For entrepreneurs, any tool that helps do the job easier is a welcome addition. Choosing where to invest tech budget dollars and time to learn the applications are key decisions.
As seen in the recent post, “Get Up and Grow: The Small Business Guide to Expansion”, technology is a key area for business owners seeking to grow their business. Here are eight tech tools your small business needs to scale.
1. Trello. Need help managing all the projects you have on your desk right now? Trello is an ideal app, with clear visuals, collaboration tools, calendars, lists, and boards that sync across all your devices and users.
2. HootSuite. If you’re going to invest in social media, and for most businesses, you should, then Hootsuite is a terrific platform. It lets you schedule and monitor social media posts, manage social media teams, and use powerful analytics to demonstrate impact. It tracks activity on all the major social media apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
3. Expensify. Does creating and tracking expense reports drive you crazy? With Expensify, you can track expenses and mileage, manage authorizations, and create audit reports. Expensify also integrates with major accounting software applications, including QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Oracle, among others.
4. MailChimp. Are you building a list of email contacts? Want to send them emails, newsletters, coupons, and other information about your company? With MailChimp, you can set up email databases, create different lists, and create professional communications. You can also manage the lists, including those who opt out of your communications, and track the impact of messages.
5. PandaDoc. It is a funny name, but this document management portal can do so much more. You can create proposals and quotes in mere minutes and use the application to manage contracts, esignatures, and documents across users. Get yourself organized and impress your clients.
6. Sniply. If you are going to have more content created to drive people to your website, you want to make it as easy as possible for readers, viewers, or listeners to go where you want them to go. With Sniply, you can add calls to action as buttons to your websites that encourage people to act. It also allows you to generate and share links, measure engagement, and track results.
7. Owler. When you need information on your competitors, Owler has you covered. It offers a daily snapshot of your industry’s top news stories, statistics about your profession and competitors, and insights about key business transactions that may affect you. Best of all, it is free.
8. Slack. Whether your co-workers are right next to you or freelancers who work across town or country, Slack lets you coordinate communication across all of your colleagues. Slack calls itself a collaboration hub that lets you organize communications through a messaging app, video, or face to face. There is also an integrated file sharing tool and integration with more than 1,000 other apps.
9. Xtensio. If you need a way to create professional business content assets easily, Xtensio can help. With hundreds of templates and examples from which to choose, you can easily capture your vision with smart, beautiful documents, web pages, and presentations. The cloud-based platform enables you to create and collaborate from anywhere at any time.
Benetrends helps companies with solutions for funding expansion plans. Using an innovative Benetrends approach, entrepreneurs can use existing 401(k) and IRA funds as small business loans. To see how Benetrends can help your business grow, schedule a consultation today!