5 Essential Tools Every Small Business Needs To Succeed
To run a successful small business, it takes a lot of hard work. Thankfully, there are various business tools available that can help you with productivity, marketing, communications and more. These types of tools are designed to help you work smarter, not harder. To take advantage of this, there are a few business tools that every small business needs.
Business Website
One of the main tools you need to conduct business today is a business website. It’s often the main way for potential customers to find you and learn about your products and services. If you’re just starting out, there’s no need to pay lots of money to have one built. Nowadays, there are plenty of user-friendly website builders available that you can use to build a professional-looking site for your business.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer communication and interaction are key to a successful small business. To handle this effectively, you’ll want a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that can help you. This type of tool is actually a cloud-based software that manages your customer data and the interactions you have with them as you nurture existing relationships and generate new leads.
Cybersecurity Solutions
Protecting customer data must be one of your top priorities. To do this, you should invest in SASE technology that’s powerful enough to protect both your customer and company information. With so many cyber criminals targeting business and consumer information, this is a critical tool for you. It’s especially important if you run a global business with remote employees accessing your company information from around the world.
Payment Processing System
In order to sell products and services to your customers, you need a way to receive payments from them. This is where a payment processing system comes in. It allows customers to purchase products from you either in person using a credit card terminal or through an online payment gateway, such as Paypal or Stripe.
Accounting Software
Keeping track of your financial transactions requires accounting software that fits your needs. You’ll use it to track financial items, such as:
- Billing
- Payroll
- Tax forms
- Expenses
It’s important to know what’s going out and coming in at all times. With the help of accounting software, you’ll have an organized way to track all of your expenses and revenue.
Project Management Platform
To streamline projects and communication between your teams, a project management platform like Teamly can help you. It offers several user-friendly tools for your employees to use as they collaborate with each other. It also helps to increase productivity and help your business grow.
Social Media
To reach customers online you need to find out where they hang out and then go there to reach them. With the rapid growth of social media, you can find and interact with customers on popular platforms such as:
- Tiktok
- YouTube
Each of these platforms provides you with a place to reach your target audience with content that’s attractive, entertaining and engaging to them. When you first start out, instead of setting up accounts on all of these platforms, analyze your target audience information and buyer personas to narrow down the online sites that they use most. Then select one or two platforms to set up your company profile and start posting online content.
Email Marketing Tools
When it comes to customer communication, email is still one of the best ways to reach them. There are several email marketing tools available that can help you build, send and manage all of your emails in one place. You can even set up email marketing campaigns and customize your messages. This allows you to tailor your communication and present certain products to specific customers based on their interests and needs.
Everyone can use a little help sometimes, even if it comes in the form of a business tool. By utilizing these tools, you will have the help you need to stay productive and competitive as you continue to grow your small business.
