Welcome to all business owners starting a new chapter in their life! Now that your company is starting to grow, it is time to move forward with your business plan, and that won’t happen unless you have the right tools to help your departments develop and flourish. So how do you choose these tools? Go through the following tips, and you will choose just fine.
1. Think About Your Industry
Different industries require different tools to ensure a smooth workflow. For example, a retailer would need an inventory management tool to improve its business while, on the other hand, a manufacturer would need a production planning tool.
Think about your business goals and set a list of the departments you have and the most important ones for your business growth. Then, analyze these departments’ needs and save up on extra expenses to provide them with the needed tools. Your business plan should determine which tool is more important and help you identify any gaps that are affecting your company’s productivity heavily.
2. Choose a Tool While Thinking About the End Result
If your business depends on online sales, there are many departments you have to enhance. However, if you wish to start with the correct tool, it’s better to keep your end results in mind. To ensure your business keeps growing, the most important department that would require a new tool to enhance your business revenue is the sales department.
Providing new sales tools that your sales department can utilize will benefit the company’s operations. There can be different equipment you can implement here, but since sales are the soul of your company, using a POS system in this department can help your company price its products online, track customer purchases, and save sales invoices. Check out different sales management systems and invest in one to help you reach your goals quickly.
3. Compare the Pros and Cons
If you have a list of offers from different software management companies, list the pros and cons of each software before choosing an offer. Simply choosing the company that offers you the best discount might backfire on you if you end up with more issues than benefits. Keep in mind you have to check reviews for any tool you intend to subscribe to; customers are the power behind any product, after all. On the other hand, if you intend to use new software, ask the company to give you a trial period instead of a discount to test the product out. This way, you are certain that the product you choose has no issues.
4. Audit Duplicated Processes
Duplicated work is a waste of time, money, and effort; however, unfortunately, it still exists, especially in departments that are hard to track, like the digital marketing department. Digital marketing requires tools to track and analyze previous marketing efforts to avoid repeating a campaign idea or reusing a failed email. If your company uses digital marketing techniques, think about investing in a social media management platform (Hootsuite or Buffer) or an email subscription platform like Mailchimp. These platforms can heavily improve your promotion process and thus help your revenue increase.
5. Don’t Just Choose a Popular Tool
Apps like Zoom, Slack, and Trello have had a popularity surge amongst companies throughout the past couple of years. They were used a lot because their benefits and costs are way lower than their alternatives. While they are successfully working for many companies, think about how beneficial they are to your industry, workflow, and employees before forcing your employees to use any of them. Just because something is trending doesn’t mean it is ideal for your usage.
6. Think of Your Budget
If you intend to improve the tools of more than one department in your company, keep your budget in mind while looking for the best options. Set a budget for each department and specify the highest budget for the team you know needs it best. Additionally, ensure you are ready to experiment with new companies that seem promising if you have to. This will save you a lot of money; however, remember you will need more guarantees from new companies.
Finally, don’t forget to check all the support options available for any tool you wish to try out. New tools exist to help your business move forward. If the tool you choose does not provide excellent support, stay away from it. Furthermore, keep the point of contact of the company you choose aware of any complaints or issues you are facing with their tool. A good company will help you develop their tool the way you need and retain you as their customers as much as possible.