Paglow Automations

A lot of owners couldn't tell you what their shop paid for software last month.

Small Business Expo surveyed 781 small business owners back in March. 41% said their software costs went up in the past year. 24% weren't sure.

Most of that money leaves town. It's a handful of autopay charges going to companies a long way from Allen County.

Try this. Pull last month's statement and circle every software charge. Then ask which ones somebody local could build for you instead. After-hours phone answering and a customer list are two good places to start.

That's the kind of thing we build at Paglow, right here in Lima.

41% Of Small Business Owners Report Rising Software Costs Survey data (n=781) shows 41% of small business owners report rising software costs, raising questions about margins and cost visibility.

Quick homework for Lima business owners.

Small Business Expo surveyed 781 owners this spring. 41% said their software bills went up in the last year. And 24% said they didn't know if theirs did or not.

So grab last month's card statement and circle every software charge. Scheduling, the CRM, the website, the answering service. Then look at where each of those companies is based.

Chances are none of them are in Allen County. That's money leaving town every month, and the price keeps creeping up.

Some of it you need. But a lot of it can be built here in Lima, set up for how your shop really runs, by people you can call when something's off. That's what we do at Paglow Automations.

41% Of Small Business Owners Report Rising Software Costs Survey data (n=781) shows 41% of small business owners report rising software costs, raising questions about margins and cost visibility.

Quick one for Lima business owners 👇

The City of Lima is running a survey for small business owners and anyone thinking about starting one. It's part of the four-year partnership with Fifth Third Bank and Enterprise Community Partners. The answers will help decide where support goes next, including whether Lima gets a small business incubator.

So fill it out. And when it asks what you need, mention the boring stuff too. The answering service run from two time zones away. The website platform you pay every month and have never talked to a human at. That's Lima money leaving town every month.

We'd like to see more of it stay here. The survey is on the City of Lima's website.

News Flash Archive - Small Business Survey to Help Shape Future Support NewsFlash

Lima business owners, the city wants your two cents. 👋

The City of Lima, Fifth Third Bank and Enterprise Community Partners put out a survey about what local businesses need to start and grow. It also asks whether Lima should have a small business incubator.

Be honest when you fill it out. If your biggest headache is the phone ringing while you're up a ladder, say so. If you're paying three different out-of-state companies every month for software that never quite fits, say that too. Money spent here stays here.

The survey is on the City of Lima's website. It's worth filling out.

News Flash Archive - Small Business Survey to Help Shape Future Support NewsFlash

Saw this in The Lima News. At the Big 7 luncheon here in Lima, the NFIB's Ohio director said 35% of small business owners have a job they can't fill.

If you're one of them, you know where that work goes. Straight onto your plate and into your head. Who needs a callback. Which quote is still hanging. Which regulars haven't been in since summer.

You shouldn't have to remember all of it yourself. Put it somewhere that reminds you back. That's what a good CRM does, and it's the kind of thing we set up for shops around Allen County.

Ohio Big 7 offers advice to local businesses LIMA — Business leaders were invited to the “Ohio Big 7 Business Leaders: Regional Roundtable Luncheon,” which provided each attendee more knowledge about how Ohio is performing and where it’s headed.

Did you catch the Big 7 business roundtable at St. Rita's earlier this month? The Lima News wrote it up, and one number jumped out: 35% of small business owners have a job they can't fill.

We hear it from owners around here all the time. The front desk spot stays open, so you're the one taking calls, writing quotes and trying to remember who wanted a callback before winter.

That's a lot to keep in your head. A customer list that sends its own reminders won't replace a great employee. It does mean fewer things slip through while you're short-handed.

That's what we're building with Lima businesses this month. Happy to show you how it works.

Ohio Big 7 offers advice to local businesses LIMA — Business leaders were invited to the “Ohio Big 7 Business Leaders: Regional Roundtable Luncheon,” which provided each attendee more knowledge about how Ohio is performing and where it’s headed.

We're keeping a scoreboard, and we're going to post it.

Four numbers. Businesses in Allen County running something we built. Owner-hours handed back. After-hours calls the town no longer misses. Dollars that stayed local instead of going out of state to a software company.

We're early, so the numbers are small right now. That's fine. Small and honest beats impressive and vague.

The reason to publish it is simple. Our whole idea is that this only works if it works for the businesses first. A number nobody can see is easy to fudge. A number in public isn't.

Watch it climb with us.

Every business has a folder of quotes that went out and never got answered. Most owners assume those people went with someone cheaper.

Usually they didn't. They got busy, the estimate slid down the inbox, and nobody ever followed up. The job just quietly evaporated.

Follow-up is the least fun work there is. It's also the highest-value hour in the week, which is exactly why it never happens. There's always a customer in front of you who matters more right now.

An outbound caller works that list for you. Calls the people who already raised their hand, opens with the actual thing they asked about, and books the ones who are ready.

No new leads required. You already paid for these.

https://paglow.com/blog/your-quote-went-out-tuesday-nobody-called-back

Everybody who's been to a Chamber breakfast has the drawer. Eleven business cards, a couple with notes on the back you can't read anymore, and one from a guy you genuinely liked and meant to email.

That's where most networking dies. Not in the room. In the drawer, about four days later.

The fix is boring. Take a picture of the cards before you pull out of the parking lot. They land in your CRM, a short nice-to-meet-you email goes out that afternoon while the person still remembers your face, and a follow-up gets put on the calendar a week out so it actually happens.

You already did the hard part. You showed up, shook hands, had the conversation. The typing is the part worth handing off.

Nearly every small business has one. The book. The spreadsheet. The clipboard by the register that only one person can read.

It works, right up until the owner takes a Friday off and nobody can tell a customer when the sectional is coming in.

The fix isn't buying a generic CRM built for software salespeople. Those things want leads and deals and stages. A furniture store doesn't have deals. It has orders, dates, and two questions every caller asks.

Build it around the way the business actually works and the whole staff can answer in ten seconds. That's the owner getting their Friday back.

We wrote about this one for furniture stores on our blog.

https://paglow.com/blog/your-special-orders-live-on-a-clipboard-build-a-crm-instead