Today’s entrepreneurs starting businesses from home benefit from a host of free and affordable online tools designed to make running their small businesses simpler. That being said, there are so many tools out there in this day and age that you may feel unsure about which ones to get or which ones will be helpful in growing your business. If you’re in the initial planning stages and looking for tools to support you, here are the top four small business tools for online entrepreneurs.
1. Get a marketing calendar to keep you and your team on track.
Marketing is the bread and butter of any online business. However, keeping tabs on various marketing campaigns for all of your marketing channels (social media, website, etc.), tracking workflows and deadlines, and collaborating with your marketing team to come up with new content ideas can be difficult. This is why all entrepreneurs should have marketing calendar software on their side. A great marketing calendar software will offer you a content calendar to track planned and published content plans as you see your marketing strategy at a glance, schedule posts, collaborate with team members for enhanced productivity and brainstorming sessions, and improve your project management as a whole.
If you feel like your current system is inefficient and costing your team valuable time and money, get a marketing calendar that can manage your whole content plan from one centralized dashboard.
2. Keep everyone connected with a video conferencing solution.
If you host weekly meetings and find yourself having to separate your meetings into groups to take advantage of free plans, now may be the time to invest in some B2B video conferencing software. There are a host of options and plans out there designed to help you tailor your experience so that you can accommodate as many people as you need to, broadcast your meeting to various social platforms, and even brand your livestreams if you plan on hosting webinars through the same software.
Of course, you don’t want to invest in just any software that doesn’t have approval for experts. Before you buy a video conferencing subscription, you can learn more about the best B2B software with a resource like Luminwise. Whether you’re interested in CRM web hosting or website builders, Luminwise provides you with in-depth reviews and comparisons of B2B business software so that you know exactly what you’re getting before you sign up for a business plan. With their support, you’re sure to find a software solution that meets your business needs.
3. Use a time tracker for you and your teams.
If you’re a solopreneur who gets paid per project rather than hourly, tracking your time is crucial to boosting your productivity and finding distractions in your workday that could be fixed by changing your work habits or delegating tasks to new team members. Fortunately, there are plenty of great time-tracking apps out there that you can install on your computer or pin as an extension on your web browser. All you have to do to take advantage of these is time yourself whenever you sit down to work and stop the timer when you finish. If you have a smaller team, having them track their time will give you further insight into their working habits and help you work toward greater productivity for everyone in your business as well.
4. Stay on top of your finances with accounting software.
Unless you have a background in finance or the time to track every transaction, accounting software is a must. High-quality accounting software will help you track all transactions and organize them by type, allowing you to easily report earnings to your favorite tax software and providing you with a more comprehensive overview of your business’s financial health. Some will even go the extra mile and support you with your e-commerce endeavors.
Every entrepreneur should take advantage of today’s software solutions if they wish to automate simple activities and spend more time doing what they’re best at. If you’re looking for tools to integrate into your business model, get started with the four great tools mentioned above!
