Faces & Fortunes - an MYOB Case Study

The first time Ellen Zucker was asked to do caricatures for a party, she agreed but said she would have to call back about her fee. “I called four other caricature artists, got their pricing and information, and decided that since I was the new kid on the block, I’d charge less,” says Ellen.

Ellen had always wanted to work in the art field and even took night classes while working for an insurance company. The success she had with her caricatures inspired her to start her own business, Faces and Fortunes, and incorporate astrology and fortune telling into her repertoire. Ellen brings her unique blend of talents to parties and speaking events. For larger engagements, she subcontracts other artists and readers so ample time can be devoted to each specialty.

Ellen can quickly turn out a pencil-drawn head and shoulders picture in about 3 minutes. More complex pictures, such as a post-prom party with couples or a color drawing with props can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. As she draws, her gentle sense of humor takes the subject’s mind off of being in the spotlight as she deflects some of the attention onto herself, which puts the subject at ease. “You get a sort of sixth-sense for someone like the lady who sits down and says, ‘Don’t draw my double chin.’ So I know right off how much of a sense of humor someone is willing to display,” says Ellen.

Results Achieved with MYOB

At first, Ellen kept track of her business by hand, writing in ledger books, and then using Quicken. Graduating to FirstEdge over a year ago, she is thrilled with its invoicing features. “To be able to have and track invoices is a big step over Quicken,” she says. She uses FirstEdge mostly to track income, expenses, billing, invoices, payments and subcontractors. She also writes checks using the Bank Register. “When I need to write a check, I just enter it into FirstEdge and it prints out automatically. That way, I don’t forget to do one or the other,” she says. Her accountant was very pleased she was using FirstEdge when it was time to present her books. “It was the happiest I think I’ve ever seen him,” she says.

Ellen just recently upgraded to OS X and said that some programs on her computer did not transition well, but that was not the case with FirstEdge. Ellen is also thinking about enrolling in the Merchant Account Service because it would be nice to be able to give customers the option and added convenience of paying with a credit card. For now, Ellen is happy with FirstEdge. “For my limited needs, FirstEdge does what I want,” she says.