Before we dive into the best small business software to help you and your team members be more successful, let’s take a look at what is going to be at the core of your new company. This is going to act as the stable ground for all home-based business growth.
Any Guesses?
In the book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership,” John C. Maxwell writes about the Law of the Lid. Which is the idea that your own leadership capabilities put a “lid” on the future success of your business. You can only go as far as leadership will allow you to go.
In the same way, one big limit or cap to look out for is your home internet connection, as all of your daily tasks and productivity will be based on what your internet can or can’t do for you. It sounds like common sense, but sometimes, new business owners don’t take into account how much of an impact with will have on the business.
How to Select the Right Internet for Your Home Office
Entrepreneurship can have a lot of excitement at the time of business startup. You may want to be the best in business and your industry. So let us look at the proper way to make an informed decision on reliable high speed internet.
Even though you are running a home-based business, customers often choose a residential internet plan vs. a business internet package because they want to save some money on the price difference between the two plans. Considering the fact that you are now a small business (even though you are operating from home) means getting the business account is the way to go.
Having the need for fast and reliable internet and getting your bases covered will help you out in all other areas for all new businesses. Here is a quick bullet point list of how customers compare internet features, so they know they have picked the right choice!
Selecting the Right Internet Plan by ISP Features:
- Upload / Download Speeds
- Unlimited Vs. Data Caps
- Bundled Services & Promo Price Rates
- Other Add-on Services like VoIP Phone or TV
- Price Comparison
- Contract Details (Read all the Fine Print!)
Now that we have that covered, let’s get into some basic marketing strategies for your home business!
Time to Market Your Brand!
Now that we are connected to the World Wide Web, we need to let potential leads and customers know who we are and what we do. Essentially great business marketing. From over 20 years of professional experience, nothing helps small businesses more than online marketing and local SEO services.
Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing produces a very high return on investment, meaning you will get more bang for your buck. Usually, producing a 5 to 1 return, from dollars earned to dollars spent on the campaign. Everything in digital is quick to set up, measured with analytics and improved upon.
Here Is a Quick Online Marketing Checklist to Market Your Business:
- Google My Business / Google Maps Profile
- Set Up All the Social Media Accounts That Align with Your Brand
- Get Listed on Local and Major Directories (You Can Use a Service Like Whitespark)
- Reach Out to Local Business Groups Like the BIA, Chamber of Commerce and BBB
The Right Tools for Your Home Business to Succeed!
In this section, we will be covering the best online software and business apps to help your business succeed. We have hand-selected the best productivity apps and online tools to help you stay organized. This is the essential checklist of business-based tools to implement.
Most software subscription accounts offer both a free version and paid version so you can get access with a credit card. Starting a free trial will allow you to see if the business app is easy to use and if the free version suits your needs or if you need to upgrade to the full version.
1. CRM Software (Customer Relationship Management)
If you have successfully marketed your business, you will be receiving new leads and making new business relationships. Storing all of those new contacts and business cards in a central location and ideally on the cloud (internet-based software) will not only keep you organized, but it will allow access to your contacts if you’re working remotely as well.
CRM’s can quickly become one of the main tools for your home-based business, as it can help track new leads and sales. Knowing what stage a lead is at in the buyer’s journey can help you close more business. Other great features to look out for in a CRM is “document management and storage” and the ability to save social media profiles under customer records. It’s also important to know how many Gigs of space you are allowed to upload. This way you can keep track of invoices, notes, and other important sheets and documents and assign them to the proper customer.
Our Top Pick for Home Business in This Category – Insightly.com
2. Project Management Software
Once you have some gigs and cash flow coming in… you can use some tools like Monday.com or Asana.com. We will be making our top pick recommendation for your business at the end of this section but let’s talk about features first!
Many of these free tools offer things like Lists, Board Creation, Project Timeline, Calendar, File Storage, Progress on Status, and many others. It’s good to take some time here and consider which software matches your business needs. Just like Goldilocks, you are looking for the tools that are just right.
Some tools might have more advanced features like email, or the ability to create and share templates with co-workers. Most project management tools offer some type of free plan even for a business account.
Our Top Pick for Home Business in This Category – Trello.com
3. Time Tracking Software
The best way to stay profitable while working on new projects is by keeping track of your time. Essentially, it is a form of time management, but it can be used as a tool to keep track of billable hours as well as keeping your team on track.
Time Tracking Tools can ensure you are staying profitable by staying within client budgets and ensuring that you account for every minute spent on all projects. This helps to create an environment of productivity and help small businesses make better margins. Some tools are so advanced that you can record your employees’ computer screens to see if they are working on projects or wasting the day on social media.
We encourage all small businesses to sign up for a free trial and create an account for your company. Stay Productive, Stay Happy, Stay PROFITABLE!
Our Top Pick for Home Business in This Category – Toggl.com
4. Invoicing & Accounting Software
After we tally up all those long hours spent on projects, its time to get PAID! We now need to create some invoices for our customers. Invoicing software for small businesses can have so many options that it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the complexity of the software. Do you really need all the accounting features or are we just looking for some simple tax software?
You will need to create invoices at some point and maybe the ability to collect credit card payments online? We may need to invoice clients only once; other businesses need to have reoccurring billing set up on a schedule. The ability to create invoices from templates, send them over email and process online payments will help shorten the time it takes to get paid. Remember all those times you waited for… “the cheque is in the mail” bit? Not anymore. Always know where your billables are at and achieve better cash flow with these accounting tools.
Here is a long list of questions to ask yourself before going shopping for invoicing software:
- Can it create quotes and estimates?
- Do I need just invoicing or recurring billing as well?
- Does the software have customizable invoice templates?
- Can the software process online payments?
- Any form of expense tracking or job costing?
- Do you need full payroll or direct deposit features?
- In need of any tax functionality?
- What about reporting and financial data?
Our Top Pick for Home Business in This Category – Waveapps.com
Conclusion
What a time to be alive and join the list of new and growing entrepreneurs! Today you can manage your employees, create new offers and make bank all online without any local limitations.
The world is truly getting smaller with vast amounts of information and new communication channels opening up daily. We hope you check out all the websites mentioned and find the right solution for managing your business.
