Emerging businesses and small startups have a lot more to do than solely worrying about routine operations. Only worrying about generating revenue and gaining significant amounts of customer traffic is what acts as a roadblock in the success of many new businesses. Time management, team collaboration and streamlining expenses are some of the important aspects every business should consider for maximizing productivity.
Understanding the importance of productivity alone is not the solution here instead; it is to find the means that maximize output yielded by your business. All you require is a quality app or software program to handle tasks, operations and everything that’s got to do with workplace productivity.
1) Evernote
Every business requires staying updated about every small task they render or accomplish. The conventional way would be to write in a notepad or use any in-built note-taking app on your smartphone. But both methods have become quite outdated and impractical especially in the long run of your business endeavors.
The best solution would be to make quick notes on your smartphone both offline and online. For that reason, Evernote is your business partner taking notes, organizing content and creating to-do-lists in a single app. You can do more than just take notes. You also have the option to share those notes with your team so the productivity levels are sustained and enhanced.
2) Slack
The process of getting team input right after a thorough brainstorming session or assigning tasks to your employees certainly becomes taxing at some point. The use of email mediums itself has become limited to only sending important alerts and updates. Employees find it time-consuming to use email for conveying the simplest of messages especially those related to frequent queries.
Slack solved the problem of chain-messaging and emailing by embedding quick messaging, task assigning and chatting options into a single desktop software and mobile app. Now businesses who want to start new projects, conversations, assign tasks or get quick task updates can do so by using Slack.
3) Fuze
Now you have an alternative to Skype for professional video chatting. Fuze offers quality video conferencing and chatting features especially for new businesses that are looking for seamless video chat quality. The app is not limited to a certain device and can support multiple device types at once.
Not many Fuze users have complained about the lag from the app but a possible reason for lag and call disconnection was a poor internet connection. Make sure you do not face any connectivity issues while chatting. If you do, you can consider getting a high-speed internet connection from internet service providers present in your area.
4) Wave
Software programs and apps for task management and making calls are aplenty. However, specific software that helps you manage business accounts and costing is another option. Wave is an account management software solely designed for small businesses that are on the journey of scaling their budgeting needs.
Through Wave, you are able to monitor and manage your business transactions, accounts, track payments, view invoices, and receipts. Each tracking feature will let you generate a detailed report as well. You can track both your personal and business finance reports with Wave as well.
5) Toggl
Lack of productivity can be one of the main reasons why most businesses fall behind. Toggl helps you sustain your productivity as a business without lacking in any business prospective. Every business requires a to-do-list where complete, pending and upcoming tasks should be added and marked. It allows them to have a clear idea and stay updated about where their business stands.
It is human nature to drift away from the task at hand and indulge in procrastination. Toggl will alert you about the pending tasks in the form of push notifications until you mark them complete. In turn, maximizing productivity and accomplishing multiple tasks in a short timespan.
6) Nimble
Every business, no matter its scale or type, needs a smart CRM. As a business owner, your ultimate goal should be to increase your sales. With Nimble, you can manage your customer relationships with ease. Gain relevant insights, update client contacts and manage the ongoing deals without any constraints is what Nimble has been designed for.
Nimble lets businesses focus on their appropriate niches. They can easily target their potential customers according to their fitting demographics. The customer base of the businesses will then increase since Nimble streamlines the efforts made in customer relationship management.
7) Trello
Collaborative work bears commendable results and is always more effective compared to working individually. By collaborating, you stay updated on current tasks, get work done more quickly and never hinder your productivity. That is just what the project management software Trello offers.
You do not have to be too rigid with your tasks and business operations. Trello encourages both employees and businesses to be flexible in managing tasks, reporting to authorities and adding tasks for varying teams. The software even has the option to mark tasks complete to let you stay updated with the work progress of every member.
8) Square
A secure payment system helps businesses keep track of their transactions and make payments without any worry. Every business is at square one initially. With time, it proceeds to take into account its strong points and shortcomings. Square is a payment and transaction software that lets you manage your expenses spent without ever being at square one.
It does not matter what type of payment you are going to make as the software can accept multiple payment types without any delays. It becomes your one-stop solution whenever you have to accumulate your costs and savings altogether. A great tool for new businesses that have just begun to manage everything that has got to with the greens.
9) MailChimp
While you can manage your mailing lists and newsletter subscribers on an online Google Sheet, that is still a huge hassle for many. Noting down and storing hundreds of emails at once and then sending out email updates to those in the list can consume a lot of your unnecessary time. Once you add the recipients, the next step would be to use an appealing email template.
Adding recipients and then designing the template consumes both your time and energy. MailChimp is the solution to creating and managing your extensive mailing list altogether. You even have the solution to create customized design templates for every email you send out.
10) RescueTime
Lastly, the impetus that drives business toward its success is time management. Those who lack in managing their time and indulge in unnecessary tasks compromise their business endeavors and growth.
What if you could track how well you manage your time whilst running business-related operations? Well, RescueTime allows you to track time spent on websites or online applications. Then you are given an extensive report on your overall time spent, productivity and whether it was beneficial for your business in any way. If a certain time period passes and you are still using the website then you will be alerted to stop the activity.
11. (Bonus tip) Xnspy
Every business – small, mid-sized, or large – must have an employee monitoring software. Xnspy is the employee surveillance tool that you can use to keep tabs on the digital footprints of your employees during office hours. By installing this employee monitoring software on their company-owned phones or tablets, you can remotely access all data saved on their devices. You can track their calls, chats, and emails to prevent your data and business from a cybersecurity insider threat. Also, with this app, you can get to know if your employees are underutilizing your company’s resources or if they are wasting time on social media platforms. You can track their activities on social media sites like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Viber from a distance. With GPS location tracking feature, you can track the exact location of your employees on the real map.
Article written by roberttjami.