Specialized software for maintaining a database for working with clients in embroidery digitizing. What happens? And where to get a quality one?

Now I already have an urgent need to keep records of my activities personally for myself, so as not to forget who and what I am doing, for how much, etc. In the sense that it would be nice to have some kind of a single database of clients and invoices issued to them. Moreover, I would also like this database to contain all the possible information:

 

  • My clients and their contacts and details
  • According to the work performed, their dates, amounts, labor intensity
  • By designs
  • For embroidery consumables
  • By the products themselves, on which you have to embroider.

 

Well, in general, the base of everything that is only needed to understand the situation and plan a further development strategy.

I also have a dream that with the help of a similar base it would be possible to:

 

  • Form invoices, even if not according to all accounting rules, but on the basis of which the correct accounting account could be made.
  • Set all kinds of reminders
  • Send mail with documents, generally conduct correspondence so that it is saved in the database for a specific project immediately
  • Upload to this database those tasks for the miscalculation from clients with pictures and descriptions.
  • Yes, in fact, you want a lot of things, you can't list everything right away.

 

It would also be nice to have such a module inside the database, which would help me determine the price set to the client, based on some algorithm. Moreover, there are a lot of algorithms for calculating the cost of embroidery - choose to taste and count. But I would like the price to be calculated automatically according to the entered parameters for both programming and embroidery work and would take into account consumables such as threads, stabilizers, and other things, given the constantly changing prices. So that the database reflects information about the price that was offered to the client and the one that actually turned out in practice.

 

The fact that it is not so easy for me to determine the price of the work has already been written several times. Well, at least here:

 

  • My calculation of the price of embroidery digitizing services
  • Calculation of the cost of consumables
  • How to evaluate embroidery work correctly
  • We will not stand behind the price

 

I understand perfectly well that such a program, as I imagine it, does not exist. But there are a lot of heterogeneous plates created in Excel, which everyone adjusts for himself and his needs - everyone's business is different. The only trouble is that these tables do not reflect the whole situation as a whole, since they are often separate for each project, not related to all others.

 

To make such a sign on the basis of at least the office funds from Microsoft, linking databases and calculations, you need to invest in the work of a programmer, and it is a very good investment. Contacting someone is expensive, and trying to do it yourself is not a fact that the result will be achieved, because creating such a service requires good knowledge in another area. Therefore, I went to look for a program, already created by someone specialized in embroiderers, which at least somehow facilitated the accounting process.

 

First, I attacked this cheap program aimed specifically at embroiderers, which allows you to determine the price of work called Crafting for Profit:

http://price4profit.co.za/

But after watching the videos showing the principles of work, I was left all in doubt about the need to buy it - I have too many needs and the possibilities of this program are so small to invest in it. She calculates just on the basis of the simplest algorithm your price for programming thousands of stitches and embroidery, invoices according to the customer base and that seems to be all. It is difficult to assess what is good and what is not a program without trying it out in practice.

An analog of such a simple calculator, only online and without programming, which calculates the desired price per thousand, I found here:

http://www.artisticthreadworks.com/members/images/CostAnalysis.htm

And here the principle of calculating profit is shown, and before it was possible to download a table in Excel for calculating the price for any type of hand maker’s activity:

http://blog.ecoetsy.com/2010/11/business-tips-pricing-for-profit/html

In theory, based on the description, you can create something of your own. But this, again, is one side of the coin, solving only a piece of the problem.

While scouring the Internet, I also came across an interesting online profit calculator for those who trade on third-party Internet sites such as eBay, Etsy, etc. For everyone who is in the subject, I give a link:

https://salecalc.com/

But back to my rams. I am interested in ready-made software that will allow me to facilitate accounting and everyday business life.

I found one program here. It is called Pricelist Professional. It is sharpened specifically for printers and/or embroiderers and costs an impressive amount - $ 500-600. Depending on the need.

It's good that you don't need to buy it like a pig in a poke, but you can download a demo version to determine the suitability of the product. Who is interested, download here:

https://smrsoftware.com/registerprcpro.php

  • The temptation is great to see what they offer interesting and useful things for a considerable amount, I download and put:
  • The program starts and before work you must enter the registration code or continue in demo mode:
  • Select Run Pricelist Pro Without Registering, enter. The interface is minimal:
  • I will not describe the menu, since it is almost completely duplicated by icons, but I will analyze only the most interesting for me, in fact, what I downloaded it for - a calculator:
  • We click, we get a window for an approximate calculation of the cost of the design:

There are 4 lines of text available here in plain or uppercase, like handwriting, the size can be specified. You can also fill the background behind the text, specifying its size, coverage, satin to tatami ratio online embroidery digitizing. Using the Compute button, the number of stitches is counted based on the algorithm given to the program.

 

  • When you press the Quote button, a window pops up with the addressee (client), for which the calculation is made:
  • The same button is duplicated by the icon:
  • This is a simple customer base search form. Here in it you can see the entire database at once:
  • And add a new one by filling in its data:
  • When you press the Continue button in the Find Customer search form, a form appears for filling out detailed information on a specific calculated order with many tabs with customer information, invoice details, design and embroidered product:
  • When you press Fast Quote in the calculator, which is duplicated by the icon , a window appears with advanced parameters for calculating the price, such as the number of colors in the design, the number of trimmings, the embroidery speed, the choice of the embroidered material, etc .:
  • In the same form, when you press the Confidential button, a window appears with the profit and labor costs already calculated by the system:
  • That's basically the whole calculator.
  • Next comes the icon for compiling a price list:
  • Click, we get a window for viewing the price list for embroidery of a certain type of product:
  • The search in the customer base is implemented through the icon and the appearing window:
  • The scheme for working with this sheet is the same as described above.
  • Separately, you can add a new client to the database by simply clicking on the button:
  • You can edit and delete customers using these buttons:
  • New products are entered into the database through the button and the corresponding window:
  • Editing and deleting the product base using these buttons:
  • Then you can send a letter directly from this program by using the button and filling out the necessary in the window:
  • You can create a sales report:
  • And print it out if necessary.
  • And of course, you can see a report on callbacks for orders that managers should have made:
  • Using the Utilities menu, you can customize the program a little for yourself:
  • The Embroidery Setup item is especially interesting:

 

Here you can enter or edit the contact information of your company, enter information on the machine (number of heads, speed, etc.), enter financial components for calculating profit, edit the algorithm for calculating stitches:

Total: in general, upon close examination, this program is not as bad as it seemed to me at first glance. But it is still not enough for a complete accounting of activities, as I imagine it at the moment. And the price still bites.

Probably, everyone who is engaged in business sooner or later comes to the need to create a database for their business, because it is impossible to keep everything in mind, and scouring through pieces of paper, diaries and folders in a computer sometimes is ineffective - you lose something, something you just don’t find it. Or am I the only one? How do you keep your records? Share your experience, please.

For more details:

https://talknchat.net/read-blog/9125_exclusivity-or-manufacturability-who-will-win.html