Published Articles
Becoming More Efficient & Cost Effective
One of the most important things to do when looking to increase efficiency in your agency is to track time carefully. Everyone, including the Managing Director sh0uld keep a daily timesheet and record what activities time is being spent on, whether billable or not. After the first couple of weeks, you will probaly be surprised [...]
Developing your own agency software in FileMaker
FileMaker is marketed as being the world’s #1 easy to use database application, so is it not entirely unreasonable to think that you can buy a licence and get creating?
In theory, not at all. FileMaker is easy to pick up and have a fiddle with, and I’m fairly confident that you could have a basic [...]
Factors to consider when purchasing bespoke software
Planning:
Do you actually need a bespoke software solution?
There are lots of purpose built off-the-shelf software packages, built for a variety of businesses. It is well worth evaluating these as well as talking to a bespoke developer.
Your business comes first
When evaluating off-the-shelf software, remember that the software should fit your business, not the other way round. [...]
Is Bespoke Software a “High Risk” Option?
Buying software by Apple, Adobe or Microsoft, is probably considered by most to be a “low-risk” decision. These are companies that are likely to be around for many years to come, and support for their products will continue to be available.
The same could be said for buying software from smaller, lesser-known companies, but it requires [...]
Small Company, Bespoke Solution or Big London Company?
Which, if any, is “better” and why? First, we need to define what “better” actually means, and who “better” is important to.
Cost – Not the most important factor, but well worth a mention here. Chances are that you’ll end up paying less to the smaller company, and at least some support is likely to be [...]
Estimates : Component of a Job or a separate entity?
One of the biggest differences between some of the popular off-the-shelf customisable creative agency solutions, is the way estimates are handled.
A popular method is to include estimates as a component of a job (in the same way as internal or bought-in time) – and whilst this is perfectly valid, many agencies, in my experience, prefer [...]
