Business productivity is one of the most important aspects of business success. There are numerous small business software tools that owners can employ in order to increase their productivity. Some of these time saving tools have been around for a while, new, free, high costing or at low cost. However, they are all useful to most small (or large) business owners.
Here we want to introduce you to a few selected small business software that are useful. When used rightly, these tools can increase sales and boost your overall business performance.
Small Business Software For You
Social Media Management Tools for Small Businesses
Digital Marketing is a business strategy and the leading channel is via social media. In reality, nearly 50% of people in the world use social media. This being the case, there are tons of your audiences waiting to be reached.
As a business owner, it might not be so easy to manually handle your social media accounts. Hence, there are some tools I would recommend. These small business software increases your social media marketing performance and saves you time. Some of them are;
- Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management tool that can be used to do so many things. First of all, it can help come up with great content. Now, what’s great content if it’s not shared at the right time??! So, Hootsuite also helps to determine the best times to post content and schedule different content for posting. Furthermore, Hootsuite helps with analytics. It helps measure the progress of your social media account(s) over some time.
- Buffer
Buffer is an application that helps you manage different social media platforms all in one app. It is an easy and convenient way to manage your social media accounts. Buffer also has a feature that can schedule content for posting. Analytics is yet another feature of buffer as it helps to analyze your performance over some time.
- Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a platform that helps small businesses market their products or services. The app which is an email marketing software is commonly used to send multiple emails to subscribers. Here, you can schedule emails to your mailing list and have them mailed at a fixed time.
- MeetEdgar
This is good small business software. This social media tool can be used by small businesses to create and schedule posts on their different social media accounts. This app curates nice content to ensure that your social media is always up to date with trends. Besides, you can add as many social media accounts and as many platforms as possible.
- Tailwind
Tailwind is a social media management tool that specializes in Pinterest. Pinterest is a platform that helps you discover different categories of pictorial contents.Tailwind helps to schedule posts on your Pinterest account while monitoring these posts to analyze their performance. It helps you generate creative, trending content on your Pinterest. Tailwind can also be used to schedule posts and content on Instagram.
- Sendible
This is a social media management package that can be used for most social media platforms. With Sendible, you can schedule posts and content at any time.
- Zoho Social
Zoho is a tool that helps you create a lineup of different posts or contents. You can then schedule them to be posted on all your social media platforms. It also has a unique team feature that lets employers manage their social media accounts without having your passwords.
- Nimble
This is a customer relationship management tool that uses social media tools.
How does nimble work? It helps you to see all your messages including email and outlook in one single app. It does this by syncing google apps data with your office 365. Nimble improve interactions and relations with customers hence increasing satisfaction.
- BuzzSumo
This is a social media management tool that allows you to discover trending content and keywords on any website. This is important because knowledge of trending content and keywords helps in creating captivating content that would attract people to your website or platform.
- Crowdfire
This social media management tool helps increase follower interactions on social media. It works by letting you know those that follow you and you don’t follow back. You can then decide whether or not to follow them.
Importance of Social Media Management Tools
Social media management involves the process of analyzing and controlling your social media accounts. Social media management tools are those tools that help you manage your accounts. They have several importance like;
- Social media management tools help you manage different social media accounts/platforms centrally. Meaning that instead of going through the process of individual login, content creation, posting and interactions, it helps you carry out these functions in one.
- Another major importance is that you can use these tools to create content. It is one reason why it is important to use small business software like those aforementioned. This removes the burden of having to come up with different content for all your social media accounts.
- Social Media Management Tools also help to schedule posts. When a post is scheduled, it automatically updates at the scheduled time. This helps to prevent posting at the wrong times when views and interactions are likely to be less.
- Keywords and current trends are important in making your posts visible. Social media management tools notify you of keywords to include in your content to make them more visible to your audience. Using the right keywords help generate leads faster.
- Social Media Management Tools also help to analyze the performance of your different social media accounts. Performing analysis from time to time helps to tell you areas you are doing well and areas that need improvement.
- The use of social media tools also improves engagements and interactions. This is because it is easier to see messages and notifications when they’re all in one place. These tools ensure you respond promptly to messages and never miss any notifications.
Website Automation Tools
Website automation tools are used basically to test the functionality, performance, and other vital aspects of a website. The reason is to boost website performance. Some very good website automation tools are;
- Selenium
Selenium is a popular web automation tool that tests the user interface. It is mostly used by web developers and programmers.
- Katalon Studio
This automation tool is used to test APIs, web apps, and mobile apps. One unique feature of katalon is that it is compatible with multiple platforms.
- IBM Rational Function Tester
This tool is designed for testing applications that are developed using different languages and technologies such as Web, .Net, Java, Visual Basic, Siebel, SAP, PowerBuilder, and a lot more.
- Postman
This tool was made for testing API. The postman is also used by web developers to develop API.
- JMeter
JMeter is an open-source tool designed for test loading and performance measurement.
Importance of Web Automation Tools
- It saves money
Web automation tools help small businesses save money as they no longer have to carry out manual testing which would normally cost money. Hence, web automation tools reduce costs.
- No limitations
Website automation tools help to carry out as many tests as possible. With manual testing, there is sometimes a limit on the number of tests carried out.
- It saves time
Web automation tools help save time in comparison to manual testing tools.
- Increased efficiency
Web automation detects bugs and problems early. The earlier these bugs are detected, the faster it takes to get them fixed.
- Increased accuracy
Web automation tools are more likely to produce accurate results than manual testing as human errors are eliminated.
Note: If you are a web novice, you should get some help for your automation.
Accounting Tools for Small Businesses.
Accounting is an integral part of any business, especially small businesses. Not all small businesses can afford the services of a professional accountant. Also, we all know not everyone is good with calculations, records keeping, and filing.
Hence, there’s no better and easier way to deal with the financial management of your small business than with the use of online accounting tools. These tools are simple to use, efficient and reliable. Some of them include;
- FreshBooks
Fresh Books is an online application that can help a business effectively carry out bookkeeping functions. This application is easy to use, even for those that do not know the principles of accounting. It can be used to generate financial reports, process payrolls, and do so many other things.
- Sage 50cloud Accounting
This app has various functions which include but are not limited to; ledgers, payroll, and even balance sheet. Sage 50 cloud accounting also helps to create financial projections that are good for small and medium scale businesses.
- QuickBooks online
QuickBooks is a must-have accounting tool for small businesses. It carries out a wide variety of functions, from financial records keeping to customized financial reports, payroll processing tax simplification, and a lot more.
- Sage 300 Cloud
This app helps to manage inventory, analyze business data, rate employee performance as well as handle your business finances. It puts your mind at rest as all your important data is secured in the cloud.
- Xero
Xero is quite similar to QuickBooks but one unique feature of this app is the ability to have multiple users which would be useful for businesses with more than two employees.
- Wagepoint
This app specializes in all things payroll from processing to analysis. It helps small businesses especially those without a professional accountant sort out payroll-related issues.
- Gusto
Gusto is also a payroll tool that carries out tax processing and filing, employee onboarding, and merging of some other accounting software.
- Neat
With neat, you can scan documents using a scanner or even your mobile phone. You can also use this app to track bills and share important financial data.
- TSheets
This time tracking accounting app can be used to monitor employee timesheets and so is very useful in organizations that run shifts or schedules.
Advantages of Online Accounting Tools
- Ease of access
With accounting software, you have access to any data or information anytime and anywhere. These apps can be accessed and used on the go. Also, information lost or forgotten can easily be retrieved because it is secured in the cloud.
- Increased efficiency
Unlike humans, accounting software cannot make mistakes. So the analysis, data entry, and calculations done by an accounting application can be guaranteed to be 100% accurate. Also, accounting software can help find solutions to some complex calculations that an individual will normally find difficult to solve.
- Accounting software saves time
With software, the process of calculations, data entry, bookkeeping, and several other functions take less time.
- Reduced cost
Making use of accounting software might mean you no longer need to hire a professional accountant and that’s good for small businesses as they get to save money.
- Simplified tax filing
Accounting software help to prepare tax payment reports and this helps to make tax filing easier and more thorough.
Lead Generation Tools For Small Businesses
Leads are simply potential customers or clients. When we say lead generation, we mean the process of finding the right audience with the hope of turning them into customers through marketing, advertisements, and interactions.
Lead generation tools are mediums through which you can find potential customers easily. Some of this small business software for lead generation and conversions are discussed below.
- Leadfeeder
This app lets you know the details of people that visit your site so that you can decide who your target audience are and interact with them. Leadfeeder also provides their information so that you can contact them in the future.
- Adoric
Adoric analyzes the profile of visitors and then creates a path for them based on their profile or personalities. This lead generation tool not just generates leads but does a good job at converting them to clients.
- Hunter
This tool is great for email marketing. Just like the name implies, hunter helps you find the email addresses of companies or individuals. All you need do is put in the name and company of the person and voila! This tool is a must-have for small businesses.
- Prospect
This tool helps you find the email addresses of your prospective leads and this aids email marketing.
- HubSpot Marketing
This marketing tool helps to simplify the process of storing leads thus making it easy to capture them.
- Mailchimp
This is a popular email marketing tool used to schedule and send bulk emails to prospective customers.
- Proof
This app helps small business owners generate leads by showing how popular their product is to spark up the interest of prospective customers.
- Hoovers
This tool helps business owners to have direct conversations with potential clients.
- Datanyze
Datanyze helps to access necessary data to generate leads. It provides contact information of prospective customers and this can increase sales conversions.
- Qualaroo
This unique small business software tool is used to conduct polls. The feedback from these polls helps the small business owner to know areas of their product or service to improve on. The polls also provide the contact information of individuals who participate in these polls.
- Pardot
Pardot helps you identify the right target audience. Knowing the right target audience is important because there is a greater chance of their conversion from just leads to actual sales.
- Salesforce
As a small business software, it is very effective. This is a lead generation software that helps to manage leads and prospective clients.
- Google ads
This tool helps get your business noticed. You can also find potential customers on google. Google operates a pay-per-click method which makes it cost-effective for small businesses.
- Quora
This is a tool that provides the platform for people to ask questions on a variety of topics. You can generate leads by looking for questions that are in line with your product or service. Answering these questions and doing a form of advert on your product or service by recommending it.
Importance of Lead Generation Tools
- Lead generation tools help direct you to your target audience. Finding the right audience is important for sales generation.
- Increase in sales: Lead generation tools do not just help find leads but some of these leads are converted to sales.
- Improved quality: Interactions with leads help to determine the aspects of your products or services that need improvement.
- Using lead generation tools helps increase traffic on your website. And this can increase the ranking of your website.
Final Note
Not all these small business software are free or unpaid. There are subscriptions attached to some of them. However, most of them run a free trial for some time.
Still, confused about how it works? Our tech experts can help you out.
