimeClick. http://bit.ly/8A6hl

Let’s face it, Fridays are supposed to be a good day.  I don’t care how bad your Saturday may appear, Friday is a day of looking forward to the weekend.  Ironically, some of the most stressful things also fall on Saturday: turn in hours, run payroll, finish up projects and reports, etc.

Another fact is now matter how well things are planned, something always goes awry.  Let’s say it’s Friday, you are hurrying to get a giant to-do list done and get all the hours in for payroll.  Suddenly, you can’t log in to TimeClick.  Stressed and frustrated you wonder what to do…

Well, one of the truly beautiful aspects of TimeClick is the technical support that is available.  The support staff know TimeClick inside and out and are never stumped.  Available by phone or email, we’re here to make sure your weekend starts smoothly each and every week

Next, make sure each employee has a pre-determined set of duties, especially a list of “down-time” work that they can start on if you aren’t around to supervise once they finish other tasks. If you have three employees or a hundred, let each employee know exactly what is their duty in the company and help them see how that fits into the overall picture of the company. This will help them feel a sense of purpose and need in your organization and will also give them direction when they have nothing to do.

Finally, remember that because you aren’t doing everything in the business, things are not going to be perfect. Your employees are going to make mistakes and may do things differently than you ever have done them before. Be open to their suggestions and new ways of doing things. Have patience when they aren’t doing things perfectly and don’t be too hard on them simply because you wouldn’t have done it that way. Last, but not least, get out of the office. That is the point of hiring employees, to do the work, so you can enjoy running the business. Take time to get involved in your community and business culture. Go to conferences and meetings and learn how to further improve your business.

So you’ve got a business, and its going well. You’ve put your heart and soul into helping it grow, and a few months ago you actually hired an employee. But that wasn’t too hard was it? He/she works right along side you so you don’t have to wonder about how many hours they worked, no real supervision is required, and you don’t have to worry much about mistakes. But now you’ve got more orders coming in and more jobs to complete than you ever expected to have. You need employees, but are worried about all that phrase might entail. Have no fear, here are a few quick tips.

First, get a time clock. Most small business experts would agree that some form of time clock software is the best way to go. They require no additional hardware or equipment, are super-accurate, and are very easily available. Download a few demos and try them out, see which one fits your needs the best. As you shop, remember two things. One, if you’ve hired this many employees, you will likely need to hire more! Make sure that if you get time clock software that it allows for unlimited employees. Sometimes employers are unpleasantly surprised with a hefty upgrade fee when they reach their employee limit. Second, this process is not always the easiest. Make sure you don’t just come up with a quick fix that will require even more time and attention in a few months when you outgrow that system and you have to transfer all your old data to the new system.

Every day, people get stuck on the phone for hours with cut-rate technical support, often a price that exceeds that of the software itself. Email requests go unanswered for days on end and you feel that all hope is lost. Want to avoid this situation all-together? Never buy software unless it has a solid, professional support system to back it up.

But isn’t all support just long minutes on hold waiting for the “next available operator”? Test it out, find out for yourself. Download a demo and call support with an issue. If they don’t help you now, what makes you think they will help you once you are a customer. Try both email and phone a few times and see how friendly, knowledgeable, and quick the support staff is to respond to your needs.
Then, when a crisis comes, as they inevitably do, you will not only know who to contact but you can lower your stress level by quantum leaps knowing that your issue will soon be resolved.

You run a business and it’s growing…fast. You are getting busier and busier by the day and it feels like your time is spent constantly resolving issues and concerns.

You have a computer and its working…hard. Your business is so dependent on your computer the power cable is starting to look like an umbilical cord. If your computers crash, your business is down.

If the software you rely on has a hiccup, it feels like an earthquake. So, why is it that when you bought software for that computer, you didn’t even think to ask about what kind of support the creators offered?

2) No Support or Expensive Support

The software you will be using to run your small business will hold very important, time-sensitive information. Be it an invoice or payroll, the slightest computer glitch can cause your employees to be upset, customers to request refunds, and most importantly, money to be lost. When a server goes down the last thing you want to hear is your 20 year old tech guy say, “Sorry dude, looks like your data is pretty much toast.” Choose software that has a solid phone support system. Email support is affordable, but it usually takes 24 hours to get a reply. If your business is worth $200 an hour, how much is that really costing you? On the flip side, don’t pay an arm and a leg for phone support. Annual fees of $100-$200 are about average with per incident fees running about $50-$80 a pop. If someone wants to charge $200+ per incident or per hour for phone calls, be very weary. Their software better be perfection on a screen if it’s going to be worth it.

3) Not Trying it Before You Buy

What is the safest way to make sure you get the software you need with all the features your business demands? Download a demo BEFORE you buy! Nearly all software can be tried before you make a decision to purchase. If you don’t see a clear way to download a demo from their website, give them a call and request one. If they don’t offer one, ask them why and, unless they have a really good excuse, pick up the search again for your software. Demos are great for a lot of reasons. First, you can make sure that the data is compatible with your other programs (i.e. payroll with time tracking). Second, this gives you a chance to test it on your network and operating system to ensure full capability. Third, you can test their support when you encounter issues. If they are unwilling to help you get the demo running, this may be a sign of “monetary myopia” where they only help you once you have given them money. Not only does this show a sign a poor customer service but it shows a lack of confidence in their product.

1) Not Seeing the Future

Small business software can be tricky when it comes to buying different licenses. As your company grows, your software needs to be able to grow right along with it. Take a customer database for example. At first you have just a few clients, easily manageable with a small, free piece of software or even a spreadsheet. Suddenly, you have hundreds of clients with vital data to store regarding each one. Your software is overloaded and your spreadsheet looks like a bowl of Japanese alphabet soup. When you are choosing the software for your company, choose a software that is designed not just for small businesses, but mid sized businesses as well. Make sure that if it designed to hold employee data, that it can hold an unlimited number of employees without having to buy extra licenses. Also, if there are different levels of licenses available, don’t restrict yourself with a lower license just to save a few bucks, buy a license that will give you room to expand a little without breaking your budget.