Recently one of my family members, after many years of contemplation, decided to open her own business. She gave me a call and asked me to help her create some of the forms she’ll need. I was impressed that she had already assembled some paper forms that she liked to use for ideas when we created the ones for her soon-to-be formed new company.
Initially we tried to start from scratch, using her logo and colors, to create the forms. We worked for a while on this and did not get very much accomplished. Then, it hit me…TEMPLATES! I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn’t think of doing that first. They should take away my trainer badge some days!
I immediately opened the list of templates within Excel. We found some great invoices, receipts, statements, etc. We were able to start with the forms she liked and then customize them to fit her logo, design, and contact information. We also went into the Word templates and created a fax form (that she could use to fax from within her computer or print and use with her fax machine) and letterhead. She was delighted with the end results of our forms.
Next, I showed her how she could create labels with mail merge using Word and either her Contacts list, Excel spreadsheet list, or Access database table. We also discussed how she could import and export data back and forth between the different Office applications. She was excited at how many options there were.
After creating the different forms, we decided to design a PowerPoint presentation for her to use in sales meetings with potential clients. I didn’t make the same mistake that I had with the forms. We went straight to the templates this time. I showed her the design slides that we could customize with her logo, colors and information. She was glad that there were even some presentations with content for sales presentations to guide her.
If you own or are opening your own business, it would be well worth your time and money to invest in training. A trainer could show you how to make your business operations work more efficiently by using Microsoft Office effectively. I definitely believe that it is better not to re-invent the wheel when you could save time by customizing templates that others have willingly shared.
This past week, I did a customized 1-on-1 deskside training class on specific topics in Microsoft Excel, Visio, and Project. It had been a while since I’d done training on Visio and Project. As we went over the individual’s questions, I was reminded of what great tools Project and Visio are. (Note: Versitas doesn’t sell any of these products, so these are just my personal thoughts on the software.)