Category: Blogs

Choosing the Right ERP System for Your Business

Our last blog gave you the beginning of a good process for selecting the perfect software solutions for business for your company. Here are some selection tips for choosing the right ERP system.

1. Now you should have a list of business software options that meet your needs and are trustworthy. Read the reviews for each and consult other business owners you trust to find out more about them. Eliminate any that seem slightly sketchy or don’t receive mostly positive, consistent reviews.

2. Get to know each of the systems a little bit better. By this point, your list should be smaller, from two to four systems. Consider free trials if they are offered since they are a good way to get to know a system hands-on.

3. Finally, choose your system, purchase, install, and begin training your employees so that they can become proficient in the new program.

The Benefits of Cloud-Based Software Solutions

We covered the benefits of choosing to purchase ShopWorx as a client-server software in our previous blog post. The other option, our cloud-based software, is equally popular and also has many benefits. Here are some of the main benefits associated with cloud-based software systems.

Benefits of Cloud-Based Software

Cloud-based software is hosted offsite and is accessible from any computer through the use of the Internet. This allows employees to access your system from any device that is connected, instead of just those computers in your office on which the Apparel ERP or sign business software are installed.

The main benefit of cloud-based software systems is that they take up far less space since you don’t need an extensive IT infrastructure to host the entire system in-house. They also cost less upfront since there is a monthly fee instead of a large one-time payment and smaller yearly installments.

Cloud-hosted systems are updated more regularly since they don’t require physical installation onsite. They also lower your payroll costs, since you don’t need such a large in-house IT department to support your entire business infrastructure. Your company information and files are also safe if something happens to your hardware, and even theft of your hardware doesn’t equate to loss of your business information.

The best comparison to be made between the two methods of hosting software solutions for business is the difference between renting and owning a car. You have all of the benefits of transportation when you rent, but you don’t have to take care of maintenance. There is a trade-off in the higher monthly and overall cost in the long run, though, and the decision between which is best for you depends on the nature of your business.

Now that you’ve learned about the benefits of cloud-based software, learn what questions to ask when considering a Cloud-Based ERP Software.

How to Choose the Right Software for Your Business – Part 1

In business, you and your workers often need to face the same issues again and again. Learning how to choose the right software for your business can help tremendously. Here is part one of a brief guide on how to choose the right software solution for your business if you don’t already have one or you are looking to switch to a different system.

1. First sit down and create a rough list of the functions you would like your business software to fulfill. Things you might include are pricing, archiving old projects, thread colors, and more. This way you can begin eliminating software systems that don’t meet all of the needs on your list.

2. Next, search for business software companies online, ask other business owners what systems they use, and come up with a list of possibilities Eliminate those that don’t meet your needs or that receive consistently poor reviews.

3. Verify that each system you are seriously considering is trustworthy and safe.

Learn more about choosing the right ESP system for your business.

When companies use apparel software to allow customers to create their own designs and upload them to their system, controversial apparel could end up being featured. Sometimes this could cause a stir, since controversial designs could be misinterpreted or offend some people. When this happens, it could damage the company. The same can happen if your company is the one creating the offensive screen prints.

1. In the past, selling controversial apparel boosted sales, since people flocked to the stores and websites to see the clothing in question. However, the advent of social media changed this. Now, everyone sees the clothing in question on Facebook and Twitter, and no longer come into the stores. In addition, bad press travels much faster than before.

2. The instant rating and reviewing that social media offers makes it difficult for stores to come back from a scandal. When something is produced that people don’t like, they can now share it loudly and, in many cases, others will follow. People even organize boycotts this way.

3. Putting forth products without thinking first could become an issue. Companies have to really think about how a product will impact the consumer before putting it out. This dispels issues before they start.

4. All consumers are now brand ambassadors. This means that they have the upper hand when it comes to product choices. If they don’t like it, within days everyone knows, and many, then, do not like it. Plus, if enough people complain about a product, it ends up on the news for everyone to see. News spreads like wildfire online.

For more information about the apparel industry, contact us at ShopWorks.

Benefits to Purchasing Content Management Systems

Content management systems and other software solutions for business make your life easier, and your business much more successful. We gave you several benefits to purchasing a content management system in our previous blog, including that they give you complete control, allow you to keep your content fresh with ease, and facilitate communication within your business and with your customers.

Here are a few more benefits to updating or purchasing a new Apparel ERP or other business software system:

1. Security: You have to do a lot as a business owner, including managing your website, cultivating new products and services, and communicating with customers. One of your most important tasks, however, is keeping all of your and your customers’ information safe. Onsite software systems help you do just this, and make your information secure to hackers or thieves.
2. Organization: Filing cabinets and messy piles of paper are a thing of the past, and make keeping your business information organized very difficult. Even if you have several different systems to help run your business, your information is stored in multiple places, which can make it hard to find quickly. Having a single content management system that does it all makes it much easier to keep your business organized and efficient.
3. Customer Service: Onsite software systems help facilitate better customer service. Many systems have programs that automatically reply to customer emails and help field calls, giving faster and more accurate assistance. These systems also allow customers to contact you through your website instead of through email.

When a custom t-shirt business starts up, it needs commercial screen printing equipment to keep up with demand. If you are wondering, “What equipment do I need to start a t-shirt business at home?” Look no further. Below is our list of the most important items to have on hand when starting up this type of business.

1. Printers. The printer is one of the most important items you’ll need. You can do a lot with just one printer, but the best businesses have several different kinds to choose from. The four types that printing businesses use are inkjet, laser, sublimation, and solvent printers. Solvent printers offer the best graphics, but they are very pricey and might be too expensive for a small business.

2. Computers. You’ll need a PC or Mac to use with graphics and cutting programs for our t-shirt business software. You’ll also need it for payment, inventory, and ordering functions. Our suite of software is ideal for helping you manage your business.

3. Graphics programs. Graphics programs are essential to creating custom images and art for shirts and other media. CorelDraw and Photoshop are two very good programs for this.

4. Transfer paper. You need quality transfer paper for transferring the images from the printer to other materials. This requires the use of a heat press.

5. Heat press. You’ll need at least a 16’x20″ heat press for transferring graphics over onto shirts.

6. Cutter. You’ll need a cutter and the program included in it to create stencils for screen prints. The cutters cut out what you design on the cutter program.

You can save a lot of money by purchasing used t-shirt printing machines and other equipment. Learn how to vet used screen printing equipment.

For more information about custom T-shirts and screen-printing management software, contact us at ShopWorks.

Almost every company has opted to invest in various business software systems, including comprehensive content management systems and similar software solutions for business. Billions of dollars each year are spent on new systems, upgraded systems or training on how to better use business software. Here are some of the top benefits you can enjoy when you purchase a content management system.

1. Complete Control: You know the most about your business, including its mission, products, services, and the tone you want to create on line. Apparel ERP systems and other business management software systems give you total control over the content on your website and the organization of your files and company.
2. Keep It Fresh: Your business will be much more successful if it is constantly growing. This can be as simple as changing your content online or updating a blog and other social media sites on a daily or weekly basis. Content management systems make this much easier.
3. Communicate: It is easier to communicate, not only with current and potential customers, but also with other employees and managers within your business. When the lines of communication are open within your business, your business will run more smoothly.
4. Easy Updating: You are much more likely to continuously update your various sites if it is easy, which is exactly what sign business software and other content management systems do for you. You no longer need to log onto various systems or jump through hoops to get new content live on your website. Content management systems consolidate and make it easy.

ShopWorks aims to bring customers the best industry specific software available. Simply creating and supplying software solutions for business is not enough though, which is why ShopWorks also does its best to provide comprehensive, flexible support for customers.

In addition to the webinars, training videos and remote support, phone support is also available if you have a few quick questions that need personal attention right away. The phone staff at ShopWorks has been extensively trained to be intimately familiar with all software available so that they can best answer any questions you have.

When clients purchase ShopWorks, they purchase a technical support contract, and phone support is charged to this contract in 15-minute increments. If customers fall delinquent on their payments for their contract, phone support may be denied, but simply paying what is due in full can reinstate it.

The phone support line is operational between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EDT, and to utilize this resource, all customers need to do is call 1-800-526-6702.

In our last blog, we informed you about several of the webinars available to help you and your staff become better educated about the software solutions for business from ShopWorks that you are currently using.

Here are several more pre-recorded webinar options that are open to you

• OnSite 7 Marketing: Attendees in this Webinar learn how OnSite 7 can help you better manage your business’ prospects, quotes, customers and salesperson activities.

• Proactively Manage Your Business: So often, business people slump into a habit of fixing problems once they occur, instead of anticipating problems before they happen. This webinar helps demonstrate how you and your employees can use OnSite 7 to head problems off by increasing revenue, growing your bottom line, reducing company expenses, and monitoring individual employee productivity.

• Design Management: Many companies who aren’t as familiar with our system as they could be use OnSite 7 for simple order entry and information storage. This webinar teaches you how you can use the system to record production parameters related to a specific design, store custom designs from customers, manage artists’ work schedules, and see how customer sales and service can interact with the art department more thoroughly, to manage jobs.

• Increase Your Sales Using OnSite 7: The system, whether you are using it as a print estimating software, a commercial screen printing system, or something else, was designed to help you increase your company sales. This webinar focuses on powerful features to increase quotes, customer responses and sales. Companies in the past have found this to be one of the most useful webinars for seeing an almost immediate increase in revenue.

The key to running a successful business is consolidation, meaning it is better to have a single software system that helps run and keep track of your business, than it is to use many different systems for different functions. One of the key areas where you can do this is to purchase commercial screen printing software that fulfils accounting needs in addition to business functions. ShopWorx is one such system.

Useful Accounting Software Solutions

• Tax: As a business owner, you have many different tax elements to keep track of throughout the year. These include withholding enough money from your employees’ paychecks, making monthly tax payments, figuring out your own taxes and the business’s taxes, and more. You also need to make sure you are being extra careful when you do your taxes throughout the year, because the IRS targets small businesses for audits more often than they target individuals. Business software helps make sure you are withholding and making monthly payments exactly on time each month and that all of your other accounts are in audit-ready, perfect order.

• Cash Flow Analysis: This accounting software function is particularly useful in making sure you are using your resources as effectively as you need to be in order to maintain a healthy business. This type of analysis can show where you are spending money too much and how you can cut back.

• Budgeting: A computer program is much more capable of keeping track of your finances than your brain is, so it is much wiser to enter all of your information and create budgets for your business season, certain projects, months and more, with the help of Apparel ERP software, rather than estimating. Call us at 800-526-6702 with any questions you have about our business accounting software solutions.