As a business owner, you already know running a small business is far from easy. While blazing your own path is never going to be a walk in the park, you can always implement a few handy tools to help take some of the weight off your shoulders.
Read on for our top six must-have tools to run a small business and reach your fullest potential as a leader!
#1: Communication Channels
Whether you have five employees or fifty, communication is key. Keeping your team up to date and in the loop will increase productivity and efficiency. While meetings, phone calls, and emails will always be key parts of any business, there are other ways to keep your team connected.
Here are a few useful ways to communicate with your team:
#2: Meaningful Marketing
You don’t have to hire a PR team to market your brand effectively. Technology has made it easier than ever to get the word out about your company, and many marketing tools are highly intuitive.
Some great ways to market your brand include:
- Email Campaigns – Email campaigns are quick and easy ways to spread your company’s message. Tools like MailChimp, Robly, and Constant Contact provide templates, allow you to create customized recipient lists, and monitor clicks and conversions. You can also purchase different plans with different features, depending on your business’s needs.
- Social Media – Social media has become a mainstay in modern marketing. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok provide you with a plethora of opportunities to increase your brand’s visibility. If you really want to take your social media strategy to the next level, social media management tools like Buffer and Hootsuite can significantly boost your social campaigns.
- Content Marketing – From blog posts, to targeted ads, to product descriptions, most businesses can benefit from some form of content marketing. If you don’t want to hire a full-time employee to handle this, turning to an agency or freelancer is your best bet.
#3: Payroll Service
Paying your employees correctly and on time is an essential part of running a small business. Anyone who has ever tried to run payroll knows there’s a lot more involved than just writing a check. Luckily, there are services that specialize in small business payroll that can handle the process for you.
Payroll services will also make tax season easier, since they help you keep detailed records of both state and federal tax documents.
#4: Virtual Capabilities
Meetings, interviews, and more are all increasingly going virtual. If you want to keep up with the times, you’re going to need good video conferencing technology. This is a growing market with options that range from free video calls to state-of-the art webinars.
Popular options include:
- Skype
- Zoom
- GoToMeeting
- Webex
- BlueJeans
#Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger is a team chat application that keeps both the
communication and collaboration within the teams at the same pace either
they work inside the office or outside i.e. work from home. Productivity
is no more an issue in case of this office chat application that offers
exceptional features for remote teams collaboration.
Using Troop Messenger, you can send or receive text, files, images,
media, and other important data seamlessly. Without hassles, this tool
lets you assign the work to the remote teams, track the progress,
monitor and manage all your teams wherever you are.
Besides, this remote working tool is accessible over the web and mobile
apps (both Android and iOS) that eases any task in a fly. Also, this
tool uses a high-end security pin and fingerprint access to ensure
privacy and data confidentiality.
#5: Safe, Secure Storage
If you’re still saving files to your hard drive, it’s time for an upgrade. Storing documents and projects to a secure, organized, easy-to-access platform will not only improve your team’s workflow, but it will also safeguard you from unforeseen technological issues (like if your computer system crashes).
Dropbox and Google Drive are good tools to get your team started. Once you’ve decided on a platform, collaborating with your team to create a systematic, consistent method to save, name, and organize files will make everything you do quicker and easier.
#6: Project Management
As you grow your business, you’re going to have to keep track of more and more moving parts. Thankfully, sticky notes and handwritten to-do lists have given way to digital project management services. These platforms allow you and your team to delegate tasks, keep track of progress, and streamline workflows.
The following options work great for small businesses:
- Monday
- Trello
- Asana
- Basecamp
- Apollo
You Are the Captain of Your Ship
Running a small business requires resourcefulness, adaptability, and dedication. It’s also a constant learning process. The good news is there have never been more tools at your disposal. Even incorporating just a few of the above technologies into your business can make a big difference.
Try them out for yourself and get ready to watch your business run like a finely-tuned machine!
