Advice needed about software please

[Tina W]

I run a small cleaning company and do all the admin alone usually paper based. As we are growing I'm now struggling and am totally confused by all the software packages available. I wondered if anyone could recommend a system. I need to be able to look at staff and client rotas, be able to have some form of realtime timekeeping/timesheet system. Also would be interested in recommendations for taking card payments over the phone as a lot of our clients are elderly and don't have Internet banking. Currently I visit each client and take payment via cheque but this is too time consuming. I just wondered if anyone could give me some advice as I'm getting very confused by all the different options.

 

[Squantrill]

There are plenty of options and I'm sure you will get lots of answers. One I use to track time is harvest mainly because it works on my phone. And as I have to move around a lot it's handy to have this feature. If you really want specialized staff timetabling then you couldn't go wrong with remedy but this is expensive. If you want simple the harvest will do..

Good luck


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Beth4567]

Hi Tina - NCH software offer staff/rota management I think - I don't know about taking card payments though. I hope that helps.

 

[ExplorerBDM]

Hi Tina W,

I have implemented timesheet and expense systems myself in the past.

I now work for a company that develops bespoke systems and I would like to know if you would consider having your own system designed for you.

It is not as expensive as you would think and the system you describe could be built fairly quickly.

Plus you would own the intellectual property at the end of it, so it would be your asset.

I have been working on helping small businesses understand their business software options a bit more clearly and recently wrote a blog article on this called "How much does it really cost to build a business-class application on an oracle database?" which you should be able to find via Google

The starting point (in my case) is an Oracle Database, for which the free-of-charge 'Express Edition' might be sufficient for your business, then the article includes a flowchart which takes you through several options from that point.

I hope that this helps you to consider all of your options.


Regards,

ExplorerBDM

 

[Lillie]

Hi Tina,

I work for a company called Appointedd. We have an online booking and business management software for businesses like yours that are growing and are looking to better manage their business. Our software provides online booking, customer relationship management, staff management and business management tools. With this you could manage your rota effectively on the software, and all of this, as well as the bookings you put into the software, feed into one intuitive diary. For your clients who are online, they could also book with you online and pay for their booking there, so this would save you a lot of time and will make your bookings easier to manage as you grow. For your older clients, you will still be able to take bookings over the phone, and by inputting their details into the software, you can still make the most of your customer relationship management system, which can include adding notes to each customer. I hope this helps in some way Good luck!

Lillie

 

[ParcelBright]

A simple Excel spreadsheet could probably help with staff rotas.

 

[AlexRoberts]

Hi, Tina! Similar programs are offered by the company Comindware. I will be happy if my advice is helpful to you.

 

[abellina]

Hi Tina,
You must select any website builder tool like shopify, weebly, wix etc.By using these tools you can easily develop your website and manage all your system easily.

 

[bobrudolph]

Just use Trello as you project management software

 

[Cameron Ziafat]

Last three replies in here are awful. Clearly just trying to get their 30 posts. Where are the moderators?

You either need a pre-built rota system (sorry, I don't know of any) and a pre-built time tracking system (we use Harvest, it's really nice), or you may want something bespoke developed. You'd be looking at a few thousand though for a custom solution.

As far as taking card payments go, perhaps have a look at PayPal virtual terminal:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/phone

 

[Guy Earnshaw]

There are many affordable options available for small business owners to improve their operational systems. A common error in thought, I hear from people all the time is "I'm a one man band I don't need better opp systems, I'm happy with pen, paper and phone". Which is now a completely out dated outlook that is not calculating the huge impact the internet has (or can have) on all businesses. There are so many affordable cloud options available, that too lock yourself out of this integrated-internet world, is just malpractice.

Obviously, a lot can be done with pen and paper, but there is no honour in picking the hard route out of habit. Make your business work for you - that is the goal of everyone getting into business - affordable cloud opp-systems are the way to that.