There can be several factors responsible for the success of a business venture. New businesses, typically, do not have the capital to invest in getting the best resources and technology, but since their operations tend to be small-scale, they have other tools that they can use to fuel their growth, expansion, and profit.
Thanks to the Internet, there are a number of online programs waiting to be explored by business owners. Because entrepreneurs have a lot on their plate when they start out, it makes sense for them to use such software to save time, cut costs, and streamline their processes from the very beginning.
In this post, we list some of the software that every small business owner is bound to find useful.
Accounting Software
Money is the most important resource in any business and needs to be handled with utmost alertness. A business is sure to end up in doldrums if it shows no or low accountability on the financial aspect. This is where efficient accounting software comes into the picture.
This software will help you track your business finances by recording your current cash flow and the subsequent transactions made by you. All you have to do is install it. Let the software import the necessary data from your files and set up a database. You can use this database for bookkeeping, calculating taxes, fetching records, tracking inflow and outflow of cash, generating reports, and making changes.
Invoicing Software
This software is a must-have for businesses that need to generate bills and statements frequently. Invoicing software helps you track your clients’ payments status, thereby ensuring that you do not miss out on receiving money owed to you.
This software also allows you to create multiple invoices, bills, and statements. With invoicing software, you can email bills directly to your clients, which saves you a lot of time and postal charges.
Also, this software comes with a range of in-built templates that you can choose from and customize, which prevents the hassle of repeatedly preparing different templates for different clients.
Inventory Management Software
Do you know how much of your product is in stock right now? If not, then you’ve probably realized that this is one piece of information that you ought to keep tabs on. Inventory management software will help you do just that by providing you with an accurate and up-to-date count of it.
With this software in place, you can speed up your order-taking processes, thereby greatly decreasing the chances of losing your customers to your competitors. You can also take and process orders more confidently since you will know exactly what you’re left with and when to restart production.
Office Suite Software
One of the everyday activities in any office involves creating different kinds of documents like letters, memos, spreadsheets, and presentations. To be able to do so with ease, you will need to invest in a high-quality Office suite.
Microsoft Office is the most popular and commonly used office suite program and keeps getting upgraded from time to time. There is, however, free office suite software available too.
CRM Software
Customer relationship management (CRM) software is important if you have a growing customer base. It stores all their information and demographics in categories and groups, which you can find by using the provided filters.
Many businessmen integrate CRM software with their accounting software and marketing tools to get the maximum benefit out of them.
Email and Messenger
Emailing is one of the best ways of formal communication with multiple people. It’s been around for years now and is still as sought after as it was when it first came into being. It allows you to convey your message elaborately and emphatically and also lets you store them. If you have installed MS Office suite, you’re probably using their default email client, MS Outlook.
Instant messengers are a boon when it comes to sending and receiving messages quickly. It speeds up the communication process. Features such as voice chat and video conferencing make it all the more useful and interesting. They also enable you to share your screen with your client so he is able to see exactly what you see. Such facilities help you save a lot time as well as telephone and travel costs.
Back-up and Recovery Software
The sooner you realize that all of your crucial data is stored in your computer, the more you will acknowledge the necessity of having back-up and recovery software. Whether it is your financial data, customer records, or employee database, it’s all there in your system.
In case of an unforeseen incident leading to a computer crash, a virus attack, or a natural disaster, it will be nice to already have a program that will automatically back up your data as you work.
Recovery software is essential to be able to retrieve lost data, accidentally deleted files or important emails.
Antivirus and Security Software
If you’ve got all of your business-related data on your computer, then it is advisable to invest in enterprise-level security software that offers protection from virus, malware, email encryption, and protection for central file and data servers.
Time Management Software
Time is a precious and irreversible resource. It is, therefore, important to spend it wisely. Time tracking or time management software lets you track your as well as employee’s time from the moment they check in until they check out of the office. That way you can track how they spend their working hours and reallocate their time and skills where needed.
Conclusion
Being ahead of the herd requires that you be the best at what you do. With the above mentioned software available to help you regulate your daily business operations, you can look forward to hitting the jackpot sooner than later.
Author: Suraj Kumar is the Founder & CEO of CloudBooks, an Invoicing & Billing Software for small businesses and freelancers. He likes to solve problems related to small business and SaaS. Feel free to reach him out if you need any help.
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