Mikey P said:
Keep in mind that Ron does 1, maybe two jobs a day.
Whats your point? Would work for someone doing 10 jobs a day and they have no paperwork when the day is done.
I walk in, talk with the client, measure the rooms, input the measurements, give them a clean printed quote/workorder. Its the only paper I use. I haven't kept a paper workorder for 6yrs now and I've shredded my paper files from previous years as its all in my database. Once I have it printed, I can enter a payment, save it, and my paperwork is done as far as that job is concerned.
I print out quarterly reports to give to my accountant and she crunches all the numbers for the taxman. Gives me a complete accessible record of all my work. I don't use the laptop for a presentation unless they ask about other information, then I can show them videos or pictures etc which are on my harddrive, no need for internet connection.
BTW I email myself the backup file on MSN or Yahoo and my data is stored securely off site, for free. I don't keep any credit card #'s in my data base so its just names and room sizes.
You're going to need a simple scheduling data base anyway since you have to enter a date of cleaning. If all you're looking for is to enter everything as data when you get home, use a program like Maximizer or ACT, save yourself the customization fees.
