As a small business owner, you might be worrying about things to do to boost your company’s presence in today’s tight market. Most organizations thrive by adopting the right technology to make work easier while increasing returns. Therefore, your business shouldn’t be left behind. Read on and learn about the tools you need for your small business this 2022.
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Communication Tools
Proper communication in your organization ensures that information flows appropriately to the right people without distortion of the intended message.
E-signature is an aspect of communication you need to invest in. This system allows you to digitally acquire signatures from your team, business partners, potential clients, and suppliers. This eliminates the need to physically go to their offices or have them come to yours to formalize agreements. All you have to do is send the document to be signed and attach the e-mail addresses of those who need to sign. They’ll be notified of what is needed, and you’ll have the document signed and sent back in no time.
Fax services, although not commonly used nowadays, should also be a priority. Gone are the days when you had to send a fax with an old, complicated fax machine. You can now subscribe to an online fax service for small business. Faxing is the most secure platform for document sharing, especially if you do business with banks or the government. You might also need fax services if you carry out international transactions, where most clients utilize this method of communication.
You also need collaboration tools for easier communication among your workers. The platform should allow video and audio calls, document sharing, live chat, and document presentation. Some examples of these are Slack and Dapulse.
Another crucial communication tool you need is an email management one. An email management software, such as MailChimp, can autogenerate emails for your business and send them to your desired clients automatically. This eliminates repetitive tasks that bore most employees. Most email management platforms have templates that you can customize to suit your business.
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Project Management Tools
Project management (PM) tools focus on the day-to-day tasks you have to complete within a given time frame. One such tool is Trello. A PM platform allows you to track your projects and easily manage your clients’ information so you won’t miss any set deadlines. It will send you alerts of pending works, including approaching deadlines.
Some PM tools will also allocate tasks for you, such that work is distributed relatively with no burden on anyone. Budget tracking is also another feature available on various PM software. This way, you’ll monitor your expenditure, and you won’t surpass your set project budget.
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Security Tools
Most small businesses tend to assume they don’t attract any security threat because they don’t have large portfolios and haven’t been in operation for long. This is not the case, however. Some hackers use small companies to get access to established businesses. Therefore, you should cease assumptions and adopt security tools for your organization. You should also note that security isn’t centered only on cyberattacks. Data loss is also a concern you should look out for in your plan.
One of the security tools to consider is a data backup system. A backup system allows you to recover any data you might have lost through a small error or the destruction of your primary storage system. Some platforms, such as Carbonite, will give you unlimited data storage services and a security code that will allow you to recover the data independently without involving them. This saves you time without the usual back and forth communication with a solutions provider.
A password management tool is another one you should consider. This system will set strong passwords for all your company data, with some putting in place two-factor authentication. You can also customize them to regularly update the passwords for extra safety.
Alternatively, consider outsourcing an IT team instead of investing in expensive and complex security technology. The outsourced team will handle everything regarding the security of your business, lifting off the burden from your shoulders. This way, you can put all your energy into the more significant aspects of your small business.
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Productivity Tools
The productivity levels in your small business determine the returns you’ll get at the end of the day. Therefore, it’s essential to invest in productivity tools.
Some productivity tools that you can utilize are time management platforms. These platforms monitor how your workers spend their day. Some of these tools, such as Hubstaff, will take screenshots of what your team is working on and keep a record of them. They’ll monitor the number of hours worked, the sites visited during working hours, including the time spent executing an assigned task. Having such tools will keep your team on their toes, knowing that they’re being monitored, resulting in increased productivity.
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Accounting Tools
As a small business, having a whole finance department might strain your finances. You don’t have to worry about this anymore. There are accounting tools available that can do all the bookkeeping for your company. These platforms will do invoices, allow payments to be made, track your expenditure against your organization’s income, among other features.
An example of an accounting tool is QuickBooks. It’s a cloud-based tool, thereby reducing the need for physical accounting books that tend to occupy much space in your office.
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Marketing Tools
With your customers being the centerpiece of your business, your marketing strategies should be focused on them. To achieve this, you need to invest in customer relationship management (CRM) tools, such as Google Analytics, to help you understand your customer more.
Choose tools that monitor customer behavior on your official website, including the number of visitors on your site and the most viewed content. With such data, you can make an analysis and see the areas that need improvement. This allows you to formulate appropriate strategies for an increased customer base and sales.
Conclusion
The tools mentioned here would help your small business run smoothly and efficiently. They can utilize the least resources without putting much strain on your growing company’s budget.