Jayne: There's times I think you don't take me seriously. I think that ought to change. Mal: Do you think it's likely to?

'Our Mrs. Reynolds'


Buffista Business Talk: I wanted simple, I wanted in-and-out, I wanted easy money.

A virtual watercooler where Buffistas in business can talk, share, exchange, bemoan, exult and assorted other power verbs associated with all areas of running/starting up a business. For existing or potential Buffista business owners of all types. Spamming is NOT ON. A list of our Buffista owned businesses is on our links page.


NoiseDesign - Apr 17, 2013 2:33:44 pm PDT #1106 of 1416
Our wings are not tired

Today is just a day for things being a pain.

I get it, my business is not run of the mill, but still, it shouldn't be this hard to maintain my general liability insurance. It seems that every couple of years whoever is my current underwriter decides that they really don't understand what my company does and they decide to not renew the policy. Now keep in mind, that I always pay on time and have never had a single claim. I'm in the midst of that right now, my current coverage won't be renewed next month and my agent is working on new underwriting and I'm in the middle of answering a seemingly endless list of questions about the business. I know it has to be done, and I am all for having full insurance coverage, but I'm just so tired of this end of the business. I have two art degrees and not an MBA for a reason!

Okay, done now.


Laura - Apr 17, 2013 3:56:09 pm PDT #1107 of 1416
Our wings are not tired.

I hear you, ND. I've never had a claim in 25 years yet I have to carry a million dollar policy as a condition of my lease. Either my agent loses his permission to sell the company and has to switch me to something else, or they drop Florida, or one of another reason that I have to change all the time.

Also, all insurance companies are Evil and I resent having to use them for anything.


NoiseDesign - Apr 17, 2013 3:58:33 pm PDT #1108 of 1416
Our wings are not tired

My coverage is currently at 3 Million with an additional million in an umbrella policy. It's crazy the amount of insurance I have to carry to be able to work on a few of the job sites where I have contracts.


Jessica - Jul 07, 2013 3:22:11 pm PDT #1109 of 1416
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

I'm the treasurer of my coop board and have just discovered that our financial software (Quicken for Mac 2007) will not run on Mac OS 10.8. Oops...

So, assuming I can find another computer to convert this data file to a usable format, should I just go ahead and buy Quickbooks, or is there another small business money management program that's better?


Laura - Jul 07, 2013 3:32:04 pm PDT #1110 of 1416
Our wings are not tired.

I don't love Quickbooks, but I haven't found anything I like better.


Stephanie - Jul 07, 2013 4:58:38 pm PDT #1111 of 1416
Trust my rage

I'm with Laura. I have QB for Mac 2011 and I can live with it. There is the online version also. I don't think any of them really talk well with each other so I know upgrading can be a challenge.


NoiseDesign - Jul 20, 2013 7:37:46 pm PDT #1112 of 1416
Our wings are not tired

Is anyone here using a cloud based phone system like VirtualPBX or Ringcentral? I've been routing calls to different phones using Google Voice for my business, but my needs have really outgrown what I can force Google Voice to do. It looks like the top three companies I'm looking at are VirtualPBX, Ringcentral, and eVoice. Has anyone use any of them, or something else?


Laura - Jul 20, 2013 11:42:19 pm PDT #1113 of 1416
Our wings are not tired.

We use 8x8. I don't use all the features available at all. Mostly I switched to them to have my office phone travel with me. One of the tech companies I work with recommended them and the price was right. I'll get you more info tomorrow.


Laura - Jul 25, 2013 9:41:02 am PDT #1114 of 1416
Our wings are not tired.

So not tomorrow, but such is my life. 8x8 has worked out quite well for us. Linky - [link]

We use the Polycom phones, but there are a number of phone options including bluetooth and so forth. The configuration for ring groups and other factors was easy enough. We have a number of extensions in the office and I have one at home. When I travel I just take the phone with me and run it from my laptop. We can also just connect via a web page and use the internal speakers and mic on the computer. I just prefer using a phone.

Each extension has their own fax number and phone number. They also have virtual meeting options sharing a desktop and conference options. I haven't used them a bunch. Mostly I use it as a wide area phone network.

Their tech support has been good. Don't know what else you might have questions about. I pay $225 a month for 5 extensions. I've had no complaints.

They have a ton of videos on their website showing how to use various features.


Stephanie - Jul 25, 2013 2:04:29 pm PDT #1115 of 1416
Trust my rage

I use RingCentral but for faxes only. It's great, no hassle, and it does everything I need it to.

Unrelatedly, what should one expect to pay for a website design/redesign?