It’s important to keep learning. I recommend ongoing training to all my clients, and I practice what I preach.
I’ll be away on training from February 7th, 2014 to February 12th, 2014. If you need to reach me, email is best. And I apologize in advance, but I’ll only be able to respond in the evening.
As a business person, you have lots on your plate. What would happen if your key computer, server, or POS was stolen, destroyed, or suffered an irrecoverable hard-drive failure.
We have the complete solution. Today, we’re delighted to announce the general availability of clarity™, our proactive support service.
For more than 6 months, with several of our clients, we’ve been testing the reliability and simplicity of our service that provides absolute peace of mind.
Our clarity™ software carefully monitors the health status of numerous aspects of your Mac. From drive capacity, to disk health, to RAM health. If something is not in perfect health, we reach out proactively to you.
To read more, or to sign up, please visit our clarity™ page.
Switching your business to Apple? We can help automate your financial systems. From planning, to training, to network configuration, to “rolling up our sleeves with data-input”, we make it easy.
Our background in business analysis and our knowledge of the Apple eco-system helps deliver systems that give you up to the minute information about the health and efficiency of your business.
I’ll be away on training from July 19th to July 29th. Email is the best way to reach me during this time.
One of the most exciting things that can happen for small business owners when they implement a great system like LightSpeed, is the clarity with which they begin to see how they’re doing things… IF the implementation process includes a properly performed Requirements Analysis. Almost always, we find and define processes that are either failing, redundant, or unnecessary.
That’s the way we’ve always done it.
Many, many times, I’ve been asked if LightSpeed can provide a certain report, capture a certain piece of information, ring a certain bell, or scratch a certain itch– and in most cases, the need for these things can’t be explained… “that’s just the way we’ve always done it”
There’s a reason why my company uses a stylized Ensō symbol as part of its logo. Running your business should be simple and LightSpeed, if approached properly, lets you do that. Ensō symbolizes a moment when the mind is free to simply let the body/spirit create, and running your business should be like this. Some of the best free advice I can give a client is to free themselves of their old business dogma– do (or have done) a complete Business Process Analysis, and if you’re choosing a new system, a Business Requirements Analysis.
Business Analysts use a technique called Root Cause Analysis. It combines a bunch of tools, one of which is sometimes the “5 Whys”– an iterative way to get to the root of a problem. The thing that I love pointing out to my clients while we’re going through this exercise, is that people do not fail, processes fail. By carefully analyzing your methods, policies, procedures, and rules is the starting point. Letting go is the next step.
News-flash! Smartphones and tablets can no longer be considered a fad, and people are actually using them to buy stuff. But seriously, back in June of 2012, Google even recommended that web sites use Responsive design techniques, citing a couple of reasons why:
More importantly, a Responsive design means that your site will look great and work properly on devices ranging from iPhones to Smart-fridges to web-enabled car dashboards… whatever the web-enabled device, your eCommerce site works.
The Web is no longer simply a beige, nearly square monitor. Check it out… The Boston Globe’s web site might be the poster child for Responsive design… open it up and resize your web browser, making it really narrow. It’s fully functional, regardless of how wide or narrow it is.
Possibly in response to this, LightSpeed delivered a new Responsive template with version 2.5 of its Web Store. Under the hood, the Brooklyn theme uses the Skeleton framework to deliver its Responsive functionality.
More people, in more places, using whatever screen is in front of them can purchase from your web site.
It’s a revolution, and it also positions your web site for more efficient changes in the future. That’s why we at Above Studio 1 always recommend responsive design over “high concept” design.