Is studio management software like SuccessWare worth the expense?

[vicky2]

<p>Does anyone have experience with <a href="http://www.successware.net/products.html">SuccessWare</a> or any similar software? It looks like they offer great tools for business planning, accounting, pricing, etc.<br /> I'm working on setting up a home-based, 1-person portrait photography business, (after doing it on the side for a few years) and trying to do it the right way with a business plan, pricing strategy, good record keeping and a solid handle on my financials. I was planning on using Excel, but stumbled upon SuccessWare and was wondering if others use it and think it's worth it.<br /> Does it eliminate the need for QuickBooks? Is it worth the cost for a tiny business like mine, with no employees or complex scheduling needs? (I'm trying to manage my expenses as much as possible in my first full-time year, but if this will help me save hours and get much more organized about the financial end of things, maybe it's worth it?)<br /> Thanks in advance for your help.<br /> Vicky</p>

[bob_sunley]

<p>Probably overkill for a one person shop. Quickbooks works quite well for small businesses and for a much lower cost. </p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>I couldn't get by without Quickbooks. I'd ask your accountant if they can use those SuccessWare files.</p>

<p>Not sure where you are, but there are standard business plan forms that all the banks are used to seeing and is pretty much a cookie cutter thing. I use Business Plan Pro and Marketing Plan Pro. That and Quickbooks is almost everything you'll ever need.</p>

[b_poulin]

<p>TOTALLY NOT OVERKILL AT ALL! Quickbooks only tracks money. Successware tracks all the threads of your business that are intangible to Quickbooks and it helps you see WHERE your best leads and referrals are coming from. Quickbooks just cannot do this! Ignore everyone else, buy it and use it all and you will become profitable quicker!</p>

[vicky2]

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone. B Poulin, that's exactly what I find interesting about SuccessWare - the fact that it's focused on analyzing your business and helping you improve it, not just keeping track of expenses. I've also recently discovered <a href="http://studiocloud.com/">StudioCloud</a> - it's actually free for most of the basic features, and $30/month (no setup fee) for the rest of the features. It's not quite as extensive as SuccessWare, but check out all the features you get in a free version! <a href="http://studiocloud.com/comparison.html">http://studiocloud.com/comparison.html </a><br>

Does anyone have experience with StudioCloud and how it compares to SuccessWare? I'm sure SuccessWare is invaluable for a larger studio, but I'm wondering if I can get away with something like StudioCloud in my first year and still get all the analysis and tracking I need to become profitable.</p>

[garrison_k.]

<p>If you're just starting out, I think this is one of your last concerns, Vicky. And one must be careful of info they voluntarily give away or in some cases, purchase software and do it. I run a hardware and a software firewalls and even with auto updates turned off, Quickbooks is always trying to phone home.</p>

<p>I'm also wary of the advice of people that join the same day and make one contribution and rave about a product and are never heard from again. With google alerts, it's easy for marketing depts to be alerted and then come and influence reviews on forums.</p>

[goldiegreen]

<blockquote>

<p>"one must be careful of info they voluntarily give away or in some cases, purchase software and do it. I run a hardware and a software firewalls and even with auto updates turned off, Quickbooks is always trying to phone home."</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I know this is a late response, but I was searching the forums for SuccessWare and Studio Cloud & this comment bothers me. It makes me want to do my books by hand, but how tedious is that? I mean time is money. My question then is by "phone home" are you saying that we are sharing our input information with the companies without knowing? If so, is there a way to make sure a program is safe to use for ourselves & our clients? </p>