What if QuickBooks Online adds inventory and purchase orders?

I get that question a lot when talking about OE Companion. It’s a good question. Here are my thoughts.

First, I assume that the question is “when,” not “if.” I would be stunned if Intuit has no plans to add those features to QuickBooks Online at some point in the future. So I’m proceeding on the assumption that they will.

What does that do to OE Companion and what would happen to your inventory data in OE Companion?

First, your data. If QBOE introduces inventory and purchase order features, OE Companion will give you the ability to export your existing inventory data to QBOE (assuming of course that QBOE allows us to do it). OE Companion sends all the data you need for inventory accounting to QBOE already, so it shouldn’t be a big problem.

Now, what happens to OE Companion? Keep in mind that inventory and purchase orders are just the first thing that was implemented in OE Companion. There is much more to come, and frankly the other stuff is much cooler! The bottom line is that OE Companion is a supplement to QuickBooks Online. If QBOE adds an inventory feature two years down the road (or whenever), then I encourage you to use it and I will do everything I can to support it. OE Companion will focus on other things. I assure you that there is plenty of functionality that we can add-on to QuickBooks Online.

10 Tips for Starting a Business

I’ve started 5 businesses in the last 15 years. The first one didn't turn out so well, but the others have been successful. I’ve made a lot of mistakes during that time. Fortunately, none of the mistakes have (yet) been catastrophic. Here is a collection of some of the things I’ve learned the hard way. Please feel free to send me your thoughts. I’m especially curious to hear where your experience is different than mine.

1. Don’t spend too much money. That seems blatantly obvious, but I can’t tell you how many companies I have seen do fundamentally ridiculous things. Early on you should scrutinize every expense and ask whether it is really necessary.
2. Don’t go broke. The first step to success in business is staying in business. Make sure you have plenty of cash reserves. In my experience, it always takes more than you think.
3. Start small. You can always add more people, equipment, etc. as the business grows.
4. Listen to your customers. They will tell you what direction to go. I don’t necessarily mean ask them directly, as they might have their own agendas. But their actions (and their dollars) speak loudly about what you should be doing.
5. Combine tips 3 and 4. As you grow, adapt your business to what your customers want.
6. Focus on your competitive strengths. I would rather be #1 in one or two categories than be #5 in ten categories.
7. Whatever your strength, drive it home in the mind of your customers. You are generally better off reinforcing a strength than trying to overcome a weakness.
8. Advertise to get the word out, then let your customers do your advertising for you. Have you ever noticed how the very best businesses, especially small businesses, do very little advertising. They don’t need to advertise, because their customers are telling everyone else about their products.
9. Put your ego aside and treat customers the way you want to be treated. Most customers aren’t out to cheat you. If they are complaining about something, do your best to fix it, even if it is their fault.
10. Start!!! That’s the hardest part – taking the plunge. Beyond that, you can plug numbers into a spreadsheet all day, but you won’t know if it will really work until you try.

Quick Update on OE Companion

The beta trial is going well. We have not run into any major problems. I expect that we will end the beta fairly soon and have an official "launch." Barring any unforeseen problems, that should happen within the next month or so. Remember that beta testers receive a 50% discount on the first three months of service after launch. If you wish to receive the discount, you only have a few days remaining to sign up.

You have provided many excellent suggestions for additional features and enhancements to OE Companion. Thank you for those, and please continue to send them. We are working hard to implement as many of your requests as possible.

Have a great week!

QuickBooks Online Edition now available on Mac, Safari

Mac users ... the day has finally arrived. QBOE is now available on the Mac. As you are likely aware, and as others have noted, that will provide a key set of missing functionality for Mac users of QuickBooks. Specifically, multi-user access is now a reality. Of course due to limitations of QuickBooks Online, inventory management, purchase orders, and other features are still not available.

In the shameless plug department, OE Companion works great with Safari. If you are a Mac user trying out QuickBooks Online Edition and you need inventory management or purchase orders, try OE Companion.