The adrenaline rush followed by an exciting business plan is out of this world. You want to push aside everything and get to work as soon as you can. That’s human nature!
However, one has to be rational at every step. Business failure is a crude reality of our times. In fact, according to Small Business Administration (SBA), about 20% of corporate startups fail in the first year. Meanwhile, half succumb to business failure in five years.
These stats are pretty scary for newbies. According to Forbes, it takes years for a small business to reach milestones, not months. Add COVID-19 to the mix, and chances of survival for entrepreneurs are even slimmer.
You cannot rely on finance and the workforce to fuel your startup. In fact, the current times call for a more progressive approach. Going digital is your best bet ins this era. Small businesses come in many varieties, either in the form of an app development company or a small business marketing agency.
Below, we have listed six tools that help small businesses to succeed. Let’s scan these together:
- Gusto
Gusto is a superb choice for a small company. It is a modern, online platform that helps businesses to take care of their teams. It handles payroll, taxes, and benefits in one powerful mobile app. So far, the app is used by 100,000 employers, according to its developers.
The app aims to make taking care of teams a joyful experience. It helps users to manage their bottom line and stay compliant. Gusto claims that its users will feel like a pro, no matter how tough the situation be.
It helps to take aboard new employees quickly. This enables you to report new hires to the government without going through overwhelming paperwork. Some features that stand out in this app are:
- Full-service payroll – Gusto makes it easy to run the payroll system. It automatically calculates and files the payroll taxes. This enables the company to stay compliant because there is awesome support for complex actions.
- Perks for any team and budget – This app aims to make offering employee benefits a reality for small companies. It provides expert guidance on integrating an existing plan with the payroll or buying health insurance for the first time. Employers can create a competitive package for workers using the features of this app.
- Avast Business Antivirus
Avast is quite a beneficial suite against cyber threats and malware. It makes managing security an easier task for small businesses.
Avast endpoint protection is available in free and premium versions. If you choose the former, you do not have access to data shredding, proactive controls, or a firewall. Nonetheless, you get access to rescue disk functionality, solid malware blockage, and security scanning.
The platform has significantly enhanced its level of protection against known threats. The addition of its patch management capability differentiates the tool from others in the market. Plus, its intuitive interface coupled with high-level reporting capabilities makes it one of the best antivirus software for small businesses.
- Zoom
A conference call is essential to conduct successful business communication. Zoom is one of the most popular conference call services available in the market. It decently stumps other similar services in the industry with its efficient video-calling feature.
Although it isn’t the most feature-rich or advanced video-calling tool, it hits all the fundamentals required for team collaboration. Businesses can create an unforgettable and valued communication experience through its massive scalability and support features.
Most conference call services in the market allow 25 – 100 participants. Zoom has set the number higher than that. It will enable 500 – 1000 participants in one call, making it a perfect fit for educational institutes and organizations during COVID-19 lockdowns.
For companies who are just starting, Zoom offers a free plan. They can conduct unlimited 40-minute meetings for less than 100 people. It deploys a distributed architecture that allows meetings across expensive data centers instead of a centralized network.
- Freshbooks
It is not easy to find an online accounting software for a small business unless you are ready to pay hefty amounts. Freshbooks has recently emerged as one of the best small business invoicing software because it offers incredible accounting functionality at an affordable price.
It has a feature-rich platform that allows users to send invoices and accept payments swiftly. More precisely, this software allows its users to track the status of invoices, so they know when the customers received the bills and when balances are pending. It also facilitates online invoice payments so customers can pay directly from the invoice.
With its latest and time-saving features, Freshbooks provides a comprehensive accounting solution tailored for service-based small companies.
- PicMonkey
Having a social media presence is the ultimate requirement of the current times. A small business without social media presence could fail to attract leads.
Treading in the social domains comes with its own set of rules and regulations. Consistency and appeal are two main things you need in each campaign that you run on social media. PicMonkey is a free photo-editing application that allows small businesses to maintain an attractive social media account.
You can crop photos to upload on your Instagram or edit a snap to put it on your company website. There is no need to have ample experience in the field of graphic design when using this app. It is a user-friendly app with features that allow you to produce professional photos within a jiffy.
- MailChimp
MailChimp is one of the most popular email marketing software available out there. The choice of service tier depends on the number of emails you send per month. If a company sends less than 12,000 emails each month to fewer than 2000 subscribers, then MailChimp’s Forever Free plan should be their ultimate pick.
It provides AI-powered, user-friendly tools that companies can use to become successful. You can also target ad pages, send postcards, build landing pages, and facilitate reporting. Hence, you can reap all rewards offered by an AI-enabled app to help your business reach new heights.
Moreover, you can use its drag-and-drop designer and free templates to design a perfect pitch for prospects. You can also check open rates and compare those with an average company in the same field.
Concluding Remarks
Surviving in this hyper-competitive age is an everyday challenge for small businesses. Every entrepreneur should seek assistance from handy virtual tools to make their corporate swim easier. We hope this blog helped you learn how to rely on digital tools to execute some crucial tasks.
Let us know which app seems most ideal for your venture!
