business card printing can be one of the most crucial things you can do to support who you are, where you come from and what your company has to offer the average consumer. Whenever you run into an old friend or create a casual conversation with a new one, custom business card printing can be your partner in crime. Because of the influx in technology in recent years, it’s easier – and cheaper – than ever to create your own order from home or on the go, wherever there is a computer and an internet connection. Here are a few things to get you started.

As far as the physical attributes of your cards, you’ll want to select the right options for your needs. Paper stocks come in many different types including 12 and 14-point card stock. These provide a sturdier, crisper version than, say, a 100# gloss flyer. That’s because business card printing needs to be able to withstand a fair amount of abuse when being transferred from place to place or housed in a wallet. For the most part, you’ll be able to choose if you’d like a matte finish or even a completely plastic and translucent card at specialty printers.

Coatings are of major importance to the finishing touches of your order. These can make your cards shine like the sun and protect them from any moisture, scratching and smudges. They are a mark of a true professional because they make the whole thing look clean and brilliant. Pick from an aqueous or high gloss UV coating, the standards at most online print companies. Sometimes they will even be able to apply a laminated coating if you’re looking for the ultimate in appeal.

Designing can be a huge issue too, especially if you’re unaware of how to exactly go about doing it. There are online design templates for the person who likes to be able to do it on their own. These are a great idea because once your design is set up, all the printer has to do is send it through the press. The form comes in a print-ready state. Otherwise you can always hire their graphic designers to conceive something unique for you. This can include logos, designs, body copy and layout ideas. Plus, it’s going to be a heck of a lot cheaper than hiring an external source to produce the same. You should always consider these kinds of options when you’re looking to order business card printing.

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The whole point of computerizing a business is to increase profits, save time, and increase efficiency. With a basic understanding of a what a computer can do, you will begin to see the many ways that computerizing can increase the profitability of your business. In the course of this series of articles, I will show you why a good computer system (hardware and software) should earn you at least a 300 percent return on investment annually.

A “Point-of-Sale” (POS) system refers to a computer with specialized software that can act as an electronic cash register, but also maintains and integrates inventory records, sales records, and other data. The beauty of a “Point-of-Sale” system is that all of the information is generated at the sales counter when you ring a sale.

Inventory Records

Computerizing your business means that all inventory updates happen instantly and automatically, and that inventory data can be freely accessed and used. When you sell an item, the on-hand count is reduced. If the customer returns that item, the on-hand count is increased. Using this information, along with past sales history, the computer provides a Reorder Report, which lists merchandise that needs to be reordered. You can then select the items you would like to order, and the computer will prepare a Purchase Order. When the order arrives, the quantities are entered into the computer, and the on-hand counts increase automatically. If any items are backordered, such items remain on order in the system.

Sales Records

A computerized business also means that sales records are immediately stored and organized, and available for evaluation. When you ring up a sale or service, the computer calculates the total cash receipts, credit card sales, sales tax and accounts receivable. At the end of the day, you have a complete list of all transactions and a summary of cash and credit information. The computer is also collecting profit, and commission information. Using this information, the computer provides sales, sales by department or category, profit, margin, markup, accounts receivable, payroll, and commission reports. It also generates account statements and invoices.

Customer Records

Customer records are also maintained in an automated business. The computer stores the transaction information and provides reports that list customer purchase history, merchandise rented, and account charges and payments. You can also print mailing labels and personalized letters. This makes it much less time consuming to send out service reminders, special sale announcements, invoices, account statements, and so on.

Conclusion

This is just a brief overview of what a computer/point-of-sale system is capable of. Such a combination can have a powerful impact on day-to-day business functions. A computer system can simultaneously accomplish tasks such as calculations, record-keeping, organization, and inventory control, in a matter of seconds, where manual record-keeping would require a step-by-step, time consuming approach with much more room for error.

Watch for the next three parts to this series, as I will go into more detail about the benefits of computerizing, including controlling your inventory, policing your profit margins, and more.

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Introduction

Report writing is a time consuming business so it is a great shame if, having devoted all that time to writing your report, the quality is such that hardly anyone can be bothered to read it. Quite frankly, most report readers do not actually read all the report; they are too short of time. You might as well know it and accept it — that is normal. They only read the parts that interest them. Frequently these are the summary, the conclusions and recommendations.

Of course, some readers do need all the details you so carefully included, they are specialists, but most do not. Most readers just need two things: that the information they want is where they expect it to be so they can find it, and that it is written clearly so that they can understand it.

It is similar to reading a newspaper. You expect the news headlines to be on the front page; the sports coverage to be at the back; the TV listings on page whatever and the editorial comment in the middle. If what you want is not in its usual place then you have to hunt for it and you may get irritated. So it is with a report.

There is a convention as to what goes where. Stick with the convention and please your readers. Break the convention and people may get slightly irritated – and bin your report.

So what is that convention, the standard format?

Standard Sections

Title Section. In a short report this may simply be the front cover. In a long one it could also include Terms of Reference, Table of Contents and so on.

Summary. Give a clear and very concise account of the main points, main conclusions and main recommendations. Keep it very short, a few percent of the total length. Some people, especially senior managers, may not read anything else so write as if it were a stand-alone document. It isn’t but for some people it might as well be. Keep it brief and free from jargon so that anyone can understand it and get the main points. Write it last, but do not copy and paste from the report itself; that rarely works well.

Introduction. This is the first part of the report proper. Use it to paint the background to ‘the problem’ and to show the reader why the report is important to them. Give your terms of reference (if not in the Title Section) and explain how the details that follow are arranged. Write it in plain English.

Main Body. This is the heart of your report, the facts. It will probably have several sections or sub-sections each with its own subtitle. It is unique to your report and will describe what you discovered about ‘the problem’.

These sections are most likely to be read by experts so you can use some appropriate jargon but explain it as you introduce it. Arrange the information logically, normally putting things in order of priority — most important first. In fact, follow that advice in every section of your report.

You may choose to include a Discussion in which you explain the significance of your findings.

Conclusions. Present the logical conclusions of your investigation of ‘the problem’. Bring it all together and maybe offer options for the way forward. Many people will read this section. Write it in plain English. If you have included a discussion then this section may be quite short.

Recommendations. What do you suggest should be done? Don’t be shy; you did the work so state your recommendations in order of priority, and in plain English.

Appendices. Put the heavy details here, the information that only specialists are likely to want to see. As a guide, if some detail is essential to your argument then include it in the main body, if it merely supports the argument then it could go in an appendix.

Conclusions and Recommendations

In conclusion, remember that readers expect certain information to be in certain places. They do not expect to hunt for what they want and the harder you make it for them the more likely they are to toss you report to one side and ignore it. So what should you do?

1. Follow the generally accepted format for a report: Summary, Introduction, Main Body, Conclusions, Recommendations and Appendices.

2. Organise your information in each section in a logical fashion with the reader in mind, usually putting things in order of priority – most important first.

Good luck with your report writing!

Author: Tony Atherton

? Tony Atherton 2005)

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