Owning a startup business is a lot of hard work. After you’ve successfully conducted market research, found investors, and opened up shop, the process of actually running your startup can be just as difficult and time-consuming. In order to stay afloat in a market saturated by hundreds of hungry business owners, you need to stand out, provide exceptional service, and offer a product or service that will stand the test of time. Increase your income, grow your clientele, and expand your startup with these 5 must-have tools!
Juggling your startup’s finances can be a complete headache. From managing your payroll, determining your expenses, and your business’s revenue can be extremely confusing. If you don’t have a strong background in finance, investing in financial services and tools will ensure that you’re startup is on solid ground. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems such as HubSpot CRM will give you keen insight on your sales, customer relations, and how your company is doing financially.
And don’t forget Uncle Sam, either. A major component of business ownership is complying with all state and federal laws. From permits to taxes, you need to have a sound understanding of the legal aspect of owning a business. If you’re unsure on how to go about balancing the legality of your business, consider sales tax consulting services by FinancePal, who will work with you to evaluate your tax obligations. This way, you’ll have peace of mind once the taxman comes knocking on your door!
If you want to grow your startup and become the next big success story, you need to market. In today’s society, social media plays a vital role in consumer’s lives. Get ahead of your competition by using social media to your advantage. Manage your online posts with social media management tools such as Buffer that will schedule your posts to ensure you’re active online even when you’re busy.
Aside from interacting with your customers online through Instagram or Twitter, use the power of email. Send marketing campaigns to your email list using MailChimp or create flashy and unique graphics using Canva. If you take the time to invest in your marketing strategies, you will see your business flourish like never before.
Technology is here to stay and there’s no turning back. If you’re starting a business, you better invest in up-to-date software and technology systems to grow your business. There are hundreds of software systems for every imaginable business need. Is your team growing rapidly and making it difficult to stay in contact with everyone? Use software that allows you to communicate with everyone in your business. Or, is your business getting flooded with applications from LinkedIn or Monster? Consolidate all of your potential employee applications by storing them on our next essential tool: the cloud.
Cloud computing may seem pretty confusing if you’ve never worked with it before. However, the computer geniuses did all the hard work to make our lives easier with this amazing tool. The cloud is simply software that runs on the Internet. For example, instead of downloading all of your Word documents on your computer and wasting space, you can store these documents on cloud computing software services such as DropBox or Google Docs. This way, your employees can securely access important documents at a moment’s notice without having to bombard you with pesky emails asking for a file.
Running a startup comes with a lot of responsibility. This includes managing your employees to make sure they’re happy at work and delivering top quality customer service. Does your startup have a limited budget where you can’t hire an HR team? Consider using honeybeeBase, a team management solution that allows you to schedule your employees, manage tasks, track attendance, and more. Or, does your startup rely on remote workers? Interact with each other through video chats on Google Hangouts to discuss the next-best ideas to get your startup rolling.
Now that your new business is up and running, get started with these essential startup tools. Manage your finances, grow your business through marketing, and use technology to turn your startup into a booming business. Remember, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of resources at your fingertips for you to use to create a successful startup business. Start today by looking into your business’s data and finding areas you can improve upon and researching tools to help you succeed!
