Chapter 37
Small Business Software
Buying the right computer and getting it to work properly is no more complicated than building a nuclear reactor from wristwatch parts in a darkened room using only your teeth.
—Dave Barry
The point of software is to make your business more effective. It is supposed to save you time and make things run more smoothly, although we all know that is not always the case. With the wide variety of software available, it is sometimes hard to know what to buy. In this chapter, we will look at what software your small business really needs and give you an idea about your options.
A caveat: It would be impossible to analyze every product available. A good web search will allow you to compare scores of products and prices. What I want to do here is to give you an idea about the products that are the market leaders and how these leaders compare. That is not to say they are the only products available, because they are not. However, I have found that when a few products dominate a field, it is for a good reason—they are usually the best.
Office Suites
Almost all computers now come with some sort of basic office suite preinstalled that allows you to draft simple documents and so on. Although these are nice products, if you are serious about running a successful small business, you will likely need to upgrade to something more robust. A good office suite should be an integrated program that allows you to create documents and spreadsheets, produce marketing materials, ...
