Regardless of the size of your business, from solopreneur to multiple employee organization, there is a minimum software (Software as a Service) requirement for all organizations. All organizations should have the following types of software:
According to Visual.ly, 83% of customers consider a seamless website experience on all devices to be very important. There are a variety of website software tools on the market, so how do you choose which one is right for you? You have to assess which one will cater to your needs and abilities. If you don't know coding, for example, you may want to choose a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop functionality. The first thing you need to determine what you want to do with your website and your goals for it. For example, do you want to sell products or services from your website? Do you want to capture leads from your website?
When you choose a website software tool, evaluate them to make sure that your website will be able to offer the following:
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. Gone are the days of managing all of your customer or client data in excel spreadsheets. Now, you can use a CRM to keep a record of all of your interactions, data, and notes about your leads, prospects, and customers or clients. A CRM serves as a single source of truth, where all data is central and accessible to all people within your organization. By utilizing a CRM you can reduce paperwork, speed up communication, and improve client satisfaction. When choosing a CRM, you should choose a CRM that will integrate with all of your software tools. There are even FREE CRMs you can use, like HubSpot. For nonprofits, the first 10 subscriptions with Salesforce are FREE as part of their Power of US Program.
Want to know more about CRMs? Check out this blog: "What is a CRM?"
Small businesses benefit from using accounting software because it helps them track accounts receivable and accounts payable, have a clear understanding of their profitability, and be prepared for tax season. For small businesses, there are a variety of out-of-the-box softwares that can use. When evaluating accounting software, make sure that the accounting software you choose can easily integrate with your other software, like the CRM you are using. Did you know that there is even FREE accounting software, like Wave?
As a small business, you cannot underestimate the impact of email marketing. Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies for small businesses. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing on average sees a 4,300% return on investment (ROI) for business in the U.S. An effective email marketing tool should provide the following:
When considering email software be careful. Unless you are willing to give up your privacy to Google, consider other offerings like Microsoft. Google reads that goes through its servers whether it is a free Gmail account or your company on Google. Don't believe me? Try this:
Google provided ad words for money that the sites used and paid for. How were the ad words compiled? Google read your email after you subscribed! Do the same thing with Microsoft, and you will get a completely different result.
When choosing software tools, ideally choose tools that will integrate together providing you with one source of truth, so that you can read and analyze the data of your organization.
I leave you with this Sataya Nadella quote:
"Everything is going to be connected to cloud [software] and data... All of this will be mediated by software."