As a small business owner, you tend to rely on technology to get jobs done for you rather than different departments. It´s vital, therefore, to stay up to date with the latest advances in technology to keep things running as smoothly as possible. High-end technology also gives a good impression to the client and makes you appear more legitimate. Here are some examples of essential software and apps to help improve your company’s success and productivity.
Social Media
Fundamental to your marketing, social media is the best way to spread the news about your product or service. Make an Instagram account and post as often as you can. Facebook Pixel allows you to advertise on Facebook. You could also try setting up a sponsorship with a blogger on an influencer. Post online tutorial videos and make as many contacts as possible, you will increase your fanbase more rapidly the more you post and add links to your website. For advice on how to make your website more effective, click here. LinkedIn also facilitates business connections and you could also send out email sequencing to reach more clients. This means automated emails will be sent to reach out to everyone in your client base, potential and existing customers.
The Cloud
It will be expected nowadays for you to have uploaded your system and documents to the cloud. This is a much more economical way to store your information and you can access it from any device. You can also share documents and edit them in real-time. Always use programs that are compatible with this such as Google docs and other computer-aided tools or design programs. This will massively improve your internal and external communication. You can upload anything and send the link to clients immediately asking for feedback or even invoice immediately. This means you can work much more efficiently.
Relating to the idea of the cloud, Pocket is an app that allows you to save information and read it later. This could be things like articles, videos, web pages, and emails. If you’re busy running your own company you won’t always have the time to read everything, so why not save it for later. This app has other benefits, for example it eliminates ads and is easy to view and use. You can see items appear as thumbnails, or in list or grid view. You can sync it to all your devices and it’s compatible with most other apps around so you can quickly and easily save any information you need and you will be able to access it when you prefer.
HubSpot CRM
HubSpot helps with marketing and sales. It has an extensive range of online tools and aims to provide an all-in-one approach. It’s basically a digital sales department. The CRM product tracks and manages interactions between a company and its customers and prospects. It helps you to analyze and forecast your revenue. It’s also free and integrates well with all common, high-end software.
Augmented reality
Another way to say virtual reality, this is ideal for showing your clients are more realistic makeup of your product. There are many augmented reality (AR) products available on the market such as the Hololens of Microsoft. These will impress your customers by allowing them to view a protocol of your product virtually and will make the initial stages of your sale have more of an impact.
Instant payments
These will allow you to have a quick and easy process for invoicing and payments. Many devices can be equipped for card payments which means you make transactions anywhere. With an automatic card reader, you can set up an instant cash register for your business and take card payments there and then. It’s a good idea to set up devices so that you can use them to pay with as well. Square is an app that allows you to set up a point of sale and take card payments for example. You can make online and offline payments and it also helps to grow your business with real-time analytics.
Wireless conference rooms
These facilitate streaming video and other media to different locations. There are several companies working on this service and again you have the freedom to take your business on the road. It’s better to conference with short notice, rather than wasting time and money traveling. Also if you have less staff it’s much more convenient for you.
Dragon Anywhere
This is the number one voice recognition app. Dragon Anywhere was first developed for Apple products but now is available on Android as well. It works online as speech recognition software, so you need a good internet connection. This allows you to speak into your phone directly and it will instantly record and process your requests. It boasts powerful voice editing and formatting and you also get unlimited dictation to the cloud.
Gusto
This is another app but this one deals more with staff and payroll. Again, you save on an entire department. Gusto handles all tax deductions, benefits and other issues and emails everything automatically to your employees as well. This is much easier for small business owners.
Wave accounting
Wave accounting, on the other hand, manages your companies finances. It keeps track of sales, invoices, expenses, receipts, and general reports. This helps you to keep an eye on all of your transactions without an accounting department.
Set up your own app
Everyone makes most of their transactions with an app, particularly for services. Setting up an app might be a quicker way to communicate with your client base. For advice on how to set up an app here are some more tips.
Don’t get lag behind the times! Keep updating your operating system as well as this will mean you are compatible with newer apps and programs. If you need assistance with any of your IT needs, it’s recommended that you go with a consultancy firm such as www.charlesit.com, who can give you friendly and efficient support.
