b.cognosco
Where leaping to conclusions is my primary form of forward motion.
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Sunday, March 9, 2008
Outsourcing The Big Tasks
It's been a while since I updated my outsourcing efforts. I've been head-down in trying to get my major task - bookkeeping and accounting - under control. I have been trying to find the right solution for this for over five (5) years.I am, apparently, unique in my requirements. I just fired my second accountant for failure to help me do what I need. But I can't imagine that I am alone in what I want. I have a small service business. I am a consultant. I travel extensively. I am a sole operator. I have no employees. I need, and have needed, someone to help me setup a bookkeeping and record keeping system that I can understand, that meets all the requirements of the government for taxes, and for which I can outsource the day-to-day tasks of data entry, filing, etc. [More...]
Posted by: 
Terry Frazier at 2:52 PM
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Categories: Globalization, Productivity
Terry Frazier at 2:52 PM
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
Paying For Outsourcing
Outsourcing my burdensome tasks is very appealing, and I have already begun to make inquiries about a couple of specific tasks I want done. But even though the Indo-Asian outsource firms tend to have lower labor rates than comparable US firms, they still don't work for free. So I need money to pay for them.I don't yet have products or services that generate regular, dependable income that can pay for these projects, and I don't want a net add to my monthly expenses. The idea is to make things better, not worse. So what to do?
I started with a review of the monthly charges for business services I already use. There was plenty of fat in there. I immediately called Sprint and knocked $90 off my monthly cellular bill. I contacted my shopping cart service (for another site I run) and downgraded the service to a Basic package for a savings of $40 per month.
That $130 will get me a Basic-10 package at GetFriday.com, which includes 10 hours of labor per month for whatever tasks I need. I've identified another $99 monthly fee that I can probably eliminate outright, but I'm not sure just yet. And I think I can move a couple of small loans to one of those 0-interest-for-a-year credit card deals to free another $40-$50 per month,
With about an hour of effort I've freed $130 and identified another $140. That's enough to get me 20-25 hours of labor per month for various projects. That's a good start.
Posted by: Terry Frazier at 5:10 PM
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Categories: Automation, Business & Finance, Globalization
Terry Frazier at 5:10 PM
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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Steve Hannaford Tells Us Why Chrysler is Dead
The US auto industry is in turmoil - rising gas prices, changing buyer
tastes, stiffer environmental laws, and massive labor costs, among
other things - have cost US automakers tens of billions in losses in
recent years. And now the pompous jackasses at Daimler-Benz have killed
Chrysler. It's bad enough that my beloved IBM ThinkPads have been sold
to Lenovo - I can't even imagine buying a Chinese-made Jeep! Chrysler
was in trouble when Daimler bought them in 1998, but the Germans were
supposed to make it better, not spend $40 billion to make it worse.
[More...]
Posted by: Terry Frazier at 9:00 AM
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Categories: Business & Finance, Globalization
Terry Frazier at 9:00 AM
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This Page was last updated: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:06:57 GMT
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