While doing a little snooping on the site, I also found an online business planning course here.  It is an audio/visual presentation that takes you through the thought process of starting a business.  I believe that you can never have too much useful information…so long as it isn’t redundant.  I don’t know about you, but I sure as heck don’t need 10 articles on sales forecasting.  My all-time favorite tool on the site is the interactive business planner.  Its an online resource form provided by the Canada business services for entrepreneurs.  This handy planner guides you through your business plan through a series of questions.

I chose this particular cartoon because of the irony of it.  Business plans are extremely important strategic tools that we should all take sufficient time to complete before starting a buisiness.

Don’t worry, the more I learn, the more I will share.  Well, let me get back to writing. Business plans don’t write themselves!

Yours Truly,
Akuba

Google Apps is a service that allows users to use all of the great features of Google Docs, Spreadsheets, Calendar and Gmail, but with your own domain. What this means is that organizations can set up email accounts using Google’s powerful email systems, create a intuitive collaboration platform for team members using a hosted version of Google Docs, and integrate Google Talk into the company infrastructure with no heavy lifting. On top of all of the great features, organization can do it all with little or no cost. At this point you may be asking yourself, “what’s the big deal?” Well using Google Apps gives your organization greater control and a system that is exist entirely on the internet. This allows users to interact, collaborate and create anywhere there is an internet connection.

Features: One of the nicest features Google Apps provides is the email system built on top of Gmail. The main difference is instead of your email address reading myemailaccount@gmail.com, it can read myemailaccount@mydomain.com giving your organization more control over how your email address appears to recipients. Along with the email platform, Google is also extending it’s other services so that you can manage your time with Google Calendar, collaborate using Google Docs and Spreadsheets, and most recently create user generate content using Google Sites. Google Sites allows you to create intranets, company pages or even your own wiki all within the “cloud,” and within your very own secure platform. Speaking of security, for all of you that have larger organization and require more security features; Google offers powerful protection using Postini so you can be sure that your company’s information is safe.

Bizzyness loves Google Apps because it allows Akuba and I to not only have our own email and chat system, but we can collaborate on Bizzyness articles, schedule meetings, create sales presentations, or even generate webforms using Google Spreadsheets. The truth is I could go on and on about the features but you really have to try it for yourself or at least check out some of the other features here.

FreshBooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service that provides professional management of your accounting needs. Simply put, FreshBooks is an online tool that keeps; billing, time management, estimates, and so much more, easier.

Personally the most valuable thing I’ve gained using FreshBooks is time. Managing my clients used to take several pieces of software and hours of my time. To manage my billing I used; 5 different Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, Adobe Acrobat 8 (to create PDFs), and a horrific folder structure in Windows, to not only invoice my clients but to send them estimates and quotes as well. With FreshBooks I now have one central place where I can add clients, get them quotes days faster, and send invoices with just a few clicks. FreshBooks is even integrated with the major online payment gateways such as PayPal, Authorize.net and others, making payment of invoices easier for my clients. With Freshbooks I spend more time doing what I love, strategy and consulting, and less time trying to figure how to bill my clients. Freshbooks literally saves me days, and subsequently hundreds of dollars.

If you’re just starting out they offer users 3 clients with unlimited invoices for free, and it’s just 14 dollars per month for the next tier (25 clients and unlimited invoices). The truth is I can go on and on about Freshbooks, but if you’re in the market for some accounting software you should try it for yourself. Click here to get started or here, for more information.

Once you’ve tried it out, let me know what you think by commenting below.

-Justin