When it comes to helping your business continue running as smoothly as it can for as long as it can, nothing can be as effective as including the right business software tools into your company’s network or infrastructure. Computer technology has advanced to the point that specific programs designed to make time-consuming business tasks more efficient have been made and are being sold commercially worldwide. Integrating such software into your business not only can streamline your business but maximize its earning potential. To help you get started, here is a list of the type of software tools you absolutely need to get.
Proposal template creation software.
One of the most essential things to the prosperity and growth of a business is the ability of its staff to create compelling and convincing job or project proposals. After all, a proposal is how you formally offer or sell your services to prospective clients—i.e. the only way to earn your bread and butter, without having to rely on inside connections and inter-company “networking. Without this ability, there’s very little a business can do to secure the big, lucrative contracts that can massively boost its revenue.
Thankfully, you don’t have to expend too much effort or resources to be able to write competent project proposals. Simply invest in robust proposal software for creating templates and your proposals will be so convincing that no matter what you’re selling, you’re sure to lock down that huge client of yours. This is because current proposal software is advanced enough to not only have multiple attractive proposal template styles to choose from, but also powerful customization options that allow you to add in any content that you need to really seal that deal, such as your own high-resolution images and detailed price/service list. Just remember that while there are free proposal template software available on the internet, there’s nothing like the sort that you pay for, as they are usually more feature-heavy and offer a wider range of proposal styles.
Project management software.
If your business type involves each employee working on multiple projects at once, it can be very handy and time-efficient to ensure that everyone knows what everyone’s doing, and what kind of deadlines are being dealt with. Project management software can help in this regard, allowing you and your staff to build complicated project timelines, to-do lists, deadline alerts and digital corkboards for urgent notifications. Some can even help create detailed billing invoices alongside all this organization, allowing for a smoother transaction with your clients.
Accounting software.
If your business is a small one or a freshly-launched startup, then chances are you don’t quite have the resources you need to have your own accountant or financial staff to help you with your accounting needs, such as taxation, payroll, revenue management and so on. You may have been doing it all on your own besides everything else. In this case, it’s best that you take advantage of what technology can offer by investing in accounting software. There are many types of these available online, with some specifically designed to help the owners of smaller businesses get their finances in order without needing any accounting background in the first place. You can rely upon such software as a stopgap solution until you have the resources necessary to hire your own accountant or CPA.
Data Backup and Recovery Software.
No matter what type of business you have or what service you provide, there’s a good chance that you’ll be using a computer to store data that’s critical to the smooth operation of your company. This information can range from your customer’s personal information database to your own business’ financial transaction records, as well as any of your own intellectual property. It’s in your best interest to ensure that you always have an updated copy of all this data—otherwise, an office fire or a machine malfunction could result in you losing all of it, which could then drastically affect your company’s ability to earn money. While it’s easy enough to manually back up this information, it can be time-consuming and tedious. Automate this crucial task by purchasing some data backup and recovery software. Such programs allow you to archive any amount of electronic data in an off-shore server online. This means that even if your office gets wrecked or your hardware gets destroyed, you will always be able to pick up where you left off with your data intact.
Collaboration software.
Depending on the nature of your business, sometimes your employees could be scattered all over the country, or even all over the world. This could make it difficult for them to work on business-crucial tasks together. You can remedy this by purchasing collaboration software to help them connect with each other much more easily and comprehensively than phone calls, texts, or e-mails could. Some features that your choice of collaborative software should have include being able to upload documents seamlessly, desktop sharing, VoIP chat/call software integration, and more. It also helps if it can work on both desktops and mobile devices.
Security software solutions.
It’s easy to underestimate the threat of cybercrime and malware, especially if your company is a small outfit that doesn’t rely on the internet for most of its business-crucial tasks. However, we’re in the current generation where cybercriminals and malicious hackers are targeting businesses of all sizes, hungry for whatever payday they can eke out of honest folk. Protect your business by installing an ironclad security software solution for all the desktops and mobile devices that you and your employees use in the office. This will ensure that any digital threats coming from outside your office network are blocked even before they can get into your systems. Of course, this could prove expensive for you, as many security software options require a subscription fee, but thankfully there are free alternatives out there that can work just fine. You’ll just have to be extra careful with your online dealings when using these economical options, as they may not be powerful enough to prevent against some attacks. Whichever you choose, make sure that you don’t run your business without it.
Conclusion
Don’t allow your business to get left behind by your competitors. Get these software tools for your business ASAP and experience a significance boost in employee productivity, satisfaction, and even data security/safety—all of which can drastically affect your company’s ability to earn revenue and maximize its profit margin.
Sources:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/150091/best_business_software.html?page=3
https://www.inc.com/sujan-patel/the-top-small-business-software-programs-for-2015.html
