Author Archives: Wayland Bruns

About Wayland Bruns

Wayland founded CompanionLink in 1987 as The Jorf Company, a maker of shareware 4gl products. As a leading maker of CRM Add-On products, the company started with Sync Products in 1996 for the PalmPilot. As CEO of CompanionLink, Wayland strives to balance quality customer service, products with good value, low prices, and a positive workplace..

Want to Optimize Your Website’s Speed? Here’s How

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People tend to spend more time online these days. With almost everything we need are provided on the internet, it has become more of a necessity than just a pastime or leisure. Along with this, the amount of websites and online businesses on the web has risen too, and this caused major traffic and slowing on other sites. Fortunately, today’s internet speed has coped with this, and it’s still improving up to this day.

Studies show that in 2019, an average person spends almost 6 hours and 42 minutes on the internet. This is almost half of the time that we are awake, assuming that we are getting 8 hours of sleep. Because of this, one of the problems that remained is the speed of the websites themselves. Due to faster internet connectivity, people have become less patient while waiting for a page to load. 

To avoid such a dilemma, it’s necessary to know how to optimize your website to handle traffic and gain more enjoyable visits. 

Basic Things About Website Speed

How Fast Should a Website Be?

The recommended website speed by Google is under 2 seconds, at least for most eCommerce sites. Webpages load piece by piece and it differs for every site. There is a high probability that users will leave a page if it loads for more than 3 seconds

In the U.S., the average loading time is 15 seconds. It is even slower than the recommended time but still does the job. Having a website load slower than that can cause less traffic, and users won’t have the time for the page to load. This may result in a drop in ranking and other competitors will take this chance to take your spot and push you lower in the search list. Many companies use page speed boosters make increase the speed of the page load.

What Affects Website Speed

Every element affects the speed of a website. The website size, which usually includes a lot of unique characters, may result in slower loading time. It is the same case for large files. They tend to be slower to download, and therefore may contribute to the occurrence of a problem in the process.

Sometimes, the problem is not the website, but your device’s internet speed. Still, a good website can withstand such circumstances and can still load despite the said issues.

How to Assess Website Speed

There aren’t many ways on how to determine the speed of your web pages other than using website speed evaluators (aside from the slow responsiveness whenever you try to load it). Here are some of the best tools to help you determine the improvements needed in your website’s speed:

Pingdom

This is a great tool for analyzing web speed. It determines the history of a website, makes directions on the optimization, and releases easy to understand reports. It is free to use, and they also have apps that you can use on your Android and iOS mobile phones.

GTmetrix

GTmetrix determines the elements that make your website slow, which is a good thing because you will know what you can do to improve the situation right away. It also provides accurate data results. You can even set alerts that will automatically inform you if your website begins to work slower.

YSlow

YSlow also summarizes every component of your site and gives you a report that includes recommendations on how you can improve its state. 

Sitechecker

This is an all-in-one SEO platform for performing high-quality SEO audits and constant monitoring of your website. Using Web Speed Test by Sitechecker you will be able to analyze the loading speed of your website or a specific page and get a detailed report on all the problems that affect the loading speed.

How to Improve Website Speed

Here are some of the ways you can do to improve the speed of your website:

Shrink Images

Images, especially the ones in larger sizes, can be a very heavy component for a web page to load. This often results in others not being able to view the pictures depending on the device and internet speed they have. You can still show pictures in HD but in lower sizes. This way, it will be easier to load and it won’t take that much for it to be seen by your visitors. 

Delete Cache

Caches are prearranged storage that stores temporary details to help websites, apps, and browsers to load at a faster rate. You will encounter it in almost every software. It expires after a certain amount of time and does not add to the loading process of a page. If it ever reaches beyond the recommended data, which can happen at some point, you can delete it without any consequences and make browsing at a faster rate.

Create an Intuitive Web Page Design

Yes, an excellent web design also helps in optimizing the speed of a website. For example, choosing the right font to use on the interface helps a page to load faster. In this case, Open Sans loads the fastest. According to the folks at somethingdesign.com, intuitive web design determines the visitor’s experience on the page. It also contributes to the increase in traffic and the speed of the page. 

Quality of an Intuitive Web Design

Responsive

A great web design responds to the user’s preferences. Whether it is the flexibility in terms of the orientation of the device or the screen size like in mobiles, it must be adaptable. The elements need to shrink or grow depending on what the situation is asking for. A great web design is versatile and can accommodate various users and visitors.

Consistent

Harmony is pleasing to the eyes. Consistency creates a distinct character in a website that the users will remember. It is the brand that will linger in most people’s minds after they visit the site. The limitation of the design to one common set also helps in a faster loading process. The less unique individual designs, the faster a page can process data.

Easy to Use

Complex web design is not attractive to users at all. It only creates confusion and this usually results in them not coming back to the website. This also means less traffic, fewer sales (for eCommerce websites), and less reliability for people seeking immediate results. 

Engaging

People have different preferences when it comes to the structure and design of a web page. Some like it more to be minimalistic, while some appreciate patterns and loud colors. Whatever design you choose, it is important to consider what is pleasing to the eyes of most users. Be creative and try something new. 

No one likes waiting, and that applies to websites as well. Every single second is important to keep your page in demand to visitors. Even if your website is informative and engaging, if it is slow and takes too much time to load, it will not attract many users. Keeping your page at a stable speed will not only be accessible and fun to visit for most people, but it will also increase the traffic that you need to be successful.

6 Reasons why Small Business does not Trust the Cloud

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Small Business people live by the seat of their pants. They sole entrepreneur knows exactly how hard it is to build a customer list and market to those customers. Middle managers of large companies are hired into their position, maintain it for a period of time, then move on for career growth. This is an entirely different process than a small business owner who is fully invested in building the business from the first day.

One durable trait of small business people is that they do not trust external vendors to handle their core customer management functions. As shown in the chart by Forrester Research, despite 30 years of Cloud Based CRM products, a vast majority of small business still use a PC or On-Premise CRM solution for their core Contact and Accounting functions.

1. Not Sorry I’m Sorry Letters

Every small business owner has used an AOL or Yahoo account, and knows that online vendors are merely a target for hackers. What is worse, the online vendors take advantage of bias consumer protection laws and legal agreements that leave them with no responsibility for anything they do. Anyone who has spent years building a customer list gets completely frustrated to learn from an “I’m Sorry” letter that their customers were stolen and being marketed on the dark web.

2. Insatiable Costs

There is not a single SaaS product that is less expensive to own than a PC based product. Microsoft Office 2010 cost $199 for a perpetual license, Microsoft 365 costs $99 per year for the same features. QuickBooks 2012 cost $190, and QuickBooks Pro in 2020 now costs $299.99 per year. There is not a single common product that is less expensive as a SaaS than it was as a perpetual license. SaaS never saved anyone any money – it was used as a cover to provide less service for a higher price.

3. Unexpected Downtime

The promise of SaaS is that since they take care of the equipment, they will responsibly ensure there is no down time. The reality is that every service has down time and aside from pestering you with message about it, unexpected downtime is a serious cost to business. Whether it is a network backbone or local internet issue, a business that relies on internet service has a real vulnerability to uncontrolled downtime. A business based on in-house software may have a failed computer, but this is a fixable problem. Anyone who has sat for hours waiting for some uncontrolled event knows this.

4. Poor Technical Support

The past days of PC Software gave us a time when you called for technical support and received it. There was no guarantee of quality, as Franklin Covey learned when they outsourced their entire product team to India, and lost their product position in the market. But for the most part, you knew if you needed help you could get it on the phone. Today, no SaaS product provides adequate support. They merely listen to what you say and blandly tell you to try a different browser. It is impossible to reach someone who cares.

5. No Loyalty to Customers

Customers are often loyal to a product, but that loyalty is not reciprocated by SaaS vendors. They treat customers as throw away goods in their constant effort to charge more for less service. This comes in the form of email marketing that shows little concern for small business priorities, cost management or offers for the best price. Every small business knows the frustration of making a large purchase, only to see it go on sale shortly after – without any way to get credit for the sale price. To buy the wrong product and be told you cannot refund it (Apple -I’m looking at you!). SaaS vendors take zero responsibility for mis-information on their website.

6. Blackmail

Years ago, Blackmail was a crime. But with SaaS, every vendor has their moment where they inform their customer to cough up money now, or you will never see your data again. The heart of this is the ambiguity over who owns the data on the SaaS service. The customer has carefully curated and added the data, but the vendor may not reciprocate and provide robust tools to extract it or migrate it to another platform. This leads to a standoff where the SaaS vendor literally blackmails the customer when the customer attempts to regain control of their on contact and opportunity lists.

Blackmail is compounded by the short half-life of SaaS vendors. Every few years, a vendor change hands, and their careful customer support policies of “We will never sell your data” or “We pride ourselves on our service” changes overnight to a very cold “If you object to this you can end your service but never see your data again.” Check out Sunrise Calendar, SwiftKey Keyboard, or Picasa.

Summary

DejaOffice has disrupted CRM by introducing affordable On-Premise Customer Management. Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Notes, History, Deals, Follow Ups and Sync to Android and iPhone built into a product that costs just $59 per user. Compare this to similar “low cost” SaaS products that are six times more costly and you cannot even call them if you have a question. If you run a small business, and have experienced any of the frustrations above, you will save time, money and frustration by switching to DejaOffice today.

DejaOffice PC CRM Pro
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 78 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $199.95

Growing your Business Beyond the End of Hope

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It is easy to forget the Wall Street Crash of 1929 was the first event of the Great Depression that peaked three years later in 1932.  As we hit the 120th day since the Virus shut us down on March 19, 2020, it is time to wonder, are we anywhere close to a turnaround, or are we merely four months into a three-year crisis?

Where we are now.

One month ago, things seemed to be controlled well enough that it had become livable.  Wall Street was discussing a V or U shaped recovery.  Now, in mid-July, talk turns to a W or L shaped recovery; that is, more hard times ahead.

Everyone I talk to is nervous.  The virus counts today are bad. The death counts, which generally lag virus counts by three weeks, are going up. There is nothing on the horizon to suggest these counts will get lower soon.  One Percent of the US Population has become sick and of those people 3.8% have died. At the current rate, by November, six million more Americans will have been sick, and another 200,000 will die of it. That is 1000 times the deaths on 9/11.

What Comes Next?

The Senate is stalled giving aid while Renters and Mortgage holders reach the end of their grace period.  I know of more than one person selling their house this month because they cannot afford the payments.  These trends portend a banking crisis ahead of us that will make 2008 look small.  Earnest Hemingway writes; “How did you go bankrupt? Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”

Our Next Step.

This is a time to focus, to think clearly about the parts of the business that are working, and to leverage that to cover expenses.  Focus is difficult when self esteem is low.  Self esteem is low because the world is filled with difficulties that are beyond our coping skills.  It becomes easy to loop back on worry and become unable to plan.

Growth despite Obstacles

We need to grow our business.  We need to do it because that is what we do.  The world does not end just because we think the world is ending.  Our customers will continue on, and so should we. The best thing too remember is that all the obstacles we face in business, are being faced by our competitors. Our goal is to stay one step ahead of them.

Gaining focus

Focus is hard right now.  The distractions become an overwhelming fog of confusion. How can you plan business growth when the business conditions cannot be predicted?  But this is the same as the day you started your business, you had no idea what would happen.  The difference between then and now is your self-esteem and drive to succeed.

There is a saying; “To build self esteem, do esteemable things”.  I have found this to be true.  By helping others and by generously contributing, we gain back self respect, and the ability to focus.  In the big picture my finances are a disaster and there is no hope for the future.  But this month, and this week, I am doing fine, and the small amounts of time and money I can give out will mean a great deal to those I can help.

Toward Rebuilding

The foundation of recovery will be built on the small steps we take today to help other people, to help our customers, and to help our vendors.  Mutual help will bind us into a functioning economy.  Focus on this economy comes from being whole and being a contributor.

My Dad’s parents were married October 14, 1934.  It is hard for me to imagine two teenagers meeting, falling in love and getting married during the depths of the hardship years. The grim black and white pictures and the distant commentary do little to capture he meaning from that time.  But then, like now, every day ordinary people ate, and worked and slept.  The world recovered from the Great Depression and became 50 years of Pax Americana and prosperity.  The world will do it again. It is our choice now to become a leading participant.

Why Windows XP was better than Windows 10

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Windows XP was released in 2001 as the successor to Windows NT. It was the geeky server version that contrasted with the consumer oriented Windows 95, which transitioned to Windows Vista by 2003.

Where Windows 95 was pioneering window transitions and soft look and feel, Windows XP was intended to be a more nuts-and-bolts interface. Less attention was spent on UI features and more attention on security and processing.

In retrospect, the key feature of Windows XP is the simplicity. While it encapsulated the beginnings of User Access Control, advanced Network drivers and Plug-and-Play configuration, it never made a show of these features. The relatively simple UI was easy to learn and internally consistent.

On the Windows 95 side, Microsoft spent years trying to make PCs user friendly, (Remember Microsoft Bob?) they have always failed in this endeavor. Instead of being simpler, they simply make UI controls that are harder to master; filmy and foamy layers on top of the simple core that is running the OS.

No wonder so many people hold on to their old XP computers long after the OS is insecure.

Windows 10 is a dog! There is no arguing that it is the worst OS experience ever created. Not only are there filmy and foamy layers, Microsoft is constantly updating it to force features that you do not even want. At least once a week we get a customer who reports their computer was completely bricked by a Windows 10 update. Windows 10 is a garbage heap mudslide. It is a costly time-wasting endeavor by Microsoft to try to establish that you somehow NEED to get updates every month for something other than the bug fixes required for the garbage they forced on you the prior month.

Turn off One-Drive, for instance, and you’ll find that two updates later, it is turned on again. Turn off Cortana, which no one uses, and two updates later it is not only back on, but it is sucking up 30% of your CPU making your computer run slowly.

With Windows XP, you could see in the system monitor that about 8 processes were running and they used less than 1% of CPU and disk bandwidth. For windows 10, there are more than 200 processes and they commonly use 30-50% of your CPU and disk IO. Whenever I start drilling down on these processes I can see they are features I never want; Cortana, One Note, Xbox Game Bar, Your Phone, Groove Music.

What Microsoft should do is run what their success. Offer a stripped-down simple OS. When people say I want Linux” they don’t actually mean the buggy hopelessly arcane OS created by Linus Torvalds. What they are saying is a simple basic UI and driver set that is fast, easy and stable.

Small Business 2020 –How do you spell Opportunity in a Recession

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This week we paid the last payroll of the first quarter of the Virus. We have endured Shut Down, Financial Panic, Protests and Riots. We have learned to shop with a face mask on, issue staff policy for social distancing, and made a revised marketing plan for the year. What else could go wrong?

There are three things that still darken the horizon; Banks have insufficient reserves, Global Banking system is unstable, and the Virus is returning with force.

2008 Redux for US banks

The banks are in a position to repeat their 2008 melt down. In 2008 the culprit was CDO’s based on mortgage loans, at a time when a critical mass of people defaulted on their mortgages. Currently the risk is in CLO’s, a similar instrument based on Collateralized Business Loans. These instruments are held by Banks, and are dependent on payments by businesses. Those same businesses that are struggling to maintain sales and market share against a public that is socially distanced. The key time period is August 2020. When 2nd quarter earnings reports come in, CARES Act! funding has run out, mortgage relief, renter relief and unemployment relief will all be past their 90 day limits. If individual payments are not made then bank collateral will melt from the bottom up.

Global Banks under pressure

Globally, banks are dependent on their loan customers making payments. In addition, most global banks have substantial investment arms. As we get to August Earnings Season, we will get our first look at how these assets are performing. Areas of concern involve HSBC with substantial assets in China, Hong Kong, and also the largest bank in the UK. Since we no longer know what country Hong Kong is, putting treaty, import and export status on hold, several banks are highly invested in the HK economy. In addition, nearly every bank worldwide has substantial interest that Oil stay above $30 per barrel. As we saw with Cushing Crude in May, the $30 benchmark is not a given.

Virus Wave Returns

We are now seeing several states reporting substantial increases in Virus cases. The US as a whole was holding steady at 20,000 new cases a day for nearly five weeks. That number is rapidly moving higher now. The curve is rising. There is no question today that the virus is again out of control in half the US states, including our own. If the current rate of increases takes hold, we could see 50k cases per day by August, and discussion of a far more drastic shut down of the economy.

How to Plan for What Comes Next?

Is Congress going to play Santa, or Marie Antoinette? Are protests going to fade out, or strengthen? Will the US Treasury continue to spend taxpayer money to prop bonds and stocks (That’s Capitalism Baby!) Small business remains trapped between the disaster and the goodie bag.

Be careful, be grateful, and be patient. Only time will tell which decisions we make today will turn out to look smart in the future.

Small Business Blog – How to Navigate Crisis using Leadership and Durability

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The Virus Crisis continues. In March we were told it would be a two-month shutdown. Here we are, two months later and consumers are not consuming. A month ago, they said that 60,000 people in the US would die. More than 108,000 Americans have died. Today there are 20,000 new cases and 1,000 deaths. Whether a city is “Open” or “Closed”, it is clear that people are not flocking to stores or other businesses. If you own a small business like I do, you need to set an expectation. How long does Small Business have to hold out?

The old Normal will never return

If you define normal as the day when parking lots and offices are full, when people are sitting in restaurants, and where face masks are in the past, then we will never get there. The world is changing in permanent ways. In my business, we have dropped our land-line business phones, moved nearly all our mail to online payments, and upgraded our staff home workspaces with business chairs, desks, headsets and related office style equipment. Magnify these changes by thousands of small businesses, and as the crisis moves from months to years, you can see that there is no going back. Now, we must learn to run our businesses for a different sort of “normal”.

This week, protests and social instability got added to the mix. These were always part of the mix, but suddenly they went from background to foreground. Who knew that ensuring the safety of my staff could become a hot political issue with customers? Innocent statements about human relations can have dire business consequences. An entrepreneur must now be a PR manager, a health manager, and a procurer of medical supplies. A simple office purchase of hand sanitizer has become a month-long ordeal.

Leadership

Some people crave leadership roles. However, they may be poor small business owners. The best entrepreneurs are often those with an expertise and a passion in a specific skill set, that they can market to customers. As they become entrepreneurs, they suddenly get a side-line job as leaders. We cannot skip this part of our job. It is neither our passion nor our expertise, but it is an essential part of the package. We must lead our staff and our customers, set expectations, deliver according to those expectations, and take responsibility if expectations are not met. We must carry this in our products, our services and our ethical standards. A company should hire a crisis management team to proactively prepare for and effectively navigate unforeseen challenges, safeguarding its reputation, minimizing financial losses, and ensuring a swift and well-coordinated response to critical situations.

Durability

For small business durability comes from frugal spending combined with generous customer skills. Our customers are the sole source of revenue. We can keep that source active by providing effective service and valuable products. When the customer saves money and gains satisfaction, they will happily recommend us. Frugal spending means monitoring all financial transactions to ensure they are the lowest required. Until there is profit, there is no room for luxury or glamor.

Ethics

When you look at the most hated corporations; Facebook, Comcast, Microsoft, and Wells Fargo, it is easy to see what is in common. Each of these companies use their market position to push individuals, without choice, into transactions with poor value. Facebook sells your private info, losing control of it, then taking no responsibility. Comcast raises their rates to provide dwindling content. Microsoft forces risky updates to give you features you do not want.

Free software and services is not the answer. The world is full of unsupported free software that never really works. Free computer service has value only if you do not value your time.

The ethical road is to travel between these two boundaries. Create value relationships with people willing to pay for that value. Make your service and product clear, with a clear price and generous refund and upgrade policy. Then you will be rewarded by loyal customers who will recommend your business.

Summary

My county will move to Phase 1 in a couple weeks and Phase 2 in about a month. But the Covid crisis will be with us through the Summer and beyond. Over time, virus will be less of a factor as social and economic trends grow in the looming election cycle. A new social and economic order will arise over time, and we cannot predict what it will look like.

Small Businesses who tap on Leadership and Durability will manage to retain customers and staff ready to grow into the next economic cycle.

Stages of Grief for Small Business in Crisis

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Things are looking up! I’m feeling hopeful about the future.

It’s not the news. There is nothing to make anyone happy in the news. The Virus is grinding on – neither accelerating or decelerating. Politicians posture and push but nothing seems to be getting solved.

In places that are “Opened up” people are still staying at home. It looks like legislation is not having influence on the pace of the economy. The pace of the economy is awful; with 20% of the US Population out of work. Everyone is concerned about their budget and no one is spending freely. This makes business growth nearly impossible!

Stage 1: Denial

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross proposed the 5 Stages of Grief, the first of which is Denial. Most small business owners hit this stage sometime between February and April, as we pondered how this virus would affect us. The first week that sales were not as expected. The first time we felt fear that a loved one would be endangered by this virus. The first time we looked at our IRA and recognized that years just got added to our work-before-retirement plan. Our first reaction is that it cannot be happening!

Stage 2: Anger

Anger converts your internal pain and directs it outward. Surely someone, somewhere is responsible for this problem. Surely it is their fault that I am suffering. The virus is merely a bit of protein, and we do not get angry at a bit of protein as much as we do how other people respond. We are angry at people who endanger others, people who travel and the travel industry that allow the virus to spread. At governments who, even if acting in good faith, make announcements and rules that we do not agree with.

Stage 3 – Bargaining

If I get saved from this, I promise I’ll call my parents every week, be kind to my children, never raise my voice again. Please save me from the pain of not knowing what comes next, or how to navigate the business decisions. Should I apply for a loan or furlough staff? Do we place advertising to increase sales, or decrease costs by putting all expenses on ice?

Stage 4 – Depression

When your energy is spent, a quiet sadness descends. I do not even know how to handle the situation. Each day becomes an endurance race to cope with new phases of the crisis. I envy small business people who can smile through anything, comparing my insides to their outsides.

Stage 5 – Acceptance

Kübler-Ross ends here stages on a hopeful note. Once you have accepted a loss, you can settle it and move on. This week I feel I’m reaching this phase, but then some news comes my way and I’m back to Depression and Anger.

Enduring the Covid Era

Our current problem is not a one-time loss but an ongoing disaster. Think about 9/11 when 3,000 people died in one day. This left a lasting scar on the national psyche, changed the nature of business travel, and changed the balance of federal spending between domestic and military spending.

Covid is taking 1,600 people per day currently, so a 9/11 every two days. And it is not ending. 10,000 people a week, 40,000 people a month. The scope of change in government spending, national priorities and the nature of our community is 100 times what we did in 9/11.

This a hinge moment, a generational shift, an epic event. It is so new we do not even have a name for it. In ten or twenty years, people will ask “what was it like during that time?” What will we say?

Navigating Your Business Forward

How do we move forward, even against the tide of the ongoing epidemic still coming in? Kübler-Ross gives us a blueprint. No need to hurry the stages. Move through them with self-care and understanding. Take time now to look with clear vision on what is happening now. Find your point of acceptance and start building on it.

I am coming to an understanding of what is motivating my customers right now, and how to fulfill small needs for them right now. For now, I can listen to their words and help the best I can. This will be my blueprint forward.

You would not be in Business if…

Small business is a mixed opportunity. You have complete control of your actions and a clear vision of how these actions become sales and solutions for your customers. It is the choice of an entrepreneur is to make less money and have more control.

You control yourself, and to some extent you can control your vendors and staff. Depending on your style you try to convince, force, cajole or entice these forces to align in your chosen direction. You have no control over the world at large, and to try to exert control will only sap your self esteem.

I am finding the tools are at my fingertips. I can make decisions that seem to bring light to those around me. At CompanionLink we have found some minor cost savings. We have purchased a small amount of equipment and furniture to upgraded our staff home workstations which improves our quality of life and quality of work. We are shifting our marketing and product strategy to focus on customers who are buying products right now.

These are small steps, but these are making business meaningful for our team. When the crisis stops spinning, we hope to be on top. It is the best we can do in an unstable economy.

Other articles in this series:

Small Business Success Planning in Spring 2020
Three Online Resources to Apply for Payroll Protection Program Today
3 New Revenue Sources for Small Business in the CARES Act
Small Business in the time of Virus – Turn Anxiety into Survival

Small Business Success Planning in Spring 2020

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As I write this, we are ending our second month of the full crisis. Everyone has gone grocery shopping with a mask on. Toilet paper is sometimes available in the stores. Many small businesses have received some sort of funding, and in many states the unemployment kicker has relieved the worst of the rental defaults and hunger. The world is coping. But our world is irrevocably changed. We now think every time we “walk through a door”, we don’t touch handles or elevator buttons, and we view all strangers with cautious distance.

How to Cope

The first problem for small business is to cope with what we have. It’s been two months of payrolls and excruciating decisions about cuts, expenditures, debt and payments. Whatever liquidity you had in March is with you for the long run. Your customer base, your weekly sales and your weekly costs are going to be set in stone until the crisis ends. My business tools are not sufficient. There is no way to plan when the picture changes monthly. There is no way to predict whether there will be more gifts from Congress, or more pain from Customers reneging on agreements.

When will it end?

People will not be “normal” until we can mix freely with strangers without danger. That means we must have herd immunity and it must be verified. Immunity might be conveyed by everyone getting the illness, or everyone getting a vaccine. It might also be conveyed by the new cases decreasing to such small numbers that we are confident strangers are virus free.

None of these things are going to happen in 90 days, and probably not in 2020. The logistics of a vaccine are staggering. If there was a vaccine today, it would take a year to create enough doses to vaccinate half the world population. Here in the US, a vaccine would be dedicated to high risk individuals for at least the first six months. With flu vaccine, it takes two weeks to take effect, and does not confer complete immunity. So we could well be into 2021 or 2022 before anything comes close to normal.

The Crisis Shapes our Future

In my view, the future is bright, but with painful changes. Connected Services are going to have a heyday – starting with Zoom but moving to everyone who can deliver business products online. The gig economy will shift as more people move into front-line delivery roles. Brick and Mortar will shrink dramatically as the simple act of walking in the door carries risk. A friend noted that Boeing has recently laid off 1200 engineers, and they will never be rehired. Without herd immunity in a year or two, high paying jobs that are tied to “walking int the door” will be lost forever. The economy will not crash, but will change profoundly as market sectors shift.

Opportunity for Business

The opportunity lies in re-calibrating and focus on new venues for sales. A catering friend says that they delivered 150 food boxes as a drive-by fundraiser for a charity. Both the charity and the caterer are struggling to innovate, and whether they succeed is not important. What is important is they worked together to test a new concept.

At CompanionLink, our loyal customers provide our best inspiration. We can work together to generate innovative ideas. My role is to put away my ledger and help my customers succeed. Their success will feed our success.

My competitors are in the same boat as I am. Suddenly it is time to benefit from years of free service or generous policies. Here at CompanionLink we have always had free tech support even to customers who spent minimal amounts of money many years ago. I am surprised today at how these people are so willing to support us by purchasing a low cost upgrade or suggesting a new avenue of business. (Thanks Guys!)  On the other hand, companies like Microsoft, Comcast and Verizon have spent the past half-decade raising prices and canceling service to past customers. I know people do not have the same level of loyalty to them as they had in the past.

Focus on Enjoying the Now

We are just two months in to what may be a five-year economic transition. The 1972 Stagflation crisis ended with IBM, Wang, and Dec replaced by Microsoft by 1978. The 2002 Dot-Com bust saw Novell, Symantec, Kodak and Blockbuster die, while Facebook, Amazon and PayPal were born. The trend looking forward is connectivity – helping customer achieve their goals without face-to-face meetings. Values, flexibility and efficiency will get you to that customer. Until then, we have today. Dogs and Children will still enjoy this day so take time to play with them. Plan and test new ideas, see what works, and move upward with your life. This is nothing I planned, but it gives me the opportunity to excel in new areas, and for that I am grateful.

Other articles in this series:

Three Online Resources to Apply for Payroll Protection Program Today
3 New Revenue Sources for Small Business in the CARES Act
Small Business in the time of Virus – Turn Anxiety into Survival

Three Online Resources to Apply for Payroll Protection Program Today

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

I am very frustrated by my local bank that they have not even invited me to apply for PPP.  However, a friend shared some online resources where I was able apply. So far I have two of these in “underwriting” but not signed yet.

As far as I understand, you can apply as much as you want.  Just be sure to only sign one.  I am still very confident that CompanionLink will get accepted and get funding for two months of our payroll. 

Today (April 16) funding is out until Congress and the Treasury make a deal. I am confident a deal will be made for this very important program.

Here are some other tips I have learned in my application process:

  1. The loan amount is 2.5 times 2019 Monthly payroll. The best number to use is from your W-3 form, line 5, plus State and Local Taxes line 17 and 19.  Although this is less than “Payroll” this is easy to prove because this is already on your W-3 Form.
  2. Document staff who earned over 100K in 2019, and subtract the Salary over 100k from your total.
  3. Make a PDF of everything, and store them on your Personal computer so you can reply to an email any time of day or night.  So far I have sent out the following documents; Canceled check, Drivers License picture front and back, Register from checking account, 2019 taxes as filed, 2019 Payroll statement, Payroll Statement from Feb 16 2020, W-3 from 2019, All W-2 and 1099 Misc from 2019, Corporate Founding Documents, 2019 941 Reports (4-quarters).

Kabbage

https://www.kabbage.com/ – Apply online

Fundera

https://www.fundera.com/ – Apply online

Ready Capital

https://readycapital.com/ – Apply online

BlueVine

https://app.bluevine.com/signup/ppp – Apply Online

Cross River Bank

https://www.crossriversba.com/ – Apply Online

And More…

Paypal https://www.paypal.com
OnDeck https://www.ondeck.com/resources/what-is-the-paycheck-protection-program
NAV https://app.nav.com/paycheck-protection-program-form/
Funding Circle https://www.fundingcircle.com/us/paycheck-app-start/
Veem https://www.veem.com/sba-ppp/
Biz2credit https://www.biz2credit.com/
Lendio https://www.lendio.com/
Divvy https://getdivvy.com/covid-19/sba-ppp-loans/

Credibly: https://www.credibly.com/small-business-loans/

If you have any more sites I will add them here, email me – wayland@companionlink.com

Other articles in this series:

3 New Revenue Sources for Small Business in the CARES Act

Small Business in the time of Virus – Turn Anxiety into Survival

3 New Revenue Sources for Small Business in the CARES Act

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

We are all hurting now. The normal ebb and flow of business in America has been throttled by stay at home orders. Even if you do not own a restaurant or bar, even if all your workers can work remotely, you are probably highly impacted by frightened customers and small business. This is a huge blow to ego and self esteem.  It becomes hard to concentrate. Everything seems like an emergency.

I have been greatly relieved by the thought that the CARES Act that passed last week will assist us in ways that are worthwhile.  Here are a few things I’ve found that can benefit CompanionLink, our vendors, friends and relatives during this troubled time.

Pandemic Unemployment Insurance

A new category of Unemployment Benefits has been created to help Self-Employed and Gig workers. These new benefits are handled through your state.  If you are Self Employed and have reduced business because of the Stay at Home order, or even if you are too concerned to go to work, you qualify for this benefit.  Apply for Unemployment through the state.  Even if the weekly amount is small, because your income is low, you will be eligible for the $600 additional weekly benefit (roughly $2400 per month) through July 31, 2020.  So for four months, roughly $12,000 will flow to everyone who is unemployed. This benefit is taxable income so be sure to calculate your withholdings. 

I would guess that this benefit will be extended as long as the Lock Downs continue, which may run through the end of the year.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/25/politics/senate-stimulus-unemployment-benefits-coronavirus/index.html

Paycheck Protection Program

The Paycheck Protection Program from the US Small Business Administration will guarantee a loan to your business, and after a time, will forgive up to 100% of the loan amount. 

This program is extended to Nonprofit and other types of business that do not normally qualify for SBA loans. You do not need to be turned down for credit to be eligible for the loan. 

The loan amount is 2.5 times your monthly payroll, benefits and rent.  After 60 days, if you spent this money on payroll, benefits and rent, then the amount is forgiven. Here is the best part; the loan forgivance portion is not considered taxable income to your business.  This program is administered by your local bank provided they are an SBA lender.  Call your bank for details.  Note:  The application forms have not been created yet, and full details are not yet available. Your bank will help you through this process.

https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/paycheck-protection-program

Google and Facebook Advertising Credits

Both Google and Facebook have announced Small Business grants, and/or advertising credit.  For Google, the advertising credit is automatic and will be added to your Google Ads account.  For Facebook you need to apply, and details have not been sent yet.  Keep an eye out for similar credts from Apple, Amazon, and other large vendors.

https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/commitment-support-small-businesses-and-crisis-response-covid-19

https://www.facebook.com/business/boost/grants

Small Business in the time of Virus – Turn Anxiety into Survival

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

Every Boomer got spanked today by the stock market. Part of me cries when I see years of good investment ideas wiped out in a day. My sadness turns to worry about what this means for my business market. I need a crystal ball to help my planning.

Little known fact; my college degree is in Fine Art. My specialty in College was 14th Century Italian Art which can be subtitled – frescos from Black Death. The Bubonic Plague hit Italy in 1348. Prior to that time was almost the Renaissance, with frescos showing a worldly and secular culture. Shortly after the plague the frescoes take a dark and mystical turn. This early specialty has turned into a lifelong interest in how regular people lived in medieval times. The plague set the stage for the Renaissance and Enlightenment. Darkness is followed by light.

CompanionLink is 33 years old. We made it through the Dot-Com crash, the 2008 crash, and 7 Presidents. Hare are a few things that I have found help when times get tough.

Keep a High-Level Perspective

For all that happens today, it is still a wonderful day. Dogs and children will play in the sunshine today, so take time to join them. We have been through worse and came out stronger, and this will happen again. There is a difference between worry and strategic planning. Take time to plan. When planning is done give a moment of gratitude for what has gone before, and patience for what will be ahead.

Plan without Panic

The news media thrives on hype and it is difficult not to get caught up in it. Avoid the headline and seek the facts buried in the lede. Business success comes from anticipating how markets change. If meetings and travel raise fear, then re-arrange your business to teleconference. If schools and public events are canceled, work to connect with your customers as their schedules adjust. Flexibility is an enduring trait.

Anticipate Supply Chain Disruptions

We live in a consumer driven culture with goods supplied over great distances by people who are paid very little. If public events are canceled, what danger is felt by the clerk at the cash register? Work on your corporate supply chain and purchase ahead any supplies that are critical for your business. Then work on your customer’s supply chain to see what you can fill in.

Know the difference between Fixed Expense and Variable Expense

Manage your budget items to avoid fixed expenses based on scale; things like Rent, Utilities and Monthly Services. Shift as many costs as you can to an as-needed basis. If business is slow and you furlough staff, are you still paying full price for Cloud Services? Are your service fees budgeted according to your best sales month, or your worst sales month? If you can pull expenses in line with income, as income fluctuates, you will be better able to weather any storm.

Focus on your Friends – Core Business, Core Customers, Core Staff

Years in small business have taught me that our core customers will work hard for us when we work together. I have to give and be generous. I get rewarded by people who work with my team. Delivering solid value to people who know us well is the best way to survive.

Calamity creates Opportunity

Your competitors are facing the same obstacles that you encounter. Not all of them will survive. Keep an eye out for ways to pick up the pieces left when other companies are disrupted. You know your products better than anyone else. If another vendor drops the ball, step right in to pick it up.

Stay Optimistic

Like a parent, we want to wrap our arms around our world, and tell it everything will be OK. Like a director, we want to tell the obstacles that they are wrong. Like a 100 year storm, our society can meet the challenges before us. The 1918 flu was followed by the Roaring 20s. With careful planning and persistence there will be new opportunities for business success.

DejaOffice 2020 Changes to Edit and View Screens

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

This week we are releasing changes to DejaOffice PC CRM. A focus of these changes are to lower the number of keystrokes needed to create Calendar Events and Tasks, and to better utilize space on the Contact View Screen.

This set of changes is dubbed “2020”. For all of these changes you can revert to the 2019 screens by going to Settings, and then selecting Contacts, Calendar or Tasks, and choosing the option to use 2019 screen formats.

Calendar Edit

When creating an event, we have moved location higher, and condensed some of the options for private and complete. Most notably we have added “quick select” buttons for most common appointment times.

If you choose to make an appointment for a future day, for instance choose “T” for Tuesday – the appointment will automatically slot to your next available time on Tuesday. If there is no slot, a message will show for the Conflict. The system is always trying to slot you for the future. If you click “T” on Tuesday, it will be for the following week on Tuesday. If you click on “Today” it will be for later today.

Task Edit

The Task Edit screen largely follows the changes on Calendar Edit

Contact View

Our goal With Contact View is to get more info into the available screens space. For our Palm Desktop customers, this has not been an issue, because the screen can easily display Contact info, Phone Numbers, Custom Fields and Notes. For our CRM Customers, however, the view area is both crowded and also forced you to scroll to see important information. There was no way to view History, Notes, and Custom Fields without scrolling up and down.

Our solution is to reset the field display if you give it enough width:

Normal Contact View
Expanded (two column) Contact View

If you make the View Panel wider, it will automatically reset to a two-column format. This allows notes to show beside the Histories, and allows addresses to appear side-by-side.

For our CRM users, we recommend you keep the screen expanded as much as possible, and this will reduce the need to scroll.

Unique Capability

With the expanded view – DejaOffice offers something unique in the CRM world – the ability to see both your notes and your history at the same time. Nearly all competing products use tabs, so you can see notes or history, but not both.

New Edit Modes for Contact Screen

We have added context sensitive editing. So if you click on an Address, it will go to the Address Edit view. If you click on the Custom Fields, it will go to the custom fields edit. If you click on the Notes Header it will go to the larger note edit screen, while clicking on the Notes Body will let you edit in the existing view frame.

Detail feature guide: Here is a Guide for our new 2020 Edit Screens.

Thank you for using DejaOffice!

DejaOffice PC CRM Pro
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 78 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $199.95

Outlook Customer Manager (OCM) will be Discontinued – Here’s an Alternative!

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
1

Microsoft has recently announced the end of Outlook Customer Manager, with access to your online data to be ended June 30, 2020.

Outlook Customer Manager was introduced by Microsoft in 2016 as a replacement to Business Contact manager. It sits on top of Outlook and provides key business features. Most notably, it offers Company Records, Shared Contacts, Activity History, Deal tracking, and Integrated Document Management.

Fortunately there is a good alternative with DejaOffice. DejaOffice PC CRM provides the following essential features:

  • Company Records
  • Shared Contacts
  • Activity History
  • Deal Tracking
  • Integrated Document Management
  • Integrated Mobile Apps
  • Telephone Technical Support

DejaOffice PC CRM provides a number of features that Outlook Customer Manager badly needed, but never had:

  • Category Management with Colors
  • Multiple User Scheduling
  • Integrated Tasks and Notes
  • Private Data, Database Encryption and Security

You can subscribe to DejaOffice for Outlook for $7 per month ($19.95 paid once every three months).

You can purchase a perpetual license for $99.95 (one time purchase).

Click here to download: A two-week trial.

Click here to get more info!

CompanionLink provides US based Telephone Technical Support for DejaOffice. There are three levels of support available: Free support, for general information and how-to advice, RunStart service for $49 where CompanionLink will help you set up your database and get you launched with the product, and Premium Support which provides a year of “white-glove” service for you DejaOffice CRM for Outlook site.

DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 78 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $129.95

Why you need a PC based CRM in 2020

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

For the past Decade, Customer Relations Management has been transformed by SaaS providers so completely, that some people think CRM means Cloud. On-Premise CRMs that you can purchase for a one-time price have almost disappeared. The problem with the Cloud model is that every service provide aims to lock you in to monthly payments, slow loading web pages, and features that hide behind premium fees.

No one can predict what our economy will throw us in 2020. But it seems clear that the last 14 years of growth may soon level out or decline. When business gets tough, then the high monthly payments become a burden.

When CRM was new, back in the 1980s and 90s, the main business model was PC based software, PC based data, with sync services to handheld devices. CompanionLink was born in those years, and we retain that service model. More recently there is a trend to adopt personal CRM that cannot be ignored.

We have introduced DejaOffice PC CRM. This is a Contact Manager, Calendar App that runs on Windows PCs, Android Phones, iPhones and iPads. On each of these platforms, the CRM database is local to the device. This means that you gain speed and productivity compared to the browser based model. It also means that if you are disconnected from the internet, on your PC by a carrier outage, or on your phone by simply being in a parking garage, you can still work effectively.

Standalone: DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone $49.95 – A simple standalone Contact Manager for Personal or Small Business use. Track your Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes. This CRM can easily import all your data from Palm Desktop, Outlook, or Google.

You can make mail-merge emails, letters and mailing labels. You can handle tasks and store notes. Automatic backups and privacy features are included.

Outlook: DejaOffice PC CRM for Outlook $99.95 – All the features of Standalone with the additional feature of an Outlook Add-In. You can easily drag and drop an email to create a Contact, Calendar Event, Tasks or Note.

Express: DejaOffice PC CRM Express $129.95 – Customer History and Follow Ups are the main features of the Express version. Easily see everything you’ve done for the customer, and everything planned for the future. The Express version includes the Outlook Add-In, but also adds a feature to automatically move Outlook Emails to Contact history.

Pro: DejaOffice PC CRM Pro $199.95 for 5-Users – Multi-User version with a shared database. No other CRM is as affordable. Every person can have their own schedule, with permission to edit other schedules. Everyone can share a Contact list so that your Company Contacts are always up to date.

Free trial

Download a free trial today. As a part of this trial we will email you setup guides and we will help you get started. There is no risk. See how productive your day can be when you put Customer Relations back on your PC where it belongs!

DejaOffice PC CRM Pro
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 78 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $199.95

CompanionLink provides effective alternative for Telexis PHONEslips and Group Scheduler

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

CompanionLink Software is offering customized import for the discontinued PHONEslips and Group Scheduler programs provided by Telexis Software.

Telexis has announced that these products have been discontinued and support ended December 31, 2019. Customers who currently use PHONEslips will continue to run, and can still export their contact database.

CompanionLink provides a program with similar functionality called DejaOffice PC CRM.

Click on these links for more information:

To take a call using DejaOffice PC CRM, you display the Contact List and then Search for the contact who is calling. You can start the search simply by typing their name in the contact list. If the contact is found, you can record a call by clicking the Telephone Icon. Then you can put in the details of the call. To assign it to another user, put their name as the “owner” of the record. The call will appear on that person’s task list. You can also assign a priority and category color to the call.

DejaOffice PC CRM Pro also has a group scheduling screen. You can use this to view a the calendar for multiple people, and easily move scheduled events from one to another.

DejaOffice PC CRM has well rated Mobile Apps. USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DejaCloud Sync may be used to move data from the PC to DejaOffice on your smartphone.

For a limited time you can order DejaOffice PC CRM Pro, for 5 users ($199.95), with the optional RunStart service ($49) where we will assist you to import your PHONEslips contacts and help set up your office database. We offer $10 off for a total price of $139.95. Click here to order this today.

DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 657 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $69.95

Palm Desktop on Windows 10 – Disappearing Data files – Datebook and Memos

Posted on by Wayland Bruns
Reply

Thousands of people still use Palm Desktop as their primary contact management system. It has the essential features that people need, some of which are even missing in Outlook.

Some of the things found in Palm Desktop and no other PC application are:

  • Fast Loading – Loads in less than a second
  • Categories for Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes
  • Ability to make Memos private and secure
  • Easy printouts of Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes
  • Thorough implementation of Calendar repeats

Versions of Palm Desktop

In 2020, there are two effective versions of Palm Desktop. The earlier version, Palm 4.1.4 was released in 2004. it features Colored Categories for Calendar which were removed in Palm Desktop 6. The data file format is proprietary, based on the original serialized memory structures originally released in 1996. Palm 6.2 was released in 2008 using MDB (Microsoft Access Format) data files. The application features were similar, but the database structure was brand new. Palm Desktop was too early to be converted to Unicode, but special language versions were created for specific markets. Notably Big5 and GB3212 versions were released for China, and JIS version for Japan.

Download Palm Desktop

You can download Palm Desktop from the CompanionLink Support forums. Both Palm Desktop 4.1 and 6.2 are found there.

Problems on Windows 10

Starting in 2019, updates of Windows 10 appear to be interfering with Palm Desktop’s ability to save data files. Notably, if you have Palm Desktop open and your PC reboots (because of a Windows 10 update), the file gets erased. Most commonly this is the last file you added or edited. Palm Desktop does not make automatic backup files, so the data is commonly lost.

For those that use CompanionLink to sync Palm Desktop with Android, and Palm Desktop with iPhone, the Sync Software does make backups of all data files when you sync. So these files are recoverable.

New Alternative to Palm Desktop

We have introduced a new Alternative to Palm Desktop on your PC. It is called DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone. This software has many of the same features as Palm Desktop:

  • Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Memos
  • Very fast load time – loads in seconds.
  • Full featured Calendar and Task lists
  • Hidden data for private notes
  • All the same tables and fields as Palm Desktop

In addition, DejaOffice has some new features

  • Native Windows 10 Compatibility (also Windows 7, and 8)
  • Automatic file backup
  • Built-In Sync with Android and iPhone via USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and DejaCloud
  • Telephone and Email Tech Support

You can download a free 14-Day trial. The cost of the software is current $49.95 with a planned price increase for May 1, 2020 to $59.95. Check out the product information page with the video!

DejaOffice PC CRM Standalone
Average User Rating:
Average rating: 4.83 out of 5 based on 657 reviews.
Free 14 day trial. Price $69.95