10 Recommended Business Tools
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Most of us start the day with a cup of coffee or spend time “getting in the zone” to ensure we are doing the best for our business. With today’s technology, there are countless digital tools you can use to improve your business. If you want to stay competitive and give your business the best chance for success, here are my 10 favourites:
Dropbox
Who else can relate to carrying around a bag full of paperwork, laptops and tablets because they contain different information you need? Dropbox is the multitaskers saviour, creating a virtual link between all of your Internet connected devices. Using the cloud allows users to save all images, documents, and videos of any size into their account, which can be accesses from anywhere and shared easily with other users.
Google Analytics
When you start your business, you know it’s all about the numbers. How many people visited my website? How many enquiries did I get? What page got the most traction? All these questions play a major role in the success of a small business and tracking them is no easy task. With Google Analytics, it is made simple with clear charts and graphs so that the least savvy individual can feel confident understanding their data.
Zoom
Zoom has revolutionised the long-distance relationship, and that is not just referring to the romantic ones. With everyone working remotely it has allowed the world to go on virtually, it’s video capabilities are great for large groups, break out rooms are ideal for networking and it’s customer usability is so simple that anyone and everyone can join.
Adobe sign or HelloSign
When sending contracts, emailing your clients or simply printing documents to store you should always have an electronic signature somewhere on the page to legally bind that document. Both these tools are really easy to use and moves you away from pen and paper.
Toggl
You should always have a document that highlights any meetings, tasks or projects you worked on to ensure you don’t prioritise your time in the wrong area’s. There are many time tracking apps, but I always recommend Toggl as it allows you to track your daily activities across different platforms; providing you with detailed insights and an opportunity to optimise your workflow by identifying areas where you can improve.
Xero
Ensure you have a good invoice management, it encourages regular cash flow, eases accounting woes, and saves you time. There are many to choose from, however one I know best and recommend is Xero. One of my favourite aspects of Xero is that it is ‘on the cloud’. That means you can access the software no matter where you are, and if you ever did not have access to your own computer, you can use an alternative. Xero can also be easily kept up to date as it takes its information directly from your online banking, you can see exactly where you stand financially, whenever you want.
Receipt bank or Hubdoc
Receipt Bank is an easy way to capture all the information needed for a set of accounts. By simply sending all invoices and receipts to your own personalised email address or taking a photo and sending through the app, Receipt Bank captures all the information and reports it back into Xero.
Hubdoc is Xero’s version of Receipt Bank. It isn’t as intuitive as Receipt Bank but does a good imitation and can save lots of time
LastPass
A password manager makes your internet experience easier and safer. With a password manager like LastPass to manage your logins, it is easy to have a strong, unique password for every online account and improve your online security. It stores login information of various accounts and automatically enters them into web forms to save you time.
GoCardless or Stripe
GoCardless is an online tool which makes it easy for your regular customers to pay you by Direct Debit. GoCardless removes the need for customers to view, approve, and action any invoices you send, so you don’t need to wait around for clients to authorise payment upon receipt of a new bill – the payment is made automatically.
Google My Business
Having a GMB page is free advertising for your business, that you simply apply for and verify to appear in local searches. All you must do is regularly update your profile and when people google keywords that are relevant, you will be at the top of the list.
If you have any questions about any of these tools please send us a message and we would be more than happy to help set, you up or help you to fully utilise your account. As we are partners with many of these providers we may be able to offer at a reduced rate too.
Jaxstar Solutions is a valuable resource used by Small Businesses and Corporate organisations to help in the day to day running and operational side of their business, enabling them to get back out there and do what they do best…sell their products and services to make money.
