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The News
Vacancies PDF Print E-mail
Written by Paul Read   
Tuesday, 17 November 2009 08:19

Vacancies

Like everywhere else I guess, the recession has taken its toll here but, although we're not out of the woods yet, I think it's time to start pushing forward again.

 

As a result, we are looking for confident sales people, on a commission only basis initially.

 

You will preferably be experienced but we are happy to talk to anyone who thinks they have what it takes. You will need access to a telephone and Internet and, preferably, transport. You will be responsible for your own tax and national insurance so you need to register with Revenue & Customs and then pass the details to us. If you need assistance with this part, call us.

 

We'll pay you a percentage of every Service Level Agreement (SLA) you sell. Better still, we'll pay it every month for the duration of the SLA so you can build recurring income - ideal in these difficult times!

 

We'll provide all the assistance you need in terms of product details and pricing plus target markets. We'll pay you monthly by cheque, BACS or Paypal based on cleared funds on invoiced sales.

 

Interested?

 

Call Aaland on 0845-463-4532 and ask for Paul

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 November 2009 08:35
 
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Network Monitoring

Always on the lookout for tools to make life easier for our customers we are currently evaluating PRTG. Ultimately, we'll have a review here but for now you may want to take a look at their website.

Network Management Software

Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 October 2009 08:10
 
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Written by Paul Read   
Thursday, 24 September 2009 08:01

Starting a Business

With unemployment soaring and at its highest level in over a decade many people are considering starting their own business. It could be to supplement existing income or to act as a safety net should the worst happen.

Now, it may seem that a recession is quite the wrong time to start a new business but, in fact, many of today's successful businesses were started in the last recession. Often started by people made redundant in the downturn they prospered and were ideally placed to reap the benefits when the economy improved.

Why? Simply because starting a business in a slow economy requires the owners to be much more careful managers. Those businesses that have never been through a recession will be slow to respond and carrying too much baggage. They may very well not survive. When the economy improves the survivors grow with it.

What sort of business should I start?

There are many schools of thought here. Some say you should never start a business doing something you know nothing about. I'm not so convinced. For example, the Internet provides opportunities to research different business models readily. If you learn fast and do your research thoroughly then I can see no reason why you couldn't switch to a new field easily.

However, what you can't avoid is whether there is a demand. You can't sell sand in the Sahara, you can't even give it away. Nevertheless, there are numerous opportunities even in recession. Take a look here for some ideas. You can look around your local area too, is there something that is not readily available but would be valued by people i.e. dog-walking?

Think about things that aren't so badly affected by downturns such as retraining as a plumber then advertise an emergency repair service, burst pipes are not restricted to thriving economies!

I have no capital!

Good! It will discourage you from spending! It used to be said that the first rule when starting a business was 'Other people's money'. Nowadays it's not so easy to get your hands on other people's money. That said, one of the biggest mistakes made is spending a load of cash getting all the right things in place then waiting for the customers to arrive. It doesn't work like that - sorry.

Spend as little as possible at start-up and question everything you spend at least three times. You may have to live on very little for months until the business grows sufficiently to support you.

It's surprising how little you actually do need. Depending on the business type you may only require a computer, desk, printer and telephone to manage it but what about stock? Keep as little as possible, especially if its value falls rapidly like consumer electronics. Try to keep no stock and order 'just-in-time'. Avoid giving credit. If you open credit accounts for the business ensure you manage your cash well - numerous businesses have gone bust not because they were running at a loss but because they couldn't pay suppliers. Their cash management was poor. If possible, pay as you go for a while.

Avoid the SCAMs

If you take a look at Google (or any other search engine) it won't take long to find a scam. The economic gloom has taken its toll with many more people being made redundant and more to come. As a result there are more people out there susceptible to 'get rich quick' schemes. I won't say there are none but I've been looking for a scheme to make me rich, while doing absolutely nothing, for years!

The facts are you need to work hard in business to make any money. Making money online is notoriously difficult too. However, there are plenty of web-sites telling us how easy it is to make a bundle for doing very little. Well, try some out but don't expect to see much for your money.

My advice would be:

  • If you have to part with credit card details - run away!
  • Don't pay anything up-front until you have checked them out
  • Do they want personal details like name & address before telling you how it works? Yes? SCAM!
  • Keep a free e-mail address to give them then they can SPAM away un-noticed
  • Don't give out real telephone numbers or post-codes
  • If it looks too good to be true then it almost certainly is

How can Aaland help?

Aaland can help you set up the business infrastructure. We can set up your computer systems, get you on the Internet, set up your website and e-mail and get software installed to help you manage your business effectively. For example, accounting software to produce invoices and manage your cash - FREE. Installation and training from £99+VAT!

We can provide you with a professional website from £199+VAT. You can manage the content yourself with no more than basic computer skills and you get e-mail included.

We can do a whole lot more too so give Aaland a call on 0845-463-4532.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 February 2010 09:52
 
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Written by Paul Read   
Saturday, 12 September 2009 12:50

Energy saving technologies

It's pretty clear to most of us that energy costs are unlikely to tumble in the near future and that means either coughing up or identifying some areas where savings can be made.

Unfortunately, IT is like any other area as far as energy savings are concerned and that means you have to invest, but in what?

Take a look at VMware as an opportunity to save energy. Mosts servers are under-utilised and simply consume more power than required whereas, if they were virtualised, significant savings could be achieved.

For example, you have one server for file storage and printing plus a further server for e-mail. Each is powerful enough to handle the entire load but you have resisted merging them because it's 'Best Practice' not to. However, with VMware you can keep them as separate instances running on the same physical hardware so you get the best of both worlds and save energy. In this case by about 50%!

For more information on VMware look here.

What else can be done? Well, you could do a lot worse than look at Citrix or Terminal Services (depending on how many PCs you have). Many PCs are left running for long periods with no-one using them and that just like pouring money down the drain. However, you could reduce the specification of the PC to a thin-client terminal which consumes significantly less power; has a smaller foot-print and costs about half that of an equivalent PC.

For more information on Citrix and Terminal Services call Aaland on 0845-463-4532.

Finally, virtualise your support services by implementing the highest possible levels of remote monitoring, diagnostics and service. This reduces staff cost and speeds up service delivery as much of the time wasted is taken up visiting users and providing one-on-one support. This is wasteful and should be seen as such.

IT Departments are not exempt from scrutiny and, in many cases, staff are under-utilised. Perhaps there are extra staff just to cover holidays or possible illness? Once virtualised, you could leverage further savings by out-sourcing part, or all, of the IT operation and lose the excess.

For more information on out-sourcing call Aaland on 0845-463-4532.

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 September 2009 07:41
 


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