Marjorie Yarrow

CEO and founder - ALPOM Marketing and Graphic Design

Zoho Books helps me take care of my bank accounts, especially with bank reconciliation and has a lot of reports that I was particularly looking for.

Company Name

ALPOM Marketing and Graphic Design

Industry

Marketing and Graphic Design

Why Marjorie loves Zoho Books

Complete accounting software
Ease of use

Features Marjorie likes the most

Marjorie Yarrow is the CEO and founder of ALPOM Marketing and Graphic Design, based out of Los Angeles, California. With over 10 years of corporate experience, Marjorie has been a part of advertising teams, new corporate identity development, and several corporate communication strategies for various companies. ALPOM provides end to end services in the areas of Branding, Marketing, Graphic designs and Website development.

How did ALPOM get started?

Having worked with companies from different sectors, private and public, I had the knowledge and experience needed to help large companies grow their infrastructure and, inevitably, their business. The growth wasn't just from the infrastructure standpoint, but also on the marketing and branding front. I realized how much I loved what I was doing and asked myself - 'What can I do to build my own company, and how can I help small businesses communicate better and build their brand?'

So, I chose to build a company that would help businesses with their branding, graphic design and web development. Not that we wouldn't want to work with large corporations, but working with small businesses makes a lot of difference in their growth and also provides invaluable experience that a lot of small business owners miss without having a large staff. Our mission is simple - We want to grow your business.

Tell us something about ALPOM.

ALPOM provides solutions in the areas of branding, marketing, graphics design and web development. We are able to take the the branding of a company from Logo design all the way through to doing traditional marketing campaigns and website development. I founded ALPOM roughly a year and a half ago and it has grown substantially since then. I am proud to say we've worked on international projects, breaking cultural and language barriers and building relationships around the world.

Most of the ALPOM team members work remotely, and most of them are seasoned veterans in marketing, branding and graphic design. They work on a contractual basis thus letting us provide quick solutions to our customers at excellent prices. We also work with local schools to provide crucial work experience to interns looking to get into marketing or graphic design.

How did you hear about Zoho Books?

I was using Zoho Invoice when I was doing some freelance work to invoice my clients and send quotes. When I started ALPOM, I felt I needed a complete accounting software which had more than just invoicing with features that can help me manage my business finance. People told me 'QuickBooks! Go for QuickBooks,' but I felt like I needed more options and I really didn't want to follow the herd. So that's when I decided to try Zoho Books.

How does Zoho Books help ALPOM?

Zoho Books helps me take care of my bank accounts, especially with bank reconciliation and has a lot of reports that I was particularly looking for. It was easy to use and I didn't need any training to know how to export or import data. Initially, I had some trouble setting up recurring expenses, but I contacted your development team and got that fixed. They have been highly responsive.

Do you think a business owner needs accounting knowledge for using an accounting software?

I was fortunate to have learned the basic accounting principles in the companies I previously worked with and I believe that is absolutely necessary that every business owner knows accounting on a moderate level. At the end of the day, the business is like your child and you have to take care of it. Is it crucial that a business owner is an expert in entries, taxes and the like? Now that's why we have CPAs; but you do need to know how to manage cash flow at the very least, or you won't be in business very long.

Do you have any lessons for budding entrepreneurs?

Patience is a virtue is what I always say. Don't be sad if you hit a roadblock in what you are doing. It might slow you down but will steer you in the right direction. This is true as much as it is cliche - What doesn't break you down, will only make you stronger.

Convert your failures into learning experiences and keep going. Having so many things to do might drive you crazy and make you think 'Why am I doing this?' When it pays off, there is no better feeling.

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