Beneficial Business Tools Every Enterprise Needs
While there are undoubtedly challenges that must be dealt with along the way, it could be argued that it’s easier to run a business now than at any other point in history. In 2018, you can target your advertising precisely for a better return on investment, improve your business’ operations by reading through the thousands of webpages featuring free business advice, and even have employees that telecommute from their home thousands of miles away.
However, as beneficial as the above are, there is one area where the modern business particularly benefits: software tools. With the right apps and services, you can manage the running of your business with an ease that would have been thought impossible just 50 short years ago.
Below, we’ve put together a simple guide to the five tools that every modern business should be using if they wish to increase efficiency, production, and organization throughout their company.
#1 – Accounting and invoicing tools
Without sound finances, a business has no hope of being able to succeed. Unfortunately, accounting and invoicing is an area that a huge number of business owners struggle with when they try to manage it alone. Thankfully, there are plenty of apps and services available that claim to help streamline the financial side of your business; however, for most entrepreneurs, the decision will usually come down to choosing one from two popular options: Invoicely or Wave. There’s a great comparison of the differences between these two well-regarded apps at Compare Invoicely vs. Wave, so it’s well worth reading through and seeing which option may be more suited to your company.
#2 – Email marketing software
The importance of email marketing cannot be overstated, so it should come as no surprise that there are plenty of services available to ensure your campaigns are as efficient as possible. However, when considering these services, there’s little point looking beyond the dominant market leader: MailChimp. This service has become the best known (and arguably the most reliable) choice for vital email marketing campaigns because it is genuinely effective for a wide range of businesses. If you choose to give it a try, its impressive reputation suggests you’ll love it. If you’re in need of a few pointers, then Getting Started with MailChimp should provide a beneficial starter insight.
#3 – Work scheduling apps
Work scheduling is a vital component of any business with more than two employees. Without effective work scheduling, you can find the business understaffed, struggling to meet demand, and severely impacted in terms of the productivity it is able to achieve. Thankfully, there are a great range of software tools that can help to make the management of work schedules, employee time off, and other variables incredibly simple; read through this fantastic What’s The Best Work Schedule App For My Team? article and you should soon be able to ascertain which choice is the right one for your business.
#4 – Online meeting software
The ability to coordinate online meetings is vital in this age of freelancing and remote working. There are a few different apps to consider, but the choice is usually Skype or Google Hangouts. While both have their pros and cons, Skype for Business is tough to beat, and tends to be far more reliable than the often-temperamental Hangouts. Have a read through Introduction and Skype for Business Quick Start Guides and you should be ready to try it for yourself.
#5 – Digital asset management
Digital asset management is something few businesses think of, but the consequences of overlooking it can be troublesome in terms of productivity. All modern businesses have a huge number of “digital assets” such as files, images, and so on and so forth. Digital asset management seeks to organize the storage of these digital assets as simply and effectively as possible. Two services in particular can be utilized for this purpose: Google Drive and Dropbox. Choosing between the two tends to cause a large amount of debate, but have a readthrough of Google Drive vs Dropbox to find out more about which may be more suitable for your needs.
In conclusion
While running a business is always going to present a number of challenges, there’s no doubt that the management of an enterprise has been hugely simplified in recent years. With the right tools at your disposal, you’ll be able to ensure that your business operations are optimized to perform as efficiently and reliably as possible. If you have yet to try any of the fantastic apps and services listed above, it’s well worth giving them a try– they might be just what your business needs to allow you to reach the next level of success!
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