Whether it’s just you working from home for a few hours a day while the kids are at school or there’s a whole office of staff you’re managing 9 to 5, running your own business can get really crazy. Thank goodness, any process you may be suffering with at the moment has already been made easier by tech geniuses. We’ve rounded up a whole list of tech ideas to make operating your business less stressful and more efficient.
Online shopping
Big or small, your business definitely deals with customers. To make sure you’re leaving them satisfied, make the process of booking your services or purchasing your products crystal clear, quick and easy. If people are still sending you personal messages or are required to give you a call to buy or book, you’re 30 years behind! In 2019, what can’t be done online, probably can’t be done at all. WooCommerce for WordPress or Shopify perfect platforms to your online store in a few minutes. No special coding skills needed!
Make sure you then copy your shop to Facebook and Instagram to give your customers an opportunity to purchase via their social media platform.
Stats and analytics
We don’t need to remind you about the importance of Google Analytics, do we? While investing in a proper CRM to track and collect all the possible data about your customers at the early stages might be quite expensive, Google Analytics will provide you with the insights on your customers’ , your website’s usability and basic info on your visitors’ age, gender and places they are from. That’s something to work with! If you’re using WordPress for your website, you can integrate Google Analytics there to see all the key figures every time you open the backend without the need to open yet another tab in your browser.
By the way, checking out the ‘Insights’ of both your Facebook and Instagram pages every now and then will also help you understand a lot about what people like and don’t like about your biz and who are they in the place.
Email marketing
You must’ve heard of Mailchimp before. It’s the most popular platform for email marketing in the world. The reason? It offers a free starting package for databases under 2,000 names, so you can give email marketing a shot. A f package includes an easy drag-and-drop email builder with limited scheduling options, autoresponders basic analytics. It also integrates easily with WordPress, Shopify and many other platforms – you’re probably already using one of them for your online shop.
A popular alternative to Mailchimp is ConvertKit. Originally created for bloggers and authors, it’s turned out to be a very powerful tool for all small business owners. With ConverKit you can easily segment subscribers into those who are interested and those who have already purchased to boost your conversions, send out automated emails and auto-responders and offer content upgrades or freebies with sign up forms. You’ll have to pay for this platform though.
Do not underestimate the power of a great newsletter – for small es, it’s still the most cost-effective tool!
Invoicing systems
Take the pressure of sending out invoices and chasing people for payments off your shoulders by making your do this for you. Systems like Xero or MYOB are so convenient and easy to understand. What’s more, you’ll be surprised by all the time you’ll free up once you start using them. You just have to set up your payment methods and invoice template once and, from there, creating new invoices will only take you a few seconds, plus the system will track payments, calculate your income, and send out automated reminders about due dates for your clients, helping you Streamline Payments with Ezypay.
Productivity apps
Be it Trello or Monday.com that efficient companies swear by, classic Todoist or funky Asana (that combines the best features of Trello and Basecamp) – pick the one you like most and start filling in your calendar, creating deadlines and assigning tasks to your team. With these apps, you can track your own and your teams’ progress, tick off what’s been done, create group boards, brainstorm, communicate and oversee the flow of your business without getting buried in the routine. Even if it’s just you on your own, using productivity apps that are integrated with your Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Mailchimp and other websites will result in a huge efficiency boost. Read more about great productivity apps and techniques in this article.
Scheduling apps
Going crazy with all the social media platforms you need to update regularly to ensure your business is well-presented online? Make it easier and quicker by investing in one of the multi-platform scheduling websites and apps. If you’re already using Monday.com – bingo, it also allows you schedule social media posts!
Other well-known platforms include HootSuite (schedules Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.), Later.com (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest Twitter), SocialOomph (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn), and more. All of them offer free trials, so you can decide which interface and features you like the most before investing in one of them. Now you can devote a few hours once a week to schedule all your social media updates for seven days ahead and only visit them to reply quickly to comments and direct messages. Bye-bye, daily ‘blank canvas’ fear!
Point-of-sale (POS) Sytems
Handling flexible payments for customers has never been easier for small businesses when it comes to POS systems. Designed to make it simpler to manage inventory, finances and keep track of sales, integrating a POS system into your business can help you keep things running smoothly and free up valuable time for you to spend on growth and development. It even makes it simpler for customers to pay through different methods, enabling flexible payment options that make transactions quicker and more efficient. Plus, some models come with integrated accounting software so you won’t need an additional accountant or bookkeeper.
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