Shazaib Khatri113As a small company owner I’m constantly pursuing the “bottom line” ;.It’s a simple formula, really. Just increase sales while decreasing expenses, right? Easier said than done I’m afraid. Truth be told that many production costs like fuel, rent, internet access, insurance, etc, continue to rise and don’t show signs of slowing anytime soon. Meaning I’ve got to be downright cagey in conserving every dime I can, where I can.
So, when I upgraded to a new computer I went most abundant in performance for the lowest cost. That meant no frills, especially where software is concerned. Manufacturers want a supply and a knee to pre-office for PC windows install software bundles on your brand-new machine. Even when you’re a tad bit more technologically savvy and purchase and install software yourself, Microsoft Office Standard is similar to four hundred bucks, and you still have anti-virus and other vital software to shell out for. What’s an entrepreneur to do?
I’m fortunate enough to learn some people who work in the tech sector and are far more knowledgeable than myself on the subject of personal computing. When I told among my tech-head friends I was buying a less costly software solution he said to check out Open Office software.
He sent me to this site where they have an Open Office software suite readily available for download, bundled with a free anti-virus suite! I used it out and I’ve been very impressed with what I obtained for my dollar. The open office programs have all the same features as their Microsoft counterparts, along with a couple of advantages unique to Open Office.
The bundle includes a phrase processor, a spreadsheet program, a database, a program for creating multi-media presentations, and a drawing program.
I haven’t got to spend a lot of time with the presentation program, Impress, nonetheless it interfaces nicely and appears to have the ability to create anything I will need for a great sales presentation. Draw, the graphics program, is great and creates artwork in bitmap, GIF, JPEG, and a couple other formats I’ve never even heard of. Most important to me though have now been the term processor, called Write, and the spreadsheet, Calc.
Write has all the features, there’s nothing missing. It also offers a unique helpful options like auto correct and auto complete, and it can produce documents in open document format, a report format developed by an industry consortium to be the brand new standard in compatibility. In addition it could read and edit my old Word documents, along with create new ones. It can also create .pdf files.
Calc shares the exact same virtues as its word processing counterpart, with the abilities to read and write existing Excel docs. This really is huge for me because the majority of my payroll, invoicing, and expense tracking are continued customized spreadsheets I built myself, and the capability to keep the information I have and continue my book keeping without starting over is crucial. I also love the natural language formula feature. It allows the creation of formulas using actual words like “sales-costs” ;.It’s really slick and saves me a ton of time.
Now if you’ve done your homework or have a background in computers you understand that Open Office software is open source code software, meaning essentially that it’s free. So just why pay for software that can be gotten for nothing? Well the clear answer is based on the excess features, bonus software and support provided in this Open Office suite. At under $50 dollars for the whole Open Office software bundle, the anti-virus suite alone helps it be worth the cost. Also included is one whole year of free tech support team, that will be essential for the less technically inclined, such as for instance me.