Business Development Center

Small businesses have been contracting computer consultants to fix their computers for many years. Usually this is because they have a small number of computers and hiring someone full time to maintain these small networks is not economical or efficient.

The three main benefits that companies experience when they choose to outsource their computer services through a third party. They may even employ or have employed their own IT staff in the past.

#1 Save Money & Time. Computer consultants are very cost effective, efficient and time saving, especially if you contract them on a retainer basis. A retainer is a prepaid service fee, usually paid monthly. This retainer service contract puts the consulting firm “on call” and no matter when, what, or how long it takes the firm to solve the problem they are legally and ethically bound to fix it so long as the services rendered are in the boundaries of the service contract. The more time the consultant spends the less per hour they make, intrinsically motivating them to be efficient. If your network is down and you are losing money by the minute, you will feel comforted to see this computer consultant firm onsite fixing the problem.

#2 Increased Company Performance. When hiring a computer consulting firm you are getting the combined experience of the whole firm plus all of their partners and resources. Even if your company has a full time IT person or two they may not have all the expertise needed to create the dependable robust IT solution needed to solve your problems. A consulting firm will complete the project with a more reliable and robust solution because their combined ability is greater. A more robust and reliable IT solution will boost your performance as a company.

#3 Professional Courtesy. A computer consulting firm is a different company than yours. Like you they are motivated to keep their clientele and expand their market share. Their reputation is the most important advertising tool they have. They compete against other IT firms, usually generating referrals to gain market share, a better reputation is worth its weight in gold. Thus they are naturally motivated to provide superior overall service to you.

In conclusion, outsourcing your IT can save your company money due to less down time, increase your company’s performance due to more reliable and robust IT solutions, and give you superior overall service because they compete for your business.

Even though a lot of people seem to be using credit cards exclusively for incidental purchases these days, the truth is checks are still a preferred method of payment for a lot of people.

It doesn’t make sense not to accept checks, since most people will expect to have that option, but there are certainly some things to worry about when you do accept checks. There’s always the danger that someone has stolen the checks from their rightful owner or that they just don’t have the money to pay for what they’re writing the check for.

There will always be some risk involved in accepting checks, but these days technology makes your life a little easier with an invention known as a check reader.

A check reader is basically a scanner that the check is fed into. It reads the check and automatically debits the check writer’s account at the time of purchase.

The money is deposited into your account within 24 hours — you don’t even have to drive to the bank and physically deposit the check.

Using a check reader means you’ll know before the customer leaves the store if he or she has written a bad check. You’ll also get your payment a lot more quickly than if you used the traditional method of accepting a check, depositing it into your account and waiting for it to clear.

A check reader can take a lot of the guesswork out of accepting checks and will make you feel more secure when accepting checks for high-dollar items. Posting a sign that you have a check reader will make customers aware of the system and prevent people from writing bad checks in the first place.

Check readers are commonly available from the same companies that provide payment processing for credit cards and merchant accounts. Some companies even provide this equipment for free to people who are interested in using it.

You’ll no longer have to limit yourself to only accepting checks from the local area in case you have to try to track someone down who wrote a hot check. The reader will do all the work for you and tell you in a matter of seconds if the payment has gone through, regardless of where the customer’s bank is located.

There’s no reason not to get a check reader. You’ll get paid faster and know immediately if someone is writing a bad check. At the end of the day, you’ll know that the money you made today is going to be in you account tomorrow. What could be better?