Your Small Business Needs These 7 Affordable Tech Tools
We are as guilty as you are in thinking that anything fast and cheap is of poor quality. Or that whatever it is that’s affordable and good is slow. And that fast plus good equals expensive, i.e., the so-called iron triangle of service.
Realistically speaking, it’s true most of the time. You can only pick two of the three – fast, good, and cheap. As consumers, our experiences shape our skepticism toward any deal that’s too good to be true.
On a similar note, if you’re a small business owner, affordable and technology may be two things that you find hard to put together. Utilizing tech tools will undoubtedly improve your business processes and quality of work and make them faster and easier. But here’s what you must know: there are reasonably priced tools out there that will deliver the results you expect.
Technology has become an essential part of running a successful small business. You can now access affordable technology tools to help manage your operations, improve customer service, and increase efficiency. From cloud storage solutions to customer relationship management (CRM) software to AI-powered marketing automation platforms, the right technology tools can make all the difference for a small business.
Let’s explore some of the most affordable technology tools available and how they can help you grow your business.
Affordable Tech Solutions for Your Every Need
1. Appointment Setting
It takes work to get ahold of someone, especially during the busy season. The back-and-forth emails (if you’re lucky enough to get a reply) and calls you have to make to get together for a meeting can consume so much of your time.
With scheduling automation platforms like Calendly, you won’t have to hound someone to check on their schedule. The tool will automatically match your availability with the other attendees for a seamless scheduling experience. And did we mention that it’s FREE?
Here are other valuable features of Calendly which you can count on:
- You can automate reminders.
- You can integrate it into the following:
- Google Calendar
- Outlook
- Office 365
- You can embed the tool on your website so potential partners and prospective clients can book a meeting with you.
2. Accounting and Bookkeeping
If you think spreadsheet accounting keeps costs down, wait ’till you’ve lost thousands of dollars to miscalculations, incorrect categorization of expenses, and fraud. Furthermore, it’s labor-intensive and time-consuming, which means you’ll have more labor costs or shave off the time you’re supposed to dedicate to strategy and revenue generation.2.
QuickBooks is a great accounting software to help you better manage your finances and cash flow. It’s easy to set up and offers many features to help you track and analyze your financial data. With QuickBooks, you can easily create invoices, manage expenses, and monitor cash flow.
Plus, it’s cloud-based, making all your information accessible from anywhere. It’s also secure and reliable, so you know your data is safe.
Navigating the software can be challenging if you’ve been doing manual accounting for so long. MBE CPAs has certified QB Pro Advisors whom you can work with to get your bookkeeping process working smoothly and maximize QuickBooks’ features.
3. Time, Data, and Workforce Management
Companies now recognize that work flexibility is critical to employee satisfaction and success. With remote work and hybrid setups, as well as scheduling flexibilities, it’s clear that employers need to rethink how they manage their workforce.
Workforce Solutions and Payroll Solutions utilize iSolved HCM to provide clients with time tracking and labor management solutions.
iSolved HCM is a comprehensive Human Capital Management (HCM) solution that provides workforce management capabilities. It offers a range of features to help manage employee information and performance, onboarding, time and attendance tracking, payroll processing, talent management, and more.
You can also use its powerful reporting capabilities to understand better and develop your workforce. Lastly, it helps ensure compliance with labor laws and provides robust security and privacy protections.
4. Project Management
Technology is an invaluable tool for project management. It can help streamline processes, increase efficiency, and simplify tracking tasks and deadlines.
PracticeERP is an affordable cloud-based enterprise resource planning solution that features advanced analytics, workflow automation, reporting and dashboards, and more to help you stay on top of your business operations.
5. Social Media Management
Gone are the days when social media managers had to open multiple tabs or applications to schedule posts on all social media platforms or when they had to extract data from each channel and compile them manually to create a single report.
Sprout Social is a social media management solution that enables you to publish multi-channel content, reply to messages, and generate analytics reports in one place.
What We Love About It:
- Social Listening – It thoroughly searches all platforms for positive and negative sentiments about your brand by scouring all posts and conversations that mention you and your products and services.
- Sprout Tags – It enables you to group your posts into different campaigns and content buckets so you can later see how a particular campaign and tactic is performing compared to the others.
6. POS System
A POS (point-of-sale) system can help you manage your inventory and track sales, giving you a better understanding of your finances and helping you make better decisions. It can also allow for seamless customer interactions and provide accurate customer data. By investing in a quality POS system, you can ensure your business runs more smoothly and profitably.
What we love about Motus Financial is that they’re less about selling you POS equipment and more about helping you find the POS equipment and credit card processing software that best meets your needs. Motus offers a variety of solutions that can easily be incorporated into any scale and kind of business.
7. Brainstorming and Planning
It can be challenging to stay organized and on track while brainstorming and planning, especially when there are many ideas and plans to consider. It is a long process with many potential roadblocks.
Brand House Marketing leverages AI-powered tools to generate ideas, plan projects, and develop strategies more efficiently, as well as create detailed plans tailored to your specific needs:
- Digital Marketing – Includes Email Marketing, Google Marketing Strategy and Report, Graphic Design, Paid Digital Advertising, SEO, Social Media, Website Design, Hosting, and Management Services;
- Traditional Marketing – Includes Branding, Consulting, Content Marketing, Growth Marketing, Employer Marketing, and Public Relations.
Unlock the Power of Affordable Technology Tools to Supercharge Your Small Business Growth.
Technology has been a game-changer for small businesses. By taking advantage of these powerful tools, you can unlock the potential of your small business and make it more successful than ever before. With the right technology, you can automate mundane tasks, streamline operations, and increase efficiency.
If you want fast, good, and affordable, start your journey right here, right now!
This article was written by our marketing affiliate and contributor, Brand House Marketing. Reach out to them today for creative and custom-tailored marketing solutions for your company.