I would like to know if anyone here has been using effective (and relatively cheap) software to help run a small company? Printing cost calculation, managing orders (that come in from my website also).
Hi RafalWM,
For your startup, you'll probably want to look at three separate applications rather than a single solution. Getting it all in one package sounds enticing, but calls for deep pockets and hundreds of hours just getting everything set up and running. At this stage - judging from your post, you'll be a one or two-person enterprise in the beginning - keep it cheap and simple. R-e-a-l-l-y cheap and simple. You've been in printing for a while, as have I, and you know that the dreamers who spend half their startup capital on furniture and stationery don't get to hang around long.
Start with an accounting package you can grow with. That's likely to be QuickBooks. Free for up to 20 customers (
Free Accounting Software from Intuit QuickBooks), and $99.95 for the Pro version from Amazon (
Amazon.com: QuickBooks Pro 2009: Software).
Next, shop for Estimating/MIS software. Don't pay for Offset if you only need Digital. The three biggest players in the low-end category (under two million) are PrintSmith, Printer's Plan and Franklin. Plan on spending between $1,500 and $5,000 plus maintenance. Download their demos before you open your checkbook and sign a contract. They're all good programs and you can't go far wrong with any of them. On the other hand, buying an MIS system for printing is like buying a car: You're not going to be happy with a Mack truck if what you really needed was a mini-bus. That's what demos are for.
While you're downloading demos, also check out Printfire Morning Flight. By way of disclaimer, I represent Printfire. With more than 7,000 downloads and nearly 5,000 active users, Morning Flight is likely to be the most widely used print estimating program out there. It's also the only free print estimating program, for both Offset and Digital. Free, for your situation, has a lot going for it. The Gold Edition is still a free public beta and includes Estimating, Order Entry, Job Tracking, and Invoicing, everything but Accounting. Looking for a bargain? The Gold has been a free download since November of 2007 and won't expire at the end of the test cycle!
Where the waters get murky is with Web2Print. Lots of players (Morning Flight not being one of them), with costs running from $1.70 per order and no setup or monthly fees (
::: ZetaPrints :::) to PrintSmith Site. All offer order entry, file transfer, and the usual webstore features (although you may need to set up a merchant account to collect payments via credit cards or PayPal). What none of them can give you is custom estimating. They all work with templates and a shopping cart, with on-line prices coming from a static database, not a dynamic pricing engine.
That will change. I give it another couple of years before Web2Print matures to the point where customers can get virtually any kind of printing quoted without human intervention, 24/7. But that day isn't here yet. If I had to single out one package for the requirements you've outlined, I'd go with the outfit Craig recommended, the New Zealanders from ZetaPrints. Just $1.70 per order and no other fees or commitment sounds downright attractive. But here, too, take a look some of the others - MyOrderDesk from PagePath, PrinterPresence, to name just two.
Good luck with your startup.
Hal Heindel
www.morningflight.com
