Choosing a Computer

For the non-technically minded, choosing a computer can be a daunting process. Do you go with Apple (cool software and hardware) or an IBM compatible. If you're buying a laptop, what size should you get? What about battery life? How big a hard drive do I need? What type of CPU (central processing unit)?

Having purchased a few computers over the last couple of months, I went through the process of researching choices and can offer a couple of tips:

Apple vs. IBM: I recently purchased an iBook (Apple laptop) for my wife. It is a great machine, which is easy to use and looks cool too. I was debating purchasing something similar for my business, but decided to stick to an IBM compatible (I am typing this entry on a Compaq laptop). Here was my thinking:

1. Learning curve: I am very familiar with Window XP and windows software. Any time you switch to a new operating system there is a learning curve which can be a distraction and can take time away from your business. Unlike most people, I actually enjoy tinkering with new systems, but in this case I decided that switching my business to Apple hardware would be too much of a distraction.

2. Hardware and software: There are fewer choices for both hardware and software. This is not to say there are not excellent products available for Apple, but the choices are more limited and tend to be expensive.

3. Compatibility: With the new generation of Apple products, compatibility is supposed to be less of an issue. While this may be true, in talking to technical folks who work with our business, they are not familiar with Apple hardware and software and are not sure how to make Apple products work. In addition in setting up our server, Blackberry, etc interoperability can become an issue.

Bottom line: Apple makes great products, but for a small business, IBM compatible was the way to go.

Which CPU to Choose? If you are buying a computer, it is always best to stick with the latest technology available. This will ensure longer life for the computer as new and more sophisticated software becomes available. Currently, the latest IBM compatible cpu's are the Intel Duo Core chips and the AMD Turion x2. I got to use both chips recently, and my subjective opinion would be that the AMD chip seems to perform faster. Computers with this chip are also a little bit less expensive.

Memory: More memory is always better as far as increasing computer performance. Anyone buying a computer currently should have at least 512k of memory, with 1 Gig a better choice.

Hard Drive Size: These days, hard drive storage is relatively cheap. Again, more is better especially if you will be storing image files, movies and music. I would recommend at least 60 Gigs, with 100 Gigs a better size. As I have recently discovered, many computers now segment almost 10 Gigs of space as a recovery partition in case the computer crashes. This space is not accessible for normal storage of files.

Screen size: For a desktop machine, get the largest screen you can afford. You will appreciate the extra real estate, especially if you work on spreadsheets or do any kind of photo editing. For a laptop, the size depends upon the intended use. If you travel smaller may be better. I currently use a 14.1" wide screen which works well with the limited space on an airplane. The laptop only weights 5 lbs which doesn't weigh on my shoulders when I carry it around. If your laptop will be primarily for home use I would recommend at least a 15.4" screen.

Laptop batteries: Batteries are a compromise between weight and running time: In general the heavier the battery, the longer the running time. Most laptops come equipped with a 6 cell battery which in my experience will run for about 2.5 hours.

Hopefully, these tips will help you in your quest for the right computer for your business.

Car Problems

I am going to break away from my typical business discussion to write about my very recent car woes. A week ago Saturday I took my car to the local Acura dealer for what I thought should be a routine 30k service. I got a call from the service manager Saturday afternoon. He told me he had good new and bad news. I thought, this is strange. He proceeded to tell me that the car checked out ok and they had performed the service. The bad news was that they got a scratch on the car when they took it for a test drive. He assured me that they would take care of the issue and the car would be delivered back to me good as new.

I went to visit my car at the dealership on Sunday. The 'scratch' was a nice dent in the passenger side rear wheel well. Oh, there was a scratch (actually some scrapes) in addition to the dent. I guess the service manager and I have different interpretation of the damage.

I called the service manager on Monday and described what I had seen and asked him whether the dealership would waive the service fee considering the situation. The dealer's position is that they have taken care of the damage and would split the cost of the service 50/50 with me. I indicated that this was not acceptable and I have contacted the Acura corporate office to see if they might help out. The dealership has not budged from their position as far as waiving the service cost.

As of today, I still do not have my car. Lesson learned: Be careful with who you deal with and make sure you keep valuable customers happy. I have had a relationship with this particular dealership for many years, having purchased my TL from them and have serviced two cars with them. I will likely be replacing my wife's car in the next year. Of course after this experience I will not be doing business with this dealership. I might even tell a few friends about this unpleasant experience. Hopefully, I will have my car back soon.

Of course when running a business you can't just give your product away. However, for customers that represent real value to your business, waiving a fee, discounting a service, etc is usually a small investment relative to the value of preserving a long term loyal relationship.

Up and Running

Well, I am back up and running. Luckily, I was able to retrieve the important files from my old laptop. One thing that was a pleasant surprise was Costco's return policy; they have a 6 month return policy on computers, no questions asked. I picked up a Compaq computer (I know they are the same company as HP) and was able to save $100. One difference between this and my old laptop (other than the fact that this one works) is an AMD chipset. So far, the performance seems better than the old one which was an Intel Duo Core. I am hoping that I do not have to repeat this exercise for some time.

Computer Crash Woes

I was quite surprised today, when I started my 6 week old laptop and Windows check disk came on. The program when through its fits and starts, and told me that I had corrupt files and bad sectors on my hard disk...yuk! I never expected to have this kind of problem on a brand new computer. Since I am a bit of a geek, I thought maybe I could use the system restore in case my problems were software related. System restore couldn't roll back to any earlier restore points. I thought this was strange, and went to a more drastic measures by using system recovery. This wiped out all the software I installed, but was nice enough to save my data files. Alas, even this drastic measure did not solve my problems. Now to see if I can return my computer to Costco, or else I have to deal with a warranty repair with hp.

I learned an important lesson today...back up your files! There are many methods to back up files, some are formal controlled by software and some more low tech like burning files to CD on a regular basis. Given this experience and the importance of these files for my business, I am going to explore the more formal route. I will let you know what I find out in a future entry.

Professional Sound for Your Company

Recently, I was trying to figure out how to set up a toll free number as a way to call our firm for a direct mail piece we are putting together. What a stumbled across was a way to create a professional sounding phone system for our company. There are many services available that allow you to create a way for customers to reach you toll free as well as provide voice mail boxes for individual employees. The service we selected is called Freedom Voice. For under $10 per month plus $.06 per minute we have a way for clients to call us toll free with a front end introduction that greets the callers and provides a menu to route calls to five mailboxes (you can purchase additional mailboxes for additional cost). In addition, the service provides call forwarding for each mailbox (we forward ours to our cell phones), a pretty nice web interface to access account features and will route voice to your email box (they come through as mp3 files). We have set up routing so that callers responding to our direct mail piece is routed to one mailbox, and three of us have each have our own separate mailboxes forwarded to our cell phones.

So far, the service seems to work well. Stay tuned...

Travel Tips

Today I will brief. I am a bit tired from a long driving trip from Chicago to Indianapolis; a total of almost 600 miles. Since traveling is on my mind, I thought about asking for travel tips and suggestions. One of the things I find extremely useful is my Tomtom window mounted navigation system. In my business I am on the road frequently in various parts of the country (and Canada) and the Tomtom has always gotten me to my destination. It also has useful points of interest like restaurants and gas stations.

Please share your thoughts and tips.

VOIP Phones

I am seeking some advice. We soon will be moving to a new location and will need to purchase phone service (we are in a shared office environment currently with phones as part of the package). We have started looking into voice over IP phones and these seem to be a good alternative to regular phone service, especially factoring in price. Are there any downsides to this type of service? Are there differences in service providers? How about differences in equipment?

On a related note, we have begun using Skype for making calls to folks in India. Not only are the calls free, the sound quality is awesome. The downside is that you need a computer and a broadband connection to make calls. Not practical for all situations, but worth checking out.

Please share your advice and phone stories.

Rob

How Do I Find New Customers?

Most new companies have to figure out how to find new customers. Of course Zelcom Group is no exception. We have begun to explore many different marketing methods and I would be curious to know where other people have had success or failures:

• Web site: For our business this is table stakes. It provides a level of credibility as well as further describing our business. Unlike B to C businesses, we do not look to our web site as a primary source for customers, but as an important supplement. Please check out our web site, www.zelcomgroup.com and give me your feedback.

• Marketing lists: There are many marketing lists out there from various sources. Today we had an interesting meeting with a company called InfoUSA that enables users to create both b to b and b to C lists and mailings. Their product called Sales Genie enables a user to easily access the InfoUSA database with a pretty slick front end tool. The tool enables the user to select names based upon criteria that would be consistent with the types of target customers most likely to respond to the product or service being offered. I liked the overview we received in our meeting today, and we are following up to get more information. Folks interested in other lists available should consider contacting the national credit bureaus, Trans Union, Equifax, and Experian as well as Acxiom and Choice Point. There are other companies out there that provide lists as well. Please let me know if anyone has had success with other list providers. Our company specializes in evaluating lists and optimizing marketing results using list data.
  

• Local Chamber of Commerce: We have joined our local chamber of commerce and have found this to be very useful from a number of perspectives. First, it is a great networking opportunity. Not only have we found some business leads, we have also had a great opportunity to practice pitching our business. It seems like the business pitch should be something easy to do, but this was not the case the first couple of times we had to explain what we do. Practice makes perfect. Second, we have found a source of great services for our company. This includes things like promotional items, computer servers, telephone service, etc. Lastly, this is a great way to connect into the local business community.

• Direct Mail: I will have to get back to you on this one. We have created our first marketing piece and will be mailing roughly 1,500 people next month. Wish us luck! I think what we do will difficult to explain in a direct mail piece.

• Professional Sales People: Good sales people are indispensable. They allow you to focus on building your business without having to worry about finding new customers. However, sales folks can be expensive. Make sure you price your product or service with sales salaries/commissions in mind. We were fortunate to find a couple of sales folks that quickly enabled us to fill out our pipeline.
  

• Cold Calls: We have not yet done any cold calls. I don't think this would be very effective for the service we are trying to sell. This has got to be the toughest way to acquire customers!
  

Please share your experiences in acquiring customers. Let me know if I have missed any methods you have tried, whether successful or unsuccessful.

Rob

It begins....

I thought it might be interesting to share my experiences in starting an international analytic consulting company. After working in corporate America for over 16 years, I felt it was time to strike out and be able to do my own thing. Life at times in the corporate world was bordering on a Dilbert cartoon. I look forward to sharing some of these experiences in future entries. I would also love to hear your experiences as well. If you are interested in learning more about my company, please check out our web site:

www.zelcomgroup.com

They say variety is the spice of life...
We have been in business for only 4 months, and in this short period of time I created a business plan, set up a web site, am negotiating partnerships with companies in India and Canada, presented our business plan to investors, and built out a significant business pipeline. Never mind setting up new phone systems, buying a new server, and finding office space. I must say, there is more variety in this owning your own business thing than in corporate life. So far, the experience has been great!

It is my hope that this blog will benefit those who are going down similar roads with their own business. In future posts, I will update you with the lessons I have learned as we continue to build our business. I may also ask for advice from those of you who have already been on the roads we are approaching.

I look forward to reading and sharing your comments.