Power up your business with the right software
Utilising small business software applications and web services is a sure way to improve your business. From creating and storing documents and getting on top of communications to tracking expenses and managing inventory, business software can be used to perform virtually every routine task in the organisation. Outfitting your business with the right types of small business software will make your life easier by automating business processes and freeing up your time for other important aspects of your business.
Types of small business software to use
There are many small business software solutions that can help you manage your business depending on your needs. Below are a few types of software you may want to consider using in your business:
- Email client software
While there are many different and newer forms of communication available today, email is still one of the most popular methods of communication for businesses. You may be happy with a web-based email service for your personal emails, but when it comes to business, using an email client is a much better choice. Email clients will allow you to be much more effective and productive than you could ever be with a web-based email service.
If your business doesn’t already use an email client, download one today. For business owners that want to save a buck by using small business software free of charge, Thunderbird is the email app to use. It is free to download and easy to set up.
A good email client will enable you to:
- Send and receive mail from more than one email account
- Keep emails secure by storing them on your computer
- Instantly receive mail in the background as you work
- Organise emails in folders
- Automatically synchronise emails in the cloud (via IMAP)
This may sound complicated but once you get the hang of how to use an email client you will never go back to a web-based email.
- Accounting software
Keeping the books can get complicated for small business owners. There’s nothing as sad as losing money due to poor bookkeeping when there are plenty of good accounting software options available both online or to download. Accounting software offers a number of intuitive tools that allow to easily keep finances up-to-date, track expenses and profitability, calculate tax liability and much more. Investing in the right accounting software product can be the best thing you ever do for your business.
- CRM software
If you are serious about expanding your reach to new customers and building a loyal customer base, then you can really benefit from customer relationship management (CRM) software. Using CRM software will enable you to harness important customer data to improve customer service and make your marketing more effective. Typical uses of CRM software include: storing customer contact details, recording a log of each time a customer visits the site, and managing the relationship in a way that keeps customers coming back. This can help your business increase its revenue significantly over time.
- Order processing software
If you are doing any online sales, you’ll need to be armed with order processing software to help keep track of your stock and sales. Your business might be small now, but once you start growing and selling products via multiple sales channels, without a solid order processing software your growth will be limited. An appropriately integrated order processing system will accommodate your growth and make the selling process more efficient and scalable.
- Induction platform
As your business grows, it’s likely that you’ll have to hire new employees. Every time a new team member joins your business, you’ll need to provide them with induction training. The induction process generally focuses on the organisation’s policies such as values, culture, rules and workplace safety. Online induction platforms allows business owners to easily create and deliver the required induction courses for staff and contractors. By Using online platform you can automate and streamline your induction processes and solve the time consuming tasks associated with the management of the induction programmes.
The choice of small business software products depends largely on the current needs of your business. Whether you are willing to invest in an enterprise software package or are looking for small business software free of charge, any programme or application that can help make your life easier and your business operations run smoothly is definitely worth it in the long run.
When you let the routine business operations be handled by software designed for that purpose, you can devote your valuable time to things that technology can’t do – win new business.
Do you have any questions or great tips to share?
Induct for Work – the only online induction system you would need to run online inductions.
