At MBS, we are continually looking for ways to help small business owners to be more efficient and profitable. This often includes providing bookkeeping services and human resource support. But did you know that we also help small businesses to find and implement technology solutions to their operational dilemmas?
Sometimes, these solutions are technology enhancements that integrate with QuickBooks. Other times, we suggest standalone products that solve a specific need for a business.
Here’s are three technology solutions that we have recently helped clients to implement in order to streamline their business.
MagicPlan
Rich Seland of Seland’s Abbey Flooring Center contacted us for assistance in upgrading his QuickBooks Desktop software. During this process, we uncovered other business challenges, as well.
As a premier flooring store in the area, one of his biggest obstacles was quickly completing estimates. When a client wanted new flooring, Seland’s went into their home to measure and provide a quote. Since the process was done mostly manually, it was very labor intensive, time consuming, and sometimes inaccurate. Rich wanted to be able to provide faster and more accurate estimates.
Megan personally understood these challenges, having been involved in her father’s flooring business. For Seland’s, she suggested MagicPlan, an app that allows contractors to quickly create and share floor plans, estimates, and field reports. Implementing this program has been an important part of Seland’s continued success.
xtraCHEF
The overall profitability of restaurants is most directly related to their food and labor costs. Controlling food costs through precise ordering, minimizing waste, consistent portioning, accurate menu pricing, and a lightning-fast response to changes is vital to their success. In addition, restaurant vendors often have aggressive payment terms and want invoices paid quickly. Locating invoices and ensuring they are entered promptly into the bookkeeping system can be challenging for restaurants that get multiple deliveries of food and beverages each week.
Jo McQuisten, owner of Mabel Murphy’s, understands these issues all too well. In order to alleviate these pressures, we partnered her restaurant with xtraCHEF, an online tool for food cost analysis and invoice processing. With the implementation of this software, she can see ongoing trends in food costs and inventory. She’s also assured that the invoices are entered into QuickBooks in a timely manner.
We have introduced this software to other restaurant clients, as well. They’ve all found it to be similarly beneficial. With Toast recently acquiring xtraCHEF, additional features are being added and the software continues to provide additional value.
Frazer
Multi Business Solutions has worked with entrepreneur Matt Danner for several years in his many successful business ventures. Therefore, we were excited to be there for his newest venture, River City Auto.
Tracking the quick turn of vehicle inventory needed a robust software system, not just a paper folder. We suggested using Frazer, an affordable and comprehensive software for independent car dealers. Matt uses it to track all costs incurred to bring a car to resale condition. The program then compiles all necessary paperwork for closing a deal. It also indicates which forms need to be filed with what entities. He now has a current list of all inventory as well as the details of all past sales and purchases. Matt finds this solution extremely cost effective in streamlining his operations.
As a small business owner, you can benefit greatly by using technology to increase your bottom line and improve your customer experience. If you’re interested in learning more about how your employees can communicate and collaborate easier with each other, check out this post for apps that we’ve found especially helpful for our own team.
We totally understand how researching and implementing new technology can seem overwhelming. If you are feeling this way, let us help you! At MBS, we value leadership and seek to be a guide for the journey.