Small businesses don’t often have much of a budget to invest in technology, but some investments will be the key to running your business — and growing it quickly and easily in the near future. Make sure these five technologies aren’t missing in your business.
Check out these Technology Tools:
Social media scheduling
Social media is a must for your small business. However, you don’t want to be posting on each separate social media channel several times a day. A social media scheduling tool allows you to schedule your posts for an entire day, week, or more all at once, and then forget about them. Automation is key for a small business. Helpfully, there are plenty of options to choose from depending on your needs and your budget.
Some popular options:
- Hubspot
- Hootsuite
- Zoho Social
CRM
If customer service is what you do (and even if it isn’t), a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool can make your job easier and, more importantly, better. You can use a CRM to keep track of partners, customers, contributors, and/or subscribers, follow up with potential leads, send out newsletters, automate your processes, manage accounts — the benefits are endless. Investing in a good CRM tool that works for your business and knowing how to use it will change the way you do business.
- Zoho CRM
- Hubspot
- Salesforce
Cloud service
A cloud service to keep all your files safe and readily accessible is key for any small business. These days, not only do you not want to be using paper and pen, but you also want to have access to your documents anywhere, at all times. Small businesses often work from home or outside office hours, and a cloud service makes it easier for that work to get done. Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon all offer a variety of options, though there are many more out there.
Security tool
Keeping your business safe doesn’t just mean locking up your store or office at night. Your information needs to be safe, too. Aside from making sure your passwords are strong enough to secure your accounts and online information, your business needs a security tool to protect your data and personal information from any attacks. One antivirus is enough to accomplish this — but you need to have it.
Project management and/or team communication software
Communication is key to the success of a small business, and as your business scales, having intimate team meetings and completing projects with little planning won’t cut it anymore. An effective communication platform and project management tool (often one will be both) will help you keep track of where your projects stand, visualize your goals, and encourage better communication among your team.
Some popular options include:
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- Teamwork
