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Generally, I think a growing small business must rely on professionals to get a lot of the work done. Unless you're really tiny, you shouldn't be doing your own accounting, web site design or computer programming. There is one area where I've found this doesn't apply and that is in communicating with your customers.
This is one area where computer technology has made it possible to get excellent results with little effort and cost. You'll need: Nothing special is needed. Any computer which can handle word processing can do this job. Of course, that's assuming you don't want to do large, full colour images - for those you'll want at least a Pentium II 350 Mhz with 128 MB memory. Any of the new word processors will do the trick. I work with MS Word and with Corel WordPerfect. They're both good but you can get the whole Corel Office Suite for the price of MS Word alone. Both programs will let you place images, logos, tables etc. and wrap text around them. They'll do columns in any configuration and they have samples so you can see what can be done and how to do it. The top of the line is Adobe Photoshop but, at $800.00, it is not good value for most small businesses. An alternative is Paintshop Pro which will do everything you need. A trial can be downloaded here You will have to get pictures and images into the computer. I've used a Mustek scanner for years but I've also installed Paperport, Plustek and Umax. They all seem to do the job and will cost around $200.00. You'll want 600 dots-per-inch optical resolution. The criteria for selecting a printer are volume and colour. The more copies you have to print, the faster and more expensive your printer and the more likely you'll have to go with a black and white laser printer. If you need colour, you'll have to get a bubble-jet printer and your limit should then be around 100 copies. You'll also want at least 600 dots-per-inch and you might want the capability to print 11" x 17". Go To Page: 1 2 |
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