Most businesses are only as good as their human, intellectual, financial, and physical resources.
In the current economic climate, physical resources — or business tools — keep evolving as developers push the boundaries of what business tools can do.
Today, you can edit PDF files, scan documents with your phone, and easily handle tasks without the help of a tech expert.
In this article, we discuss the most important business tools.
Mobile marketing tools
Gone are the days when you resorted to door-to-door sales to get your products off the shelves. Today, you can reach consumers from anywhere in the world, mostly from mobile devices.
And that’s why you must invest in mobile marketing tools for your business spot. Mobile marketing tools ensure your messages reach your consumers through instant messages and SMS notifications.
With tools like SEMRush, you can fine-tune your mobile marketing strategies to attract more consumers.
Email software
Though people think social media apps have replaced emails, stats prove otherwise. Experts predict that 4.3 billion people will use email services by 2023 — that’s more than half of the global population.
Companies can also automate product offers and messages to customers. With tools like MailChimp and SendInBlue, you can generate and monitor email campaigns to reach a specific target audience.
You can also use ‘dummy’ email SMTP servers to test your email campaigns for deliverability and unsubscribe rates.
Content management system
If your business doesn’t have a digital presence, prioritize getting it online. Over 70% of consumers look for everything online — especially business solutions — before considering offline alternatives.
But your job doesn’t end after creating a business website; your site needs content and someone (or a system) to manage it.
Using business management software will help optimize your site and make it appealing to visitors needing your services.
Before choosing a CMS, check for its security features, customizations, and pricing. WordPress and Shopify are excellent CMS for anyone without the skills of a coding wizard to create and manage a site.
Social media management tool
You need to get your business in front of consumers, and since most people spend a lot of time on social apps, you should create social media pages for your brand.
However, curating content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn can be challenging because every platform needs a different approach.
So, instead of posting the same thing on every platform, use tools to target specific apps with relevant posts.
With tools like Buffer, you can schedule and optimize your posts to target specific audiences. So let the tools do the work for you while you focus on other aspects of the business.
PDF tool
When working with external teams and auditors, you will often send and receive PDFs. But if you don’t know how to edit a PDF, you will run into problems.
Luckily, you can easily find an excellent PDF editor online. Apps like LuminPDF allow you to edit PDF, as well as annotate and sign documents.
With a handy PDF tool, your business can go paperless without any hassle.
Hiring software
During business process modeling, you should plan to employ more human and intellectual resources over time.
Holding background checks and using external recruiters are great hiring strategies, but they take time and cost a lot. Besides, you don’t get to personalize the hiring funnel to your company’s standards.
Imagine reviewing 5000 resumés in a week. You are probably stressed just thinking about the work involved. Yet, that is the reality of many human resource managers working without hiring software.
Recruitment software helps you save money while improving your hiring process as a small business owner. So introduce human capital management tools into the business process mapping to bring the right talents on board.
Communication app
Communication is essential to all business operations and transactions.
The fluidity of your teams’ interaction determines how successful projects are and improves the level of client satisfaction. So invest in communication apps to keep business processes running smoothly.
Use tools like Slack and Google Meet for internal communication between units. You can also use Skype and other video conferencing apps to talk to clients. But before choosing a suitable tool, consider your company size and daily processes.
You also need to adopt customer relationship management (CRM) tools. With the best CRM for small business projects, you can nurture your relationship with clients by communicating with them and requesting feedback.
Timesheet app
Time-tracking is a trusted way to measure business efficiency. Without monitoring the time you and your employees spend on tasks and projects, you leave a lot to chance. So you need a tool to help your teams avoid missed deadlines.
Apps like Toggl help you know how effectively you use your working hours. You can set start and end times to measure your input accurately.
Besides, these time-tracking apps are also essential in handling client billing, monitoring recurring tasks, and creating project cost estimates.
Accounting software
Unless you are a one-person business, you can’t rely on old-fashioned bookkeeping. You need a better way to monitor outgoing costs, profit margins, etc. Proper accounting will let you know when and where to manage funds to keep your business running.
And if you run a small business, business intelligence software can help you handle your accounting. Besides, these BI tools include Excel features to make your accounting process smoother.
Platforms like Gravity provide a scalable software solution with a simple user interface that integrates with Microsoft Power BI.
So invest in cloud-based accounting tools once your business starts expanding. Use business intelligence tools to create reports and visualize complex financial data.
Task management software
Task management apps are BPM tools that allow you to assign roles and duties to employees.
Once you start employing workers, you should start thinking of delegation and task management. So get tools for assigning tasks to team members and holding them accountable.
With software like Asana and Trello, your employees receive notifications when you add them to new tasks. You also know when they start and complete the tasks, helping you focus on your job instead of monitoring employees.
Conclusion
Technology has improved business operations and helped start-ups scale quickly. Thanks to tech, running a business is more straightforward than it used to be.
Marketing tools, accounting software, and hiring systems help business owners manage business processes and make more profits. So business owners should freely review the tools in this article and use them to grow their business in 2021.