Tools

My wife, Janel, decided that “we” were going to carve a pumpkin this year for Halloween. I knew that “we” meant that I was going to have a major role in the activity. She bought a large pumpkin, researched designs on the Internet and showed me some YouTube videos to help me get started.

One of the experts showed how to tape the design to the pumpkin, and then he spent two hours pushing a pin carefully through the lines of the pattern so that when the paper was pulled away, the small holes could be faintly seen. The next seven hours were spent cutting and scooping pieces of the pumpkin with an x-acto knife to reveal an intricate design.

The pumpkin sat for several days because I knew I didn’t have nine spare hours to spend carving a pumpkin. Finally the Friday night before Halloween, I decided to work smart by employing tools that we had in the house. Rather than spend two hours pushing a pin through a paper, I used an old pounce wheel I had purchased when I was in high school. It has a handle with a small wheel at the end that looks like a cowboy’s spur. It’s used by sign painters to make a series of small holes in a paper pattern so that a bag of charcoal could be pounced on the holes to leave a faint pattern when the paper is removed. That took about 20 minutes to complete instead of two hours.

I used some wood carving tools, instead of an x-acto knife to quickly scoop large pieces of the pumpkin to reveal a tiger’s head. That took only about an hour to complete. Another 20 minutes was spent cutting out the top and cleaning the inside. I was more excited that I shaved seven hours off the time, than what the final product revealed.

With the right tools, you can accomplish something in much less time, or with greater ease and higher quality. I’m very frugal, but when it comes to purchasing tools for my profession, I am willing to pay for the best because I know that it will pay for itself over and over again. When I was studying art, I learned that the cheap brushes cost less initially, but they quickly wore out or did not produce the desired result. A brush that cost twice as much would often last four times as long and create an effect that was not possible with the cheaper brushes.

Having the right tools in business is essential if you are serious about your work. This can be the specific equipment you need for your particular profession, the right phone system to take messages and provide quality reception, or the proper vehicles that can improve your productivity.

Technology is constantly evolving to improve the productivity and performance of entrepreneurs. The Internet and social media sites have allowed a business to expand its influence beyond what was possible on a limited budget only a decade ago. In fact, a small company in Winnemucca, Nevada can now be a global business competing with larger corporations, if it has the right tools.

I recently made an inventory of some inexpensive tools available on the Internet that can save a businessperson many hours. They won’t carve a pumpkin, but they can sure make you more productive. Here they are:

Enounce.com has a tool that can speed videos and audio recordings up to three times as fast, without it sounding like Alvin and the Chipmunks. I use it all the time to listen to material at 1.5 times faster than normal, and if I pay careful attention, I’ll kick it up to twice the speed without sacrificing clarity.

BaseCampHQ.com allows a business to easily keep track of all projects within a company, or assignments given to clients. I’ve used project management software, but it can sometimes be complicated. This site has simplified the process so it can be used with 95 percent of the projects a company tackles. Another tool at Teamly.com allows you to list the top five things to accomplish each day, week, and month.

One of my favorite tools is Snagit, which can be found at Techsmith.com. This allows me to not only do screen captures of an entire website, or just a small portion, but to also edit them and easily export them to Word or PowerPoint.

I’m sure you have your own “bag” of tools that allows you to save time and produce better results. Owning the right tool is an investment and not an expense over time. It separates the professionals from the hobbyists, and the right tools can make you look good in record time. Next Halloween I’ll be ready for whatever Janel decides “we” are going to carve.