5 posts tagged “business”

Last weekend I helped to set up run a Spring Expo showcasing many of the cool product lines we have available through our Quixtar business.

One of the services we wanted to provide to the many customers who attended the expo was the ability to place an order for the products they had just learned experienced (the hotel had a wi-fi connection of course).

But this would mean we'd have to be able to print receipts and we knew two things:

1. We would have multiple laptops from different business owners, none of which could be networked together
2. We didn't have enough room (or printers) to have one printer per laptop

Since Quixtar sends an e-mail confirmation with each order, we decided we'd just have one station with a printer. Customers who wanted a receipt on the spot would use that station.

But then I remembered having installed PrinterAnywhere at home. As the site says, this application allows you to share your printer on the Internet without a lot of fuss and muss. I already had an account, so I decided to go ahead and download it to all the laptops we were using.

My laptop, connected to my USB HP all-in-one printer, would act as the server and share the printer. The other laptops were set to use that shared printer. I used the same PrinterAnywhere account on all of the machines to make setup and security easy.

The setup worked flawlessly! I'd definitely recommend PrinterAnywhere for people who need to put together an ad-hoc network sharing printers. I can see applications for retail stores, conference registration, etc.

This morning's IRS e-News had the following nice bit of news for people who operate a sole-proprietorship as a husband and wife team (which Susan and I do):

1.  Legislation Eases Burden on Husband/Wife Businesses

Previously, if you wanted to deduct the expenses for a spouse, you had to have an official partnership set up or list the spouse as an employee. This new law eliminates that requirement.

Asafa Powell just matched his world-record time ran the fastest race of the year in the 100-meter: 9.77 9.97 seconds.

(thanks to ibofightback for the correction on my dyslexification of the time)

Entrepreneur Daily provides a post linking to an e-mail newsletter for entrepreneurs who want to keep up with tax-related issues:

If you want to know more about the taxes you're paying or just want to keep up with the changes to small-business taxes, you should check out the IRS's new free newsletter, "E-News for Small Businesses." It'll keep you up to date, and even send you reminders that can help with tax compliance. Sign up on the IRS website.

From the IRS website:

Sign-up and you will receive information about:

• Important upcoming tax dates
• What's new for small businesses on the IRS Web site
• Reminders and tips to assist small businesses with tax compliance
• IRS News Releases and special IRS announcements

You never know how liberating tieing up loose ends can be until you do it!

I'm overcoming symptoms of chronic procrastination and can tell you from plenty of personal experience that tomorrow never comes. You know the feeling: "I've got to do x, but I can just do it tomorrow. Things will be better then."

But things won't be better tomorrow. In fact, they'll probably be worse because in addition to having "x" to do, you'll discover a whole host of new things to do.

Eventually, nothing gets done and you'll feel like a complete loser. These feelings are even worse when the tasks are financial in nature.

So, tie up those loose ends! Clear your plate! The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Do those things that are easy to do, but also easy not to do.