Starting a business can be an exciting and rewarding venture. But most of the time, it’s also frightening and challenging. If you own or manage a startup business, you’re finding out that there are a lot of things happening that might not be in your initial plans. This makes it more difficult overall. But it also teaches you a lot of things about the nature of your industry.
Although you can’t plan for all possible outcomes, especially when starting, you can make sure to minimize risk by doing well in the things that you can control. One way to help with this is the use of modern digital tools. They reduce risk and maximize your productivity.
Here are eight digital tools that are essential for business startups.
Bookkeeping
As a startup, taking care of the business’ assets and resources is critical in growing. One of the most crucial aspects of this task is bookkeeping. Managing the flow of money can be made easier with the use of bookkeeping applications like QuickBooks or Wave.
These applications consolidate all the accounting tasks making it simpler for you to stay on top of. Because your financial information is easily accessible and manageable, you can make more informed business decisions down the line as well.
Here’s Fundera with a list of accounting programs.
Inventory Management
Like with managing your finances, making sure your inventories are in order should also be a top priority. For a startup, every piece of equipment, material, or resource is essential and impactful to the overall growth and success of the business. If you’re a baker, for example, keeping track of every plastic measuring jug might sound trivial, but it is crucial.
Inventory managing apps like Sortly and Stock Control help you keep track of your inventory. They serve as a one-stop-shop for all your stock concerns and inquiries. This enables you to focus on other, more essential parts of the business.
Here’s Hub Works with a list of inventory managers.
Timekeeping
These apps help you keep track of your time and your team’s time as well. Through these apps, you’ll find out whether you’re able to make the most of your utilization hours. This allows you to reassign human resources to where or when it’s most needed.
These apps also help you keep track of the attendance of your team and how it can impact the business in general.
Here’s American Express with some timekeeping apps for small businesses.
Billing
Even if you are a startup, by using billing apps, you can easily have professional invoices sent to your clients in a timely and automated manner. This won’t only help you keep track of this part of the business. It will also help build your reputation as a business.
Here’s PC Mag with a list of billing apps you can use.
Customer Service and Feedback
The customer experience is integral in any stage of a business. But it’s arguably more impactful in the beginning when you’re still building up a loyal following. With customer service apps, you can engage with your customers without any hassle. You can also see the trends in issues you may have and work on solving them proactively.
This ties in well with feedback gathering applications that help you pinpoint problems in your operations or highlight the strengths in your service.
Using these digital tools will help your startup grow into a more successful and highly efficient business. Other tools out there can add to your productivity. Make sure to always stay on top of these innovations to make the most of them.
