Five internet tools your small business needs to succeed
The internet has been around since the 1980s, but its potential has been truly unleashed in the last decade.
It impacts our personal lives, our professional lives, and everything in between. Business leaders can access incredible resources because of the Internet, making operations more efficient.
Small business owners may not have the scale that necessitates a heavy use of the Internet, though all brands can benefit from the online tools at their disposal.
Nonetheless, very few brands that achieve success can do so without embracing these technologies in 2023. The days of manual tasks are dwindling when it comes to running businesses, and failing to get on board could result in the business falling behind.
Though some types of businesses can rely heavily on a storefront, especially small local brands, there are still plenty of methods that can improve operations using the internet. Here are a few tools that your small business needs to succeed.
1) An e-commerce platform
If you sell products or services to consumers, then you can benefit from the use of an e-commerce platform. Even if the bulk of your business comes from in-person customers, the potential for higher sales numbers is massive, with a place for online sales.
Consumers are not restricted to in-person shopping for most of their needs, so they will appreciate the convenience offered by your brand. Plus, an e-commerce platform can reduce your costs, eliminate the work required to display products in a physical space, and present your entire inventory in one place. The accessibility factor alone is enough to generate far more revenue from online shoppers.
2) Quickbooks or other accounting software
Keeping track of your finances is crucial as a small business owner, especially when tax time comes around. However, numbers are not everyone’s cup of tea, and if you are even somewhat disorganized, tracking finances can be overwhelming.
This is when you need a tool like QuickBooks or other accounting software to help carry the load. For those using Shopify for their e-commerce platform, integrating QuickBooks can be simplified with tools like MyWorks QuickBooks Sync. These tools make it easier to accomplish your accounting tasks yourself, reducing the cost of hiring an accountant or paying a firm.
3) Team communication tools
Even the smallest businesses often have multiple team members. Whether that business partner is a member of your family or someone that you hired, communicating with them often is a principle that should be prioritized. Internal communications can make or break a company, so investing in programs that foster consistent communication can improve the brand’s chance of success.
Some popular communication tools for businesses include Slack, Google Chat, Trello, Zoom, and Monday.com. Many of these tools allow you to create different channels and integrate them with project management, so life becomes a little simpler for your team members.
4) Job boards
At some point, you will need to hire more people when the company has grown too much to be matched by your current team’s abilities or if someone vacates a position. Finding qualified candidates is crucial for continuing your success, and the sooner you find them, the less of an interruption there will be to progress.
Online job boards are a great way to advertise your open positions to candidates. Some of them are open to all industries, while others may be specific to a particular field, such as physician roles you can find at The Medicus Firm. These boards are likely to connect you with a broader talent pool than your own local efforts may yield, so you are more likely to find better talent for your team.
5) Customer relationship management tools
Keeping track of your customers is just as important as keeping track of your finances. But when the size of your customer base grows, this becomes incredibly burdensome to your team.
A customer relationship management tool (CRM) eliminates much of the busy work required to track customer relationships and data. It helps your team perform many relevant functions, such as analyzing sales performance, identifying business opportunities, prospecting contacts for follow-up, improving customer service, and tracking customer contact.
A CRM will drastically reduce the workload on your team for managing customers and various business operations related to customers.
Which tools will blend with your team?
This is an important question to ask before you start adopting multiple technologies at once. Not every tool mentioned above will make sense for your industry or even the current size of your brand. However, many of them could be viable options in the future.
Evaluating the current needs of your organization is the best way to approach these internet tools. Some may reduce the workload faced by your team, while others create a greater capacity for scaling up. Whether you choose to prioritize an e-commerce platform, job boards, or a CRM, your small business will likely need to engage with newer technologies to remain competitive.
