15 Oct Top Tech Tips for Small Business
Top Tech Tips
Setting yourself up with the right technology can help small businesses compete with big businesses and get noticed. It doesn’t have to break the bank or be complicated either. We’ve come up with some of our Top Tech Tips for Small Businesses that you can start applying today and help grow your business.
1. Automated cloud backup. This one may be obvious to some but time and time again we still find that business owners sometimes get too preoccupied to set up an automated backup system and of course eventually we get a panicked phone call during one of their busy days, letting us know that their system is having a melt down and they have not backed up in a few days. For peace of mind have an automated cloud back up system in place. They are usually very affordable for small businesses and secure. Set up a yearly subscription, longer if you can (don’t do monthly you will forget) and have it back up with each key stroke. It takes minutes to setup and the worry is gone. You only need a secure login password (keep it somewhere safe where you will remember) and you can access your data at any time. Better yet, call an IT professional (Like us!) to set it up for you. For cloud backups we recommend: Crashplan, Amazon Glacier, Mozy
2. Time Tracking Software. Want to see if your staff can work more efficiently? Track how long their tasks take and see if there is room for improvement. One of the advantages of being a small business is not having corporate bureaucracy to slow you down provided you use your small team to your advantage. Software such as SpringAhead.com can help you do just that.
3. Customer Relation Management (CRM). Keep your staff lean by using software to manage certain areas of your business, a software that comes to even $2000 is still much cheaper than taking on a new employee. Software like Insightly provides a great number of resources so that small businesses can manage customer relations effectively. It can help you manage leads, generate follow up email reminders, proposes opportunity and sync with almost all major operating systems so that it can monitor your calendars and emails. It also manages productivity and milestones’, ensuring your team is working towards a healthy client base.
4. Tackle your Taxes with Tech. “I love getting my small business taxes ready” said no business owner ever. Filing taxes can be the worst and most stressful part of a business owners job, usually because they are not big enough to have an accounting department so guess who’s job it is? As if your day is not busy enough. Luckily there is technology out there that can help you regain your sanity. Invest in a scan snap to quickly scan all your receipts in seconds. There are many online accountants that are cost efficient and all you have to do is send them your scanned receipts and allow them access to your accounting software, they can access it remotely making it cheaper than coming to your office. Investing in a good tax software is also a must, take your time to get to know the software and it you will see that it can be very easy, there is also help available for you from your friendly IT guy to the software itself which offers step-by-step guidance plus experts over the phone (Turbo Tax Home and Business users can call live experts from 7 a.m. until 1 a.m. ET until May 3). And cloud-based tax programs can be accessed anytime, anywhere and are updated constantly. Cloud-based Turbo Tax is synced with QuickBooks Online, too.
5. Engage Employees. Involve your employees throughout major technology investment planning and decisions to ensure not only their buy-in, but also that you’re benefiting from their expertise and deep knowledge about your business. This also goes for web design and social media marketing. Your employees may know more about handling your Facebook page than you do and probably have some thoughts on the company website. It’s a cheap and cheerful way to get your employees motivated and get some opinions on how you are perceived online.
What do you think of these Top Tech Tips for Small Business? For more helpful tips and information subscribe to our newsletter. Need help setting up your small business office? We are here to assist you. Book a free consultation.
Published by @tatirivs
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