Brian Dusablon

So I run a small business. It’s not hugely profitable (yet), but it’s a nice side gig to my day job, which I thoroughly enjoy and could not possibly give up right now.

My goal is to grow my business gradually, building long-term relationships with non-profits and small businesses.

I believe the most important tools for a small business are, in no particular order, customer relationship management (CRM), accounting and invoicing, and project management.

Now for my dilemma. For the first few years of business, where I had a very small number of clients, and several one-project clients, I hopped around between Blinksale, Freshbooks and some others on their free limited accounts, trying them out. They all seemed to work pretty well, and eventually Freshbooks won me over with their frequent feature enhancements and their wonderful product team and support.

So when I reached the next level in my business, I imported everything to Freshbooks and went with their lowest paid plan, at $14 per month. Since then, I’ve had no complaints, and no issues whatsoever, except for that monthly email notifying me that my card has been charged $14.

I absolutely love the simplicity to administer my account, monitor payments, automate recurring invoices, etc. But I’m wondering if something on my local machine, like Billings, would be a better solution at a one-time fee of $39 (less than three months of my current plan). At the same time, the simplicity and time savings of using a great SaaS app like Freshbooks is nice.

I’m hoping a few small business owners and/or freelancers read this post and can provide me with some feedback on what they are using.

Aaron is setup with Billings and Basecamp, which I’ve used sparingly. I’m not sure if they play nicely together, but it works for him. I’d love a fully integrated solution (or solutions) to manage my clients, both active and potential, billing, and project management.

Freshbooks and Basecamp play nicely together, as do several other SaaS tools. 37signals makes their case for web-based software. What do you use? What’s your experience? What’s your monthly bill for running your business? What other tips do you have for me?

Q and A – Tip of the Week – Quickly Access Folders on Windows XP or Vista – Question – NYTimes.com

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I just read a very good article from the Times. There are many valuable points made about making the effort, however small – like helping a nonprofit get set up with Twitter and Facebook – to help make this world a better place. I’ve tried to work with my kids on this, and have been fairly successful.

I recently took my son (9) to the Village Learning and Achievement Center, the local nonprofit (where I volunteer) he chose back in January in lieu of presents (yes, we’re slightly tardy in our delivery).

He had an amazing experience with the director giving him a tour and meeting some of their clients. He did really well, and I was proud of him. He came out of there, and said, “that place was really cool.”

Anyhow, just wanted to share, and encourage you to talk to your kids, your friends, even your parents and coworkers, about doing something good and meaningful in this world.

Every dollar helps, every minute of time volunteering helps, in some way, to make this place better for all of us, and especially our kids.

I love the last part about them being closed on Sunday. Between trying to go to Chinese restaurants on Mondays, and Chick-Fil-A on Sundays, my family has struck out quite a few times.

(via Jason)

This is hilarious. The CH guys do some great work. My favorite: “You can’t be gay on eHarmony!”