Entrepreneur's Journal: Best holiday gift for the entrepreneur?

Posted Dec 13th 2009 5:40PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Intuit Inc (INTU), salesforce.com inc (CRM), Small Business

It's usually tough finding the right gift for an entrepreneur. Hey, the best thing would probably be a loan or some customers, right?

OK, being realistic, there are some gifts to consider. Let's take a look:

The Cloud: It's all the rage right now -- that is, on-demand software services. The good news is that much of it is affordable. Take a look at Salesforce.com (CRM). The company has a small business edition of its customer relationship management (CRM) offering that comes to only $50 per year.

Intuit (INTU) also has some great on-demand products, such as PayCycle (which helps with payroll).

Inspiration: A good book can help. One of my favorites is Pour Your Heart into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time. In it, Howard Schultz tells his story of how he turned a dream into a mega empire -- dealing with many challenges along the way.

Oh, if you feel like shelling out some big bucks, you can pick up a Kindle.

Going Wireless: Many entrepreneurs spend lots of hours at a desk, taking calls and working on the computer. So why not make things easier? One idea is to get a wireless Plantronics Digital Wireless Office Headset.

Fun: With all the grueling hours and stress, it's good to get some entertainment. One idea is The Office -- Season Five. It's my favorite show because it teaches so many lessons on what not to do. It's also a reminder why it's so much better to run your own business.

Tom Taulli provides business tax preparation services and helps with resolving tax problems. He is also the author of a variety of books, including the The Complete M&A Handbook. His website is at Taulli.com.

Tags: CRM, featured, Gifts, Howard Schultz, INTU, Intuit, Kindle, PayCycle, Plantronics, Salesforce.com, SBUX, Starbucks, The Office