Small Business Trends (http://smallbiztrends.com) wrote an excellent article posting some top online resources business owners can use to grow their business.  The article includes links to help you find new employees, improving your sales process, and using social media for your business.

Great Small Business Resources Online

^{via SmallBizTrends.com}

We have noticed that many states are changing their sales tax rates this summer.  The following will walk you through how to change the default sales tax rate in BPA:

For Restaurant/Delivery POS Customers

• Go to Business System -->Definitions-->Sales Tax Table
• In the section for Sales Tax, for Tax Code 1, enter the new tax rate
• Press Save and Exit when finished

For Retail POS Customers

• Go to Definitions-->Sales Tax Table
• In the section for Sales Tax, for Tax Code 1, enter the new tax rate
• Press Save and Exit when finished

Old Spice is a brand from Proctor & Gamble. You wouldn’t think that a deodorant brand would not be a good candidate for a viral marketing campaign. But, P&G found a way to resonate with a young audience.

In 2010, they began creating ads that featured Isaiah Mustafa, a former NFL wide receiver with washboard abs. Mustafa was originally introduced at a Super Bowl commercial.

After the successful commercial, P&G began an internet viral marketing blitz.

A tactic they chose was responding to individual tweets and comments by creating personal video responses.

One in particular involved talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. She tweeted the following:

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We’ve showed you how to speed up your client computers by packing your data files.  If one, or more of your POS systems is still running slow, you may need a memory upgrade.

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There are many ways to setup coupons in the Business Plus Accounting POS software package. Using the Define Menu Items option in Manager Functions, coupons can be added to one of the tabs in your sales screen.  The following are examples of how to setup coupons:

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Some of the cell phones that are on the market are more powerful than many desktop and laptop computers in our homes and offices. However, many of us are not using those cell phones to their fullest potential.

The following is just a few of the Android Business Apps and iPhone Business Apps you can use to improve your daily productivity:

PdaNet

It’s nice to be able to pull out your laptop or netbook anywhere and check emails. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of places in the world where wireless internet is not available. One solution is to use your cell phone’s data plan to give you access to the internet.

However, some cellular providers do not make it easy for you to do this. PdaNet is a app that makes it easy to use your cell phone’s data plan for wireless internet to your laptop.

Documents To Go

Editing Word documents or Excel spreadsheets on a mobile device can be very inefficient. However, when you absolutely need to edit a document, you can use the Documents To Go Android and iPhone business apps.

The Documents To Go app supports Microsoft and Adobe formats (doc, docx, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx & pdf). You can also edit files stored in a Google Docs account.

Other apps to access Google Docs:

For iPhone

GoDocs for Google Docs

For Android

Google Docs for Android

Quick Office Pro

CalenGoo

CalenGoo gives you a quick way to access and edit your Google Calendar. The iPhone app also has an offline mode, for when you do not have an internet connection.

Dropbox

Dropbox is an online storage and file sharing service. Files that are uploaded to the Dropbox service can be accessed from any computer or device.

You will need to setup an account with Dropbox.com to use the service. Once you have signed up, you will receive 2GB free storage. Paid plans are available for up to 100GB.

Wyse PocketCloud

There may be times when you are away from your desktop or laptop computer, and you need to access it. Or, you may need to access your POS system to look at sales figures for the day.

Wyse, a cloud computing company, has Android and iPhone business apps called PocketCloud . The PocketCloud app allows you to remotely access your computer from your mobile device.

You will need to install their software onto the computer you would like to remotely connect to. Then, using the app on your mobile device, you will be able to see your desktop screen.

Like the Documents To Go app, probably not the most efficient way to work on your computer. However, if you absolutely have to work on another computer, this is an app that will let you do that.

For other iPhone and Android business apps, check out the following articles:

Top 15 Android Business Apps

iPhone Business Apps

Restaurant Management University has created a video with tips to cut restaurant costs.  In particular, the video discusses these two steps:

1.  “Take a Deep Look at Your Inventory”

If you are currently not tracking your inventory, including on hand amounts and costs, you could be spending too much money.  If you are not currently tracking your restaurant inventory, you can use our Restaurant Inventory Management Guide to begin tracking your inventory.

BPA Restaurant Pro Inventory Management

(NOTE:  Retail and Hotel versions of this guide are coming soon)

2.  Track Labor

The second step to cutting costs is tracking labor.  With the BPA Restaurant Pro software, you can use the following reports to track labor costs and server efficiency:

• Daily Sales and Labor Report (Restaurant System—>Manager Functions—>Restaurant Reports)
• Sales by Product Type and Hour Report (Restaurant System—>Manager Functions—>Restaurant Reports)
• Server Efficiency Report (Restaurant System—>Manager Functions—>Restaurant Reports)
• Print Labor By Job Report (Restaurant System—>Server Clock In Clock Out)

Some restaurants on Twitter have figured out how to have massive followers.  A couple that will be mentioned in this article have over 50000 followers.  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to send a message about your daily specials to 50000 people, all for free?  Here’s how…

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Today, it is extremely easy for someone to post a bad review about your business on the Internet.  A quick post on Twitter from a dissatisfied customer could hurt your business significantly.  Etundra.com offers some advice to help combat negative reviews.

_{Image via CrunchBase}

4 Steps To Managing Your Reputation Online | from blog.etundra.com

To help with your End of Day functions, we’ve have created checklist templates for your employees and managers to use to ensure your business is properly closed at the end of the day.  The checklists are Microsoft Word documents…feel free to download and customize them for your business needs.

If you do not have software installed to edit the checklists, such as Microsoft Word, you can download Open Office for free at http://www.openoffice.org/

Restaurant POS Customers

Restaurant Employee Checklist

Restaurant Manager Checklist

Pizza/Delivery POS Customers

Pizza/Delivery Employee Checklist

Pizza/Delivery Manager Checklist

Retail POS Customers

Retail Employee Checklist

Retail Manager Checklist

Hotel Customers

Hotel Employee Checklist

Hotel Manager Checklist