Big or small, a business needs all the help it can get to survive. But on the contrary, many business owners do not want to spend money on a team or staff to perform specific tasks. However, you need to have the right resources to compete in the market where big enterprises have the budget to hire an entire team of professionals or buy the best equipment and software for their processes.
The good news is that we now live in an era where these tools are cheaper and more reliable. That said, here are the top business tools every business should have for daily operations.
Attractive Web Design
Not all companies have the budget to hire expert web developers to create an attractive website from scratch. But of course, a user-unfriendly or amateurish site may not gain enough visitors and can also discourage potential consumers.
Luckily, many web developer companies these days provide solutions at lost costs. They can help business owners create their own sites without encoding. Often they help businesses with the following features:
- Mobile optimization, SEO analytics, and web stats
- Applications for appointment bookings or invoicing
- Numerous drag-and-drop templates
- Google maps, social media shortcuts, and contact forms
- Digital online shop, E-coupons, and Etsy link
- Easy online payment methods for products and services
- User-friendly loan processing methods for lending companies
Marketing Strategies
A business will never survive without efficient marketing. And while you might think that this tool is costly, there are some tools, like the Moz Open Site Explorer, that can help you determine if your site is gaining traffic. It has the ability to:
- Learn which pages or sites have the highest ranking so you can adjust yours
- See how many Twitter or Facebook shares and likes you gain daily
- See where inbound links came from
Many of these features are free, but you might need to upgrade your subscription at a cost if you need more advanced analytics.
Social Media Management
Professional entrepreneurs should know that good social media management is essential. Big companies have the means to hire professionals to do the task. However, startups usually have to purchase software that can manage their pages on the following platforms:
- Google profiles
- Foursquare
- WordPress Blogs
The tasks of the social media manager include:
- Monitoring and keeping track of the business’s social media pages
- Respond to comments and inquiries
- Schedule daily posts and content
- A team management tool, which informs all members if a comment has been replied to already
- Create weekly reports that include top referring sites, popular links, the number of clicks you receive per day, and the location of visitors.
Collaboration
Every office needs an organized space where the employees can store and share important files. Dropbox, for instance, can help you with this task. It gives you personal storage and provides other services, including:
- Storage space and data backup
- Quick sharing of files like images, videos, and documents
- Synchronizing files to all your devices (tablets, laptops, smartphones)
- File recovery
However, note that even though Dropbox is generally free, it has a few limitations. For instance, their free feature can only give you 2GB of storage. If you need a bigger space for your files, you’ll need to purchase the Pro plan at $10 per month; it can give you one terabyte of storage space.
Project Management
Now that many companies rely on remote work, organizing files, to-do lists, and updates can be tricky. Project management software can help you remember these tasks and ensure that you do not forget anything. This software is beneficial for the entire team as its features include:
- Set due dates, attach files, and break down project tasks
- Integrating all storage such as Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive
- Streaming activities to inform you of project progress
- Easy sharing of files and documents within the team
Customer Relationship Management
Customer experience is one of the most critical elements in business. Fortunately, several CRM applications are available these days that will not cost you a fortune. For example, HubSpot is one of the most popular free apps that helps businesses improve customer service and strategies. Its features typically include the following:
- Monitoring email conversations, deals, tasks, and contacts
- Allowing business owners to invite their members to use the app for free
- A dashboard that shows projects updates, delays, tasks currently being accomplished, and more
- Syncing with platforms, including social media, email, and website
- Auto log of calls and emails
- Customized fields to find contacts easily
The success of your business can significantly depend on the tools and equipment you use for daily transactions and operations. It’s important to know if you can do the job yourself or if you need to hire someone or purchase a tool to do it. Consider these business tools to ensure that your business succeeds and expands like others.
