MBA1082 How to Prevent Software Overload in Your Business + Free Ride Friday!

Hey, today is Free ride Friday so make sure you hang on to the end of the episode so you can hear who won this week's free ride. Every Friday we give away a lifetime membership to one of our programs. This month we're giving away ezcourse, our 30 day course on how to build an online course. It's a $500 course over at Easycourse Co, but somebody's gonna win it for free today. We do this every single Friday and if you want to win, just leave us an itunes rating and review. By leaving us a review, you enter our weekly random draw automatically and you're in the draw until you win. It' our way to say thank you for showing us love on itunes. All right, let's jump into today's episode. Hey O. Welcome to the Hundred Dollar MBA show, the place where you spend the time to get better, to improve you and your business every single day with our daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the Hundred Dollar M, a complete business training and community online. And in today's episode you will learn how to prevent software overload in your business. Sometimes we can get overwhelmed with all the software options out there to run our business or to help run our business. We might even buy a whole bunch of software that we never use. Whether we got a good deal or we just got sold into it, or at the time of purchasing, we're like, yes, I'm going to use this, it's going to help me. And nothing happens. And these pieces of software just sit there and collect digital dust, right? In addition to this, even if you are using all the software that you are purchasing, it can get confusing, it can get overwhelming. And you might be thinking, hey, this is taking more time than saving time. So in today's episode, I'm going to show you our strategy to make sure that we do not have this feeling. We don't have software overload. We use all the software that we actually purchase and we have a system so that we do not feel overwhelmed when using all the software to run our business. We're in a fortunate time where there's a lot of great technology to help run our business, but if we don't get organized and know how to use it properly, it could be a huge headache. Let's make sure that doesn't happen to you. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business. Support for today's show comes from Microsoft Surface looking to be more productive on the go? I sure am. I need to make sure I can manage my team and make it all happen no matter where I am. Introducing the all new Surface Go, the smallest Microsoft Surface ever. At just over a pound and with a 10 inch touchscreen, the Surface Go adapts and adjusts for home, travel and everyday tasks. And prices start at just $399. So what are you waiting for? It's time to go. Here are some signs that you are suffering from software overload. You have a software or more than one software that you haven't used ever. You have lots of software you quote unquote, use, but don't use enough. And sometimes, hey, you forget how to log in. You don't even know the password, or you look at your credit card statement or your PayPal account and it's nothing but software purchases. Now don't get me wrong, software is a great tool. It's a great way to improve your business. Hey, I have a software company, Webinar Ninja, so I am a proponent for software. But if you're not using the software, then it's just a cost and it's not helping your business. So here's a plan to make sure that you're using the software that you actually purchase and not to purchase more software until you're ready. Now, when I say using the software, when I say make sure you're using the software, that doesn't mean that you only have to use it. Anybody on your team in your business can use the software. You could purchase a piece of software that you never touch personally, but somebody else on your team or other people on your team do, and it helps their job tremendously. For example, I just bought a whole bunch of licenses for Cloud App. Cloud App is a screen capturing app. They're not a sponsor or anything like that. It's just an app I just recently bought for our customer service team. And basically this makes their job a whole lot easier because they have to do a lot of screenshots for testing our software as well as explaining things to customers. And it makes things a lot faster and easier. They're really using that software. I use it, but they use it on a daily basis. So even if I never use Cloud App again, it's still a great software to have and it's a good buy because there are people in my company that are using it on a regular basis. So what I like to do is I like to take an inventory of all the software I have purchased or am paying for Currently, whether it's a reoccurring payment or whatever it is. Now, when I'm talking about software or I'm really talking about online tools, not like your operating system on your computer, I'm talking about email marketing, I'm talking about your landing page software, I'm talking about what I just described with cloud app or a webinar software. You get the point. So I like to take an inventory of all the apps. I am actually paying for all the pieces of software and I have a whole list and I write the prices against that list so I know exactly what I'm paying for. And I ask myself, I am I using these pieces of software? I have a tick mark if the yes. If not, I ask myself the question why? Why haven't I used it? And this is where you have to be honest yourself. Well, most people will say I haven't gone around to understanding how to use it or to implement in my business, I just haven't had the time. And that's a valid answer. But you can definitely solve that problem if you shift your thinking from thinking that you have to use it versus somebody in your company. Find somebody in your company that can actually implement the use of this software or can make use of it. It could even be a virtual assistant. Most software out there are worth their weight in gold, meaning that you're going to get a return on investment once you use it. So ask yourself, is there somebody in your company that can put this software into action? Every piece of software comes with tutorials and start guides and all that stuff so they can take the time to walk it through. Easy peasy. Right now if there is nobody that could do it and you don't have time for it and you're not using it, then you need to highlight that item, underline it and ask yourself what is it costing your business by not using this software? Some software will help you keep your customers or reduce churn. Some software will help you save time. Some software will make your actual product look better. Ask yourself the question, what are you losing by not using this software? And if it's significant, if you feel like, wow, that's a big loss, then you need to make the time to find somebody to use this software or you use it yourself. If not, if it's not a big deal, then maybe you need to cancel it. Maybe it's time for you to just to say, hey, I am not going to be using the software now, maybe later on. But remember, the first step is to evaluate what are you losing by not using the software. And if the loss is significant, you should use the software. This is an opportunity to grow your business, to help your business work more efficiently, to save time, to save money. So don't miss out on that opportunity. Now, once we have that list and we've gone through this exercise, you need to put a post it note on your computer where you work and you need to write on that post it note, who and how will it be used? Write that question, who and how will it be used? And put that on your computer, on your desk. Because the next time you see a software that looks tempting, that looks great, that looks like it's going to be fantastic, and it could truly be fantastic and help your business, before buying it, you have to ask yourself that question and you have to answer that question in detail. Who's going to use it? How are they going to use it? And often these software programs come with a trial or they come with a money back guarantee. Whether it's a week or two weeks or a month or whatever it is, that's your deadline to implement the software. You gotta get it going. So you don't buy the software unless you have an answer to that question, who and how are you going to use it? And then if you answer that question and you have a solid answer, then you have a time bound project to actually assign it to somebody or to yourself and know how to use it and implement it in your business during the trial period, during the money back guarantee period, put it in your calendar, make it an event, have a deadline. This is going to prevent you from continuing the cycle of buying software and just shelving it for a later date when you have time, make the time and make the decisions when you're purchasing. This includes any software purchases that are not reoccurring like they're lifetime deals. You're buying it once and you don't have to worry about it again. A lot of us, we just buy these types of deals and think, oh great, I'll just use it when I use it in the future I have all my life. Well, you may never use it, right? Your business may evolve, may change. If you can't make use of it now, then there's no reason for you to spend the money. Unless you know that in the timeline of your business in the near future, in within the next, you know, few months, in the next quarter or so, wow, I can make use of that software when I implement this part of my business. Then a lifetime purchase might make sense, but you still should have an answer. To that question, who and how will it be used? As well as a plan of action of when this will be implemented. Now, if you're just starting out and you're a solopreneur or you run the business with a small team, when you purchase software, you have to learn. You have to have some sort of time allotted so you can be able to learn the software and implement it. I highly advise that you record how to use this software with a small tutorial for yourself and for your team for the future. Now, when you're small, you could do this yourself. When you have other players on your team, you can assign this to other people. For example, when I purchased that cloud app, that screen capturing software for our customer service team, I told cj, our customer service manager, hey, I just bought these licenses. This is the software. Here's their help tutorials. Create a training program for our team and she gave them an assignment. Here, read these articles, install this app and start using it. And then she creates this program to be used for any new hires so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. And when somebody joins your team, they know exactly how to implement and use the software purchase. So if you don't have somebody to do that for you, then you're gonna have to do that yourself. I had to do it myself for years before we ever grew our team to the point where it is today. But once we started to grow, I was so thankful I made those little recordings and those little tutorials to share with my team. Guys, I got more on today's topic. But before that, let me give love to today's sponsor. Today's episode of the $100 MBA show is supported by Betterment. You're not the average investor, so why settle for some old, bold, average investing? Now there's a smarter way to manage your money. It's called Betterment. Betterment is an online financial advisor for people who refuse to settle for average. They use cutting edge technology to build personalized portfolios and help you make more from your investments. Doesn't that sound great? They guide you along the way with unbiased advice to help you make smart financial decisions. All this for one low transparent fee. Plan for retirement. Reach your financial goals. Make the most of your money. Listen, we all work hard to grow our business to make the money that we make. Let's not let it go to waste when it comes to investing that money. Let's do it right. This is what I mean by don't settle for average. Demand better. Choose a smart way to Manage your money. Choose Betterment and get constant access to information and tools that allow you to track progress towards your goals. So you can always feel like a smart, savvy investor. Of course investing involves risk, but the biggest risk of all, in my opinion, is not taking investing seriously. You gotta invest for the future. Now, I would use Betterment if I could, but it's actually illegal for me to have them as a sponsor and use them at the same time. Wish it wasn't the case, but you as a listener can get up to one year managed free by visiting betterment.commba that's betterment.commba Betterment outsmart average. Now, you have a game plan now to make sure you don't get overwhelmed with software and you don't purchase things that you don't use. And you have a game plan for using the software before you buy it. Now, a little side note here, of course, these pieces of software are helping your business. So you gotta have good records of your receipts and the payments you make for these software. Why? Because, of course this is tax deductible and these things can add up and can really save you some money come tax time. Speak to your accountant, of course, on how to do that and how to, you know, save these receipts and provide it to the accountant. But we use Xero, which is a great accounting software and our accountant uses it too. And that way we can track all our software expenses. And because they're reoccurring, once we mark it as an expense in Xero, Xero automatically learns that, hey, this is a, an expense and it's software and automatically does it for us after we actually do it. Once it just recognizes the reoccurring charge and sees it as an expense and marks it as a software expense. Now, tax deduction is not free money, but hey, it's deducting from the amount you're going to be taxed. So making sure you use but purchase software that is great for your business is also a good financial business move. All right, that wraps up today's lesson. But today's episode's not over. It's free Free Ride Friday. We got to see who won this week's Free Ride. Let's see who won. Access to easy course, our 30 day course on how to build an online course over at easycourse co. It's a $500 value. Somebody's winning it for free right now. Let's see who won this week's Free Ride. And the winner is Christian Arns. Christian Arns is from Germany Christian Arns says morning input 5 stars I listen to your podcast every morning under the shower. I've tried a lot of other podcasts, but in my opinion, yours is the best for business. I'm excited to listen to the next podcast every day, the current one. Regards from Germany. Well, thank you for that awesome review, Christian Arns, and you are a Free Ride Friday winner. All you gotta do is email me@omar00nba.net so you can claim your free ride. If you want to win a free ride, just leave us an iTunes rating and review and you enter our weekly random draw automatically every week. It's our way to say thank you for showing us love and to have a little fun on the podcast. All right, before I go, I want to leave you with this. When you have to decide between pieces of software. Say for example, you have two pieces of software and you say I can only afford one. Which one should I buy? Which one should I use? I always use the gauge of return on investment. Which one's going to make me more money over time? If I spend X amount of money, how much money can I make by using this software? How much money can I actually generate? My business and making could be saving. How much money is it going to be saving me? Whether it's saving me time and that time cost me money, or it's literally saving me money because another solution is more expensive. This is kind of a solid way to kind of make a decision, but also it factor in which one seems easiest to use. Because if it's easy to use, you will use it more and you'll get more out of it. All right, thank you so much for listening to the 100 MBA show. I'll check you in Monday's episode. I'll see you then. Take care. Of.