Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 13, 1995 TAG: 9504200018
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-20 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I would not go back to the old system," said Hudson, owner/manager of Mitchell Clothing Co., on Church Avenue. "The computer offers so much more we can do."
The "old system" he mentioned was pen and ink, ledger books, boxes of card indexes and various other paper files.
Hudson said he uses the computer system throughout the business - to record all accounts, keep books and inventory and to keep track of customer preferences and purchases.
Hudson said he keeps several customer lists in the computer to keep track of specific items customers purchase.
"And we can track inventory much closer now," he said.
Hudson, who installed his first computer system eight years ago and is now on his second system, is part of a growing movement among small-business owners who are finding advantages to computers in today's fast-moving, highly technical society. Nearly all businesses - large and small - need computers to keep up with the rest of the business world.
That is the assessment of not only computer experts, but also small-business owners.
Computers can benefit any small business, said Randy Dolan, manager of Computer Exchange.
"Computers can do anything humans can do, but they can do it a lot faster," he said.
Computers can keep track of inventories, accounting, the number of sales of specific products, Dolan said, and at the end of the day produce a printout showing a concise written record of the day's business.
Computers are especially valuable with inventories, Dolan said. "You can see which products are getting low without having to walk through the store counting each item."
Computers also make it possible to learn about new products through other networks, Dolan said. "Computers are a big benefit to any business, and when all other small businesses are on computers, a business without one will be left out."
Mike Puckett, manager of the Packaging Store on Brambleton Avenue, would not argue with that assessment.
"Our line of services would be impossible without computers," he said.
Without computers the company would sink under heavy paperwork that Puckett said would be "enormous."
Puckett said the Packaging Store has three separate systems. One keeps up with the packaging end of the business, one tracks activities of a subsidiary truck rental operation and the third one does all the office work - accounting and billing - for both.
Puckett is a realist about computers and knows they are not infallible, though. "Computers are great until they go down."
And if they stay down long enough, it's back to basics.
"I know how to do everything by hand," he said, "but it would take too long to do it that way all the time."
The convenience of computers appeals to Barbara Pendleton, office manager of Deluxe Floors on Virginia 24, east of Vinton.
"I can do one [keystroke] and it does everything else," she said.
Pendleton said her company has had a computer only one year and uses it primarily for bookkeeping.
"The computer simplifies that job and makes much less paperwork," she said. "Before the computer, we had handwritten ledger sheets."
Computer are not confined to urban settings but are finding their way into small businesses that may seem unlikely - like farms.
Gordon Groover and Jim Pease, two agricultural economists with the Cooperative Extension Service at Virginia Tech, are studying the benefits of computers in the business of farming. January through March, they conducted a series of Farm Management Workshops around the state.
"Today's farm is a sophisticated small business," Groover said.
Increasing competition and lower profit margins in agriculture make computers almost essential if farmers are to run successful operations, he said.
Pease said computers can aid farmers in the same way they help all other small businesses - by keeping business records.
"Too many small businesses, farmers particularly, don't keep proper records," he said.
Computers can make this job easier and faster by keeping track of payroll and withholdings, inventories, expense records, billings, accounts payable and numerous other records.
"These are tasks that take hours of dreary work without computers," Pease said.
Computers can aid farmers in another way, Pease said, by keeping crop production records. Through these types of records, farmers can see which crops and fields turn the best profit.
Farmers also can use computers to keep records of their chemical use to help in getting maximum benefit from pesticides and fertilizers without polluting the environment.
by CNB