4 Types of Software You Need for Your Small Business

A few simple software updates can make your job so much easier.

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Running a small business is, at its heart, an act of juggling. There are several balls that you have to keep in the air at once: sales, marketing, bookkeeping and accounting, day-to-day scheduling and organization, customer service, human resources, and on and on. Doing so requires coordination. It requires efficiency. And for even the heartiest, most hands-on small-business owner, it requires some help.

Some of that help may come from your staff, but you can also enlist the support of various software platforms. The best small-business management software takes mundane yet time-consuming tasks and automates them – freeing you to use your precious time on other value-adding activities. (And occasionally, perhaps, to take a well-earned break.)

Of course, there are a number of software programs and platforms that are specific to different industries and niches – but what about the more general ones, the ones that offer benefits fundamental to all small-business owners? A few particularly noteworthy ones are recommended here:

Financial Tools

Ultimately, small-business owners must plan and strategize for the financial future of their company – but there is no reason why they shouldn’t use software to ensure accuracy and expediency. For accounts payable and receivable, a site called Bill.com provides a number of transaction-processing and financial management tools. It’s invaluable for helping entrepreneurs keep up with payments.

For more general bookkeeping needs, there is no need to look for anything too new or flashy: The tried-and-true platform QuickBooks remains the gold standard, and all the bookkeeping assistance most small-business owners will need.

Data Security

Another critical component of small-business ownership, and one that is easy to overlook, is securing your files against corruption and loss. SOS Online is a great tool for this; with a yearly subscription, small-business owners can cover the data on up to five computers. The easy-to-use interface makes this one of the most popular and widely recommended online backup options, though there are competitive products that might be worth investigation and comparison.

Marketing

Software automation can make digital marketing far more effective and efficient. For social media, a tool worth looking into is Hootsuite, which allows small-business owners to manage several social media platforms simultaneously and ensure they never miss anything important on their social channels.

Small-business owners might also look into Wordpress.com – the standard-setting content management tool that’s perfectly customizable and easy-to-use, both for blogging and for website design. More ambitious and advanced entrepreneurs can also check Wordpress.org, which is not quite as simple or as user-friendly but does offer more options for customization.

Collaboration

A final tool to consider, and likely a familiar one, is Dropbox. For remote teams, or even for teams that need to work closely on documents and files, this is an essential tool for communication and sharing; Google Docs and Microsoft OneDrive are worth looking into as well, though neither offer quite as much flexibility.

There are other programs and other categories besides, but these platforms are all highly recommended – not just useful, but in many ways fundamental to small-business ownership.

About the Author

Amanda E. Clark is the president and editor-in-chief of Grammar Chic Inc., a full-service professional writing company. She is a published ghostwriter and editor, and currently under contract with literary agencies in Malibu, Calif., and Dublin, Ireland.
Since founding Grammar Chic in 2008, Clark, along with her team of skilled professional writers, has offered expertise to clients in the creative, business and academic fields. The company accepts a wide range of projects and often engages in content and social media marketing, drafts resumes, press releases, Web content, marketing materials and ghostwritten creative pieces. Contact Clark at www.grammarchic.net



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