Saturday, April 20, 2024

5 Essential IT Tools for Small Business

Are you worried that your business won’t do enough to take advantage of technology? You have reason to be concerned.

Reports show that 88% of companies plan to raise their IT budget during 2020. If you don’t do enough to take advantage of the newest tools, you’ll have a harder time keeping pace with your competitors.

If you plan to start a small business and don’t know what IT tools are available to help, look no further. Keep reading to discover five tools that will help IT for small business.

1. Project Management

Yes, you can handle all your project communication in-person and through email. The question is, will that be the most effective way of managing your team’s tasks?

The answer to that question in most cases is no. That’s why many companies have developed online project management software that provides a place for your team to get project information. You can assign tasks, communicate, and upload documents relevant to your project.

2. Video Conferencing

If you’re like many companies, you have a lot of people working from home. There’s no reason for people to be in the office if they don’t need to. Letting people work from home is a great way to provide them more freedom and save them from the stress of commuting every day.

The problem is that you still need a way to hold meetings. Video conferencing software helps by letting your remote team call in for meetings. Your employees can show up in your video calls and stay updated on everything they need.

3. Online Accounting

If you’re still listing all your transactions in a checkbook or spreadsheet, you’re doing things the hard way. Software exists that automatically logs into your bank accounts to download every transaction you make. You can access this information from any computer globally, no matter what operating system your system has. With the help of ERP accounting software, you can analyze, monitor, and conduct the majority of data-driven tasks. It helps you to manage processes like accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed asset management, risk management, and tax management. Solutions like Knuula help you better manage your contract signing process. There are many systems available that can also manage multiple currencies and tax regulations if you regularly do business outside of your country.

Once your accounting program downloads your transactions, you’ll receive a series of financial reports detailing your business’s cash flow. You can use these reports to analyze your finances and make better money decisions.

4. Email List

Maintaining customer relationships is tough when you have a large company. You need to keep people updated with what’s going on in your company and any deals you might have. It would take too much time to reach out to each person individually.

An email list allows you to reach out to everyone at once. Set up your email in your mailing list platform and click send to have it go out to everyone on your list.

5. Document Management

Managing documents is essential for every business. The problem most business owners face is making sure everyone has up to date information and aren’t working off old data. That makes online document management a small business necessity.

Online document management tools like Office 365 allow you to move your documents online. Your team can access them from anywhere in the world and always work off the latest version of your files.

If you’re coming from a desktop solution for documents, you’ll need to migrate to the cloud. Read on here to learn what mistakes to avoid in the process.

IT for Small Business Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated

We’re past the point where businesses need to set up complicated computer networks for their IT department. IT for small business is easier than ever with the cloud. Make sure you use the tools available to streamline your company and make it more productive.

Do you want to learn about more tools that will help you run your company? Read our latest blog posts to discover the newest tools for business.