Top 5 software for small business owners
Technology is driving innovation in every business you can think of. As a result, from retail, education, health and finance, technology is helping to increase work efficiency and boost profit. Entrepreneurs who fail to leverage on technology in their business will most likely be overtaken by competitors and eventually become defunct.
While you don’t need to be a technology expert to apply technology in your business, you can simply avail yourself of some of the tools to increase your productivity and grow your business. There are several technology tools to grow your business, but in this article, we will focus on the top 5 software for small business owners.
1. Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is the leading spreadsheet application in the world. Spreadsheet help you do various task such as creating sales record, budget, scheduling, data creation and management. Furthermore, the beauty about Microsoft excel is that it comes pre-installed on all laptops and desktops. If you don’t know how to use excel, you can checkout several online tutorials on using excel. The following resources will help you master excel in few days;
2. Sage
Sage is an accounting software, it helps you process financial statements easily. If you are a small business and you don’t have resource to hire an accountant, then you should get this software.
3. Google Apps
Google has been able to build several tools that are useful to entrepreneurs. These include Gmail, Google Drive, Google Forms, Google calendar. Certainly, these tools are pretty basic, and it will take you only some few minutes to get handy with them. Google forms helps you create customized forms that you can use to collect customer feedback for your business. With Google calendar you can easily schedule your activities and manage all your planned work.
4. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is an email software. It allows business owners to send free mails up to 2000 contacts after which you will have to pay a certain fee. Mailchimp is very important for business owners as you can easily build relationships with your clients through newsletters. You would have to import your contacts to MailChimp in order to send messages to them. Mailchimp also has other advanced features such as landing page, sign up form, analytics and ads creation.
5. Facebook Ad Manager
Facebook is the biggest social network and it has the largest advertising business after Google. According to Investopedia, Facebook made $40 billion in revenue in 2017 the bulk of which came from digital advertisements, which brought in $39.9 billion. Facebook Ads provides one of the most advanced targeting in the advertising industry. You can easily target people based on their interest, location, and demographics. The beauty of Facebook Ads is that it isn’t rocket science. If you don’t have enough money to employ a digital marketer, it is advisable you learn the fundamental and advanced techniques of using Facebook ads. The following resources will help you in learning how to use Facebook Ads in no time.
- https://appinstitute.com/facebook-advertising/
- https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-ads-manager-guide-for-beginners/
- https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-advertise-on-facebook/
- https://adespresso.com/guides/facebook-ads-beginner/facebook-manager-campaign-setup/
As a business owner you must leverage on the huge opportunities software can bring to your business. You must not be too rigid on technological adoption in your business or else you will be shortchanging yourself. There are several other software you can use in your business, the most important thing is to keep an open mind and keep learning.
