# Mac Resources for Small Business?



## imMACulate Heart (Oct 22, 2009)

Hey everyone! Long time no post!

I'm back from maternity hiatus and thinking about starting my own business as a consultant. Might be getting a few other moms to join me.

Anyway, I want us to go all Mac, but I was wondering if there are any Canadian resources on the subject. Accountants seem pretty tied to their PCs, but I thought I might be able to swing some sort of accounting web app that was platform agnostic.

As you can tell, I have a lot of questions. If my experience at Mississauga's Sherway Gardens today was any indication, however, the Apple Store is probably not the best place to go for answers.

Any of you have small businesses? Where do you go for Mac resources? Is there an online small business Mac community somewhere?


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## Izzy (Apr 14, 2008)

We use a local bookkeeping firm to do our books but we used to use MoneyWorks. Wave Accounting looks like an interesting web based accounting service but I haven't used it. 

We use Macs and we don't have many issues. I prefer Pages and Keynote over Word and Powerpoint but I have to keep Office around for the times I have to collaborate with clients who use Windows. Numbers isn't as powerful as Excel so we mostly use Excel. 

I'm not aware of a specific online community for business owners using Macs but the professionals forum here has a lot of knowledgeable people. I'd be interested to hear what software people are using. I'm always looking to improve my workflow.


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## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

Lots of resources from Apple on their Business Solutions page.

Apple also has a series of profiles of businesses that make use of Macs in interesting ways.

And a quick Google search for "Macintosh" and "small business" turned up lots of hits - here are a few:

Why Small Business Owners Need a Mac: Apple 

AccountEdge | International Version | Mac Accounting Software for Small Business (Accounting for Mac)

The Mac Means Business - www.smallbusinesscomputing.com (a bit out of date - 2006)


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

imMACulate Heart said:


> Hey everyone! Long time no post!
> 
> I'm back from maternity hiatus and thinking about starting my own business as a consultant. Might be getting a few other moms to join me.
> 
> ...


I hope that I don't get in trouble for this, but I'm presenting a seminar on November 8th in Oakville called Your Business on a Mac. Feel free to contact me directly and I'll provide you with the details.

I've presented a condensed version of this at the Yorkdale Apple Store in the past. We start with the built-in apps, Mail, Safari, Address Book and iCal, talk about iWork, MS Office, and then move into the group of apps that include Daylite, Billings and Billings Pro, FileMaker, MoneyWorks, and AccountEdge. 

One area that I hadn't talked about when I did the seminar at the Apple Store, but intend to include this time, is the idea of business workflow and understanding your own processes before going out and searching for / incorporating any apps.

What I am finding in my recent dealings with prospects and new customers is that many small businesses haven't taken the time to sit down and figure out what their processes are. I hear over and over "we just need some basic applications". Quite often they add applications to deal with a specific problem, or in reaction to a problem with their information. Quite often they get something that does one function well, but doesn't fit into the bigger picture. Much better to be proactive and figure out how you want the data to flow within the organization, before you go rush out and add technology. 

One suggestion that I've given to some is to sit down and write out the steps that take place from the moment a potential customer contacts you, until the moment you close the deal. If you've got deliverables (i.e. you're not closing a transaction and handing over the product immediately) write out the steps that occur after the sale is closed as a separate process. And if your business includes any form of after sale followup, write down those steps as a separate process as well. You may be in a business where different types of sales require different steps, identify those.

Try to do this without using technical terms. List different options whenever possible. For example, you might want to identify that potential prospects could contact you via the telephone or by email. If they call, the following steps should be taken, if they email us, we do these steps, etc. Or maybe it is based on the product or service that they are interested in, if you offer multiple. So it would be "if they are looking for widgets, we would send them a brochure and then follow up a week later. If they are looking for grommets, we take the order over the phone and ship out the product that day."

If you're in a business with multiple employees / partners, have each write their own separate lists and then sit down and compare them. You'll be surprised how often you get different lists and how often one person will come up with something that the others didn't consider. 

I've found some of the biggest obstacles are when two or more employees / partners don't follow the same basic methods. Makes it very difficult when there are other employees in the mix and they get confused because there are multiple methods beings used. So even if you have applications that you use, if one person in the company is doing things one way and another person is doing things a different way, that has the potential to make whatever technology you are using inefficient. This shouldn't be a rigid, everything has to be done this way process. Think of it like a play. If all the actors know what the scripted lines are, what the set looks like, and what props are being used and where they are going to be on stage, they know how to anticipate what is coming next but they should be prepared to improvise if something unexpected happens. 

Too often technology gets blamed for what is actually just poor planning.


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## mkolesa (Jul 22, 2008)

i don't have direct experience but i do know about a girlfriend who started her own consulting business a couple years ago. basically she found that her accountant wanted her to send quickbook files, and the mac version available in canada doesn't support the tax structure well (as i recall). so to continue to use the same accountant that she had a close relationship with, she needed to run windows on her MBP and install that version of quickbooks. this is all from memory but it leads me to believe that even if you're happy with your office flow from a mac standpoint, there still may be some issues with interacting with the outside world.


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## Admant (Jun 9, 2003)

I use accountedge to run my small restaurant. Personally I only have the need of an accountant come tax time, I find reconciling each month fairly easy. As long as you are dilligent in keaping the records up to date it's pretty simple. I did pay for some training in the beginning, after 4 hours I was good to go.


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## crawford (Oct 8, 2005)

Oakbridge said:


> I hope that I don't get in trouble for this, but I'm presenting a seminar on November 8th in Oakville called Your Business on a Mac. Feel free to contact me directly and I'll provide you with the details.
> 
> I've presented a condensed version of this at the Yorkdale Apple Store in the past. We start with the built-in apps, Mail, Safari, Address Book and iCal, talk about iWork, MS Office, and then move into the group of apps that include Daylite, Billings and Billings Pro, FileMaker, MoneyWorks, and AccountEdge.
> 
> ...


Such good advice.


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## imMACulate Heart (Oct 22, 2009)

Great advice. Yeah, I am most worried about the whole accountant interface issue. It's not my favourite part of the business anyway, and having to spend the time firefighting IT issues does not appeal much.

I left my contact info with the Apple rep at Sherway, and she said that one of their Business Managers would call me. Anyone have experience with them? Are they internal Apple employees or some sort of external certified Apple Consultant? It has been a few days and they haven't called yet.

Steve, I am going to DM you for the seminar info. Oakville is a bit out of my way, but maybe I can juggle my plans.


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## sjb (Jun 3, 2005)

I use Moneyworks too. Works on both Mac & PC, when you buy they will send a copy to your accountant too.


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