Spiga

How I can help you

All businesses irrespective of size depend on business software and a web presence, yet not all business minded individuals and entrepreneurs are as tech savvy as they would like to be. In starting up and running your own business a lack of technical knowledge will result in unnecessary startup costs and ongoing business overheads which will place a burden on your cash flow. Having successfully advised and guided a number of clients through their initial business startup, I am well placed to assist you in ensuring that you too reduce your costs by using available technology to leverage your operations and make sure that you focus on the important stuff - making money!

Services I offer:

New Business Kickstart Kit: Everything you need from software to business documentation to get your business off the ground in the shortest possible time.
Helpdesk and Technology Support: Send me your technical support requests and I will resolve your technical issues and complete the necessary tasks , leaving you more time to focus on your business!
Software , Design and Process: I will assist you in enabling an online presence, creating a tangible real world business presence, choosing the right software for your business type, paying as little as possible (or nothing) for software, ensuring that the technology fits your business and most importantly in using technology as an enabler in your daily business activities.

Online Business Advisory: Do you want to start an online business? I will guide you through the steps, processes and pitfalls ensuring that your online business reaches its maximum potential!

To get hold of me, use my contact form

My Engagement Process and your deliverables

Primary consultations by voice calls [Skype] / Video or email, one on one meetings to understand your issues, needs, software & business requirements.
Secondary consultations and follow-ups within agreed time frames to finalize your solution.
Business technology plan and Kickstart Kit: A detailed plan of the proposed solution for your needs, including similar business case studies, recommendations, processes, software and implementation plans. [an essential and and an impressive addition to your formal business plan, especially when approaching financial institutions for start-up loans.

Ongoing Assistance with the implementation of your business technology solution and if required assistance with the day to day administration requirements that you will face - i.e. bookkeeping, accounting, tax and statutory needs.
Optional ongoing support and help-desk assistance.

To get hold of me, use my contact form


Blog Posts

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Dont pay for the software [Save the Loot]

Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 6:57 AM Posted by Andrew

Do you want to get your new business off the ground with the least cost possible? That would be nice wouldn't it? - reducing your startup costs by at least 10k...

Starting a new business will involve a substantial cost for business software which for obvious reasons must be legal. I can show you how to do this with NO cost at all. I offer a full suite of business technology consulting services to the startup / entrepreneur. Contact me here for more information.

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Are you a software developer - hate writing user manuals?

Monday, July 7, 2008 at 10:44 AM Posted by Andrew

Have you written a cool tool, a killer app? But you really don't feel like writing the user manuals and help files even though your investors and clients are insisting on it. Dufii like me specialise* in that boooring user stuff and we do a really good job of it too! If you need a good technical writer please contact me here.

*References available on request

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Do it right#1 - Business Documentation Standards

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 at 8:51 AM Posted by Andrew




Any business professional who is in a business or IT consulting job knows just how hard it is to get quality resources [people] even more so, we all know how hard it is to get quality documentation out of said people and usually we end up pulling all nighters having to rewrite specifications and business briefs ourselves because the documents we were handed a day before the deadline look like a 5th graders English assignment.

There are some sites out on the Internet that have a dedicated following to website / blog templates, be they for Wordpress, Blogger or Typepad. These sites espouse a fundamental design philosophy when it comes to how a website or blog should look and some serious effort is put into UX design in order to make these entities not only atheistically pleasing but also USABLE. (OK, no comments about my site please!) If only business people had the same mentality towards the documents they use on a daily basis.

Most large corporations push to be ISO 9001/QMS compliant or are in the process of obtaining the rating and this means that time and energy needs to be spent on documentation standards and ISO consultants don't come cheap these days. Freelancers like us [who are cheaper than ISO consultants] also need to ensure that the documentation we generate is of the QUALITY variety, that means we stick to the 3 golden rules of Readability, Relevancy and Format:


The document is readable (duh!) - grammar, spelling etc.
The content is relevant to the subject at hand (big duh!)
Formatting standards are adhered to - this is very important, especially in the case of annual corporate reports and other documents that are open to public scrutiny.

Besides being 100% in terms of content and relevancy, a document generated by yourself should be as aesthetically pleasing to the reader as the Wordpress Design blog you were reading last night [while you were supposed to be working]. The old adage of “first impressions count” really is true.

There are a ton of websites out there that offer free business document templates but unfortunately quality costs...a little bit.

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