This morning I read an article by Pete Cashmore of Mashable about group buying.  I’m sure that most of you have seen advertisements where something can be purchased at a really great price if a certain number of people commit to buying it.  If the specified number of sales is not reached, the deal is off.

This is a great way for individuals to get good deals on products.  It’s also an excellent marketing tool for businesses.   (We’ll talk about the marketing side of this in another post.)

For this post, one of the big factors at play here is that the more product a business buys, the cheaper they are able to buy it.  We all know that this is why chain stores are able to sell at lower prices than small independent stores.  Price is by no means everything, but it doesn’t hurt.

What if, however, a group of small businesses got together to purchase in larger quantities?  Wouldn’t they be able to purchase at better prices?  Wouldn’t they then either be able to offer better prices to their customers or increase their profit margin?  Or, maybe a little of both.

What would it take to accomplish this?  It would take a group of businesses working together for the betterment of all of them.  Some might say that this won’t work.  To that I have to say why not?  Who wouldn’t want to work with a group of business people that are all interested in the same thing – the success their business.

I ask you to think about this concept.  It can be taken much farther than just buying power.  Not that buying power is a small thing but if you think about it, it could be so much more.

We’ll talk more on this in future posts.  For now though, what are your thoughts?  Is this something that you feel could work?

Photo credit:  didimkaem

If you are anything like me, you have a number of online accounts that all require user names and passwords.  Some accounts assign user names and passwords and some let you choose what you would like to use.  Either way though, that’s more information you need to keep track of.

Initially, I tried to keep track of everything on an Excel spreadsheet.  This works as long as you keep the file open for easy reference and keep it sorted in such a way that it makes sense to you.  Every time you add new information though, the spreadsheet has to be resorted so finding the information you need is quick and easy.  What a pain.

Well, there’s an easier way.  By using a “password manager” program, the headache of remembering user names and passwords is gone.

There are many programs available to do this.  Some are online programs, some are based on your computer, and many are free.  I see nothing wrong with the free programs and would suggest you try one of them before even considering paying for this service.   Examples of free password manager programs are KeePass, LastPass, My Password Manager, Sticky Password and Robo Form.  This is just a very short list of what’s available.  If one of these programs doesn’t interest you, search “password manager” and you will get a huge list of companies you can research.

Hope this information helps some of you.  If something is causing you a pain, there’s a good chance the solution is simple.  Contact us to see if we can help.

Photo credit:  Vimrod1