Essential Business Tools
Time is money in business, which is especially true if you have a startup company that is looking to hit the ground running. Money is usually always tight for these types of businesses, which means they may not necessarily be able to afford the manpower needed to get off the ground. The good news is that there are an incredible number of business tools available that can help shoulder much of the weight that a new company initially feels. Since money is tight, these businesses usually have to take a very close look at which types of tools and software will be most beneficial to them.
Some of the decisions they make are no-brainers with many applications coming in at a small monthly user fee. Many of these apps can be used across multiple devices, which means employees and business owners need not necessarily be tied to their desk to use them. The big question mark comes with software and tools that are considered big ticket items. You think of the likes of Adobe Creative Suite and other pieces of software that can take a huge chunk out of the budget.
When you look at the business tools that companies most commonly opt for, it becomes apparent that there are certain parts of the business where a low-cost option is more than acceptable, whereas others demand a little bit of extra money to be spent to ensure total quality. Let’s take a look at the 7 main business categories and the tools that the majority of businesses decide to use.
Company E-mail – It should come as no real surprise that Google would come out on top in this category, especially since their web-based e-mail is easy to use and has tools that are very business friendly.
Accounting – This is one of those categories where a well-known and trusted piece of software trumps all others. Quickbooks is the accounting software that most companies opt to go with, especially since a fantastic mobile version is also available.
Web Analytics – With the majority of businesses now being found thanks to search engine results, it is important to keep track of exactly where all those visitors are coming from and which search terms were used to find you. Google is once again the go to company when it comes to analytics.
CRM – Customer relationship management (CRM) is crucial in making sure that all of your customers are happy and want to come back for more. Salesforce is the CRM tool most commonly used by startup businesses.
Website Design – Yes, Adobe Creative Suite may be expensive, but it really has no equal, which is why it is the popular choice of business owners.
Storage/Backup – Companies can amass a mountain of data that needs to be stored somewhere, with Dropbox being the place where most of them out it. Data is stored in the cloud via Dropbox and can be accessed via multiple devices.
Payment Processing – There are still plenty of people who are nervous about paying online by credit card. Paypal allows them to do that by supplying nothing more than their e-mail address. A win/win scenario for both the customer and the business.
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