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Short guides for owners, no jargon

Formats, routines and checklists on orders, payments, enquiries, stock and staff tasks. Use them with a notebook or a sheet. Read before you decide on any software.

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Payments · featured

Payment follow-up: how to ask for money without spoiling relations

A fixed follow-up calendar, ready-to-send reminder messages and the two questions to ask on every call, so that dues come in and relations stay good.

4 min read
Operations

Order register format: the columns a small business needs

The thirteen columns of an order register, what to write in each and why it matters, with three rules that keep it updated from order to payment.

4 min read
Buying software

Excel or software? How to tell when a sheet has stopped being enough

Eight signs that a shared sheet now costs you more than it saves, how to repair the sheet before buying anything, and what software adds and does not add.

4 min read
Buying software

Custom software or a ready-made app? How a small business can decide

What to buy ready-made, what is worth setting up around your own process, what to test and get in writing before you pay, and a three-year cost comparison.

4 min read
Buying software

Nine questions to ask before you pay for business software

Nine questions to put to any software vendor before you pay, on the real cost, the support and your data, with a good answer and a warning sign for each.

4 min read
Sales

Why enquiries go cold, and a follow-up routine your team can keep

Six places where enquiries and leads get lost, an enquiry list with eight columns, and a seven-step follow-up routine that a small sales team can keep up.

4 min read
Sales

Quotation sent, no reply: how and when to follow up

How many times to follow up a quotation, on which days and in what words, what to say when the rate is called high, and a register that keeps quotes alive.

4 min read
Operations

How to track rooftop solar projects from enquiry to subsidy

The usual stages of a rooftop solar job, what to record at each one, payment wording for the quote, and a weekly review that shows which file is stuck.

4 min read
Operations

AMC renewals: how service businesses lose money already earned

Four quiet ways a service firm loses AMC income, the register that shows every contract and visit, and a renewal routine that starts 60 days early.

4 min read
Team

CA firm compliance tracker: what to track for every client

A client master, a monthly work list and a six-step routine that show a CA firm what is filed, what waits for client data and what is pending with staff.

4 min read
Operations

Stock register format for a wholesale or trading business

The item master and the stock movement register a wholesaler needs, column by column, with four rules and a weekly count that keep the book equal to the godown.

4 min read
Operations

Dealer orders on WhatsApp: how to stop missing them

Five habits that stop dealer orders getting lost on WhatsApp: one number for orders, a fixed format, the order register, a confirmation and an evening check.

4 min read
Operations

How to stop orders and payments slipping through WhatsApp

The four gaps where orders and payments slip between the chat, the dispatch and the bill, five things to write down for every order, and a daily routine.

4 min read
Team

Why your team forgets tasks on WhatsApp, and what to do instead

A task given in a chat has no name on it, no date, no status and no list. A delegation sheet, a daily routine and a checklist for repeating jobs put them back.

4 min read
Buying software

Five jobs a small business should automate first

The five repeating jobs that are easiest to hand to a system, a table to choose your first one from your own numbers, and what not to start with.

4 min read