The Be-All, End-All Computer
by Tammy Harrison

About a year ago, a friend of mine wrote a very exciting email to me. She finally joined the technology age and purchased a computer! 

Since I had been bugging her for close to three years to do so, I was happy to see that she was excited and was taking the time to learn the ins and outs of her new toy. 

She has a home-based business consisting of numerous rental properties and found that inputting all of her financial information for each of her rentals made it a breeze to keep track of payments, income, etc. 

What she failed to tell me was that she did not back up her files and she did not have a paper trail for her data. Of course, the inevitable happened and her hard drive was infected with a virus. She has spent a few months, a few hundred dollars and countless hours replacing her information and coming up with a workable solution for combining the ease of using a computer with backing up and paper trail of years gone by. 

At the time, I took a look at how much of my business and personal information was on my computer and what it would take for me to fix such a catastrophe or to take my business mobile. Since I have worked via computer for many years, I have learned (usually the hard way) what I can or cannot, should or should not keep on my computer. The following are a few tips to help keep you and your home-based business from suffering the loss of your be-all, end-all computer problems: 

1) Back up your computer at least once a week. I use an Iomega Zip drive and have programmed it to automatically back up, but there are a number of free websites who offer to do the same thing. If you put a lot of information into your computer every day, I recommend backing up more often. 

2) For extremely important information, make a hard copy. I have a hard copy of my address book from my email program and reprint it once a month. I also have a hard copy of my file structure. If I have a crash, I can look at my file structure to make sure I reformat everything in the same manner. 

3) I use a real-live paper and pencil date book for my scheduling. I have tried using such programs as Outlook but find that my memory is much better if I take the time to write things down. My book is small enough that I can throw it in the diaper bag (I haven't owned a purse since I started bearing children!) when I walk out the door. 

4) For such things as my database for contacts, I prepare a spreadsheet with all of the pertinent information and then I print it out on a monthly basis. 

5) All personal and business financial data is maintained on my computer, but I also print out my A/R, A/P and Income/Loss information once a month. Since I am running two home-based businesses and our household through my computer, it is vital that I have the information at my fingertips but also essential that I keep a hard copy to deliver to my accountant during tax time. Creating my hard copies on a monthly basis keeps me from spending too much time when April rolls around each year going backwards instead of forward. 

Utilizing the best of both worlds, I am also able to take my back up files with me if I am out of town. As long as my programs are loaded on my laptop, I can use my zip disk to obtain my data and I can carry along my back up files so as not to overload my laptop. Additionally, I purchased a two-drawer fireproof filing cabinet for my paper trails, but it has definitely been worth the expense; especially after my own computer crash last year. I was able to function just fine because I knew that the only be-all, end-all computer that I possessed was attached to my shoulders! 

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