3 Essential Piece of Software All Small Businesses Need

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If you’re a startup, the types of tools you use can make a huge difference to your ability to manage your team, data, and eventually your competitiveness in your niche. Using the right tools will allow you to improve collaboration and accountability within your operation, manage interactions between various teams and your client base, and allow you to do some advanced analysis on your processes, among other things. But the issue for many is knowing which tools should be part of their stack. Here are some of the most important tools small business should consider adding to theirs.

A Good CRM

A good CRM is essential if you have to process a lot of customer interaction and want to be able to not only keep track of them, but use them for analysis. And if you can name an established company, we can assure you that they’re using a CRM.

PieSync recently did a rundown of some of the best tech stacks in the industry, and almost all of them add either a CRM, or a CRM extension as part of their stack. They also recommend Hubspot as one of the best tools for 2020. Not only that, but their sync tool allows people to sync Hubspot with various other apps like MailChimp or CloudTalk, for instance, and easily exchange contacts and information between the two of them.

Accounting and Bookkeeping Tool

It’s also very important that you stay on top of your books, and there aren’t too many tools that are easier to use while offering such a wide variety of features as QuickBooks. QuickBooks has been a market leader for small businesses for a while, and it’s not hard to see why.

First of all, they have a template for virtually any type of report you might need. Do you need a time tracking report? Check. What about invoicing or inventory? QuickBooks has you covered. Not only that, but the tool will allow you to manage tax forms, issues, and returns fast and easily. It will also allow you to manage more advanced functions like payroll, though at a premium.

Productivity Management Software

You also need software to help your team run more efficiently, improve communication, and keep track of process for analysis and improvement.

If you’re thinking of going agile and allowing your employees to work from where they are, then you have to consider using some sort of Kanban tool. Kanban is a system that uses a series of flashcards moving through a timeline to show the state of a particular project and allow stakeholders and managers to keep an eye on processes and their progress. Some examples of popular project management tools that use Kanban include Trello and Kanbanize.

You and your team can only be as good as the tools you’re using. If you want to be competitive, and also be able to monitor your business’s progress and performance, you should focus on using the right set of tools and using them to their full potential.

Tools That Will Help Run Your Business Efficiently

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In any business there’s always room for improvement, no matter how big or successful it may be. Business only works through strategic planning and executing of those techniques, and there are new and improved ways of running a business coming out each day. Whether you feel like your business needs improving or not, it’s always a good idea to keep up with the latest ways that people are trying to help with their businesses better than ever. Here are some tools that will help run your business efficiently so that you can build a bigger and better empire.

Document management software

It’s likely that at some point during the business day you’ve got to deal with paperwork or some sort of document. Files like these can easily become lost, muddled, or even duplicated which can make running your business harder than it needs to be. You can now buy document management software to help you manage these files and keep them organised in one handy place. Software like this often offers template management too, which can save you tons of time and really help the efficiency of you and your staff.

Employing the right people, and keeping them trained

An important factor in any business is the people who help keep it running, and that’s why it’s important that you have the right people working for you. Hiring people can be a tough task, especially because interviews don’t really show a person’s full working capacity. Instead, you could use employee referral software which allows you to see what your members of staff are achieving. Not only that, you can send them useful bits of information which can increase their productivity and knowledge of their job.

Keep everyone in the loop

The key to a successful business includes efficient communication. It’s important to make sure that not only are you having regular meetings and updates with senior members of staff, but with all members of staff. There will always be need to know information, but even the littlest of details can completely change how someone approaches the way that they do things. Many successful businesses choose to have a weekly meeting with all members of staff where business and personal matters can be discussed and resolved. Communication is key!

Clever financial options for your customers

A really popular business strategy is being able to offer finance to your customers. This won’t apply to all businesses, but if you’re selling products that would take the average person a while to save for, it might be a good idea to offer a finance deal for them to take if they’d like to. It’s convenient for customers who can’t afford things straight up, and it’s great for you because you are then bound into a contract, meaning that you will have regular contact with them for the entirety of the finance deal. This will give you the chance to keep them sweet, and they will be more likely to return.

Try these tools in your business and see if they can help you accelerate the growth and reputation of your business!