Having the right systems can mean the difference between a structured, profitable and solutions-focused business and a dysfunctional, unproductive one. The secret is to find the right software with the right combination of tools to maximise your business’s productivity by keeping everyone’s work organised, your teams in sync, and business booming.
Modern software and tools help organisations of all sizes operate more efficiently. Not only does it allow them to harness their team’s potential, but it can also encourage growth, promote communication and collaboration, and drive productivity and performance. The goal is to work smarter, not harder so you can devote your energy to every aspect of the business more effectively.
Finance System
The first step to maintaining your finances is to have an accountant who can assist you in interpreting your financial data so that you can make better business decisions. Aside from this, understanding this side of the business on your part is also important so ask your account for recommendations of financial systems that you can implement into your business. This will allow you to maximise financial efficiency because you can keep track of revenues and expenses, manage invoices eliminating any chance of late payment fees and begin to automate your financial processes. Automation especially removes the risk of human error and frees up time for you to concentrate on other high-value areas of your business.
CRM System
An effective CRM (customer relationship management) system can give you detailed insights into your clients. In addition to giving you a breakdown of your current client base, it will also help you identify any new leads as well as track the leads that convert. As CRM systems provide access to reports, you can establish how many customers or clients you are attracting each month so that you can get an understanding of your conversion rate and determine new targets, goals and the best sales strategy. By having a way to understand behaviour patterns, you can begin to nourish your leads and improve engagement, retention and value. A number of CRM systems are equipped with finance tools too which makes it possible to combine your most important systems into one.
Communication Tools
If you don’t have good communication streams within your business, your team structure is already doomed to fail. When teams exercise healthy communication practices, it can positively impact company culture, collaboration, and productivity. If there is more than one of you, you have delivery partners or are outsourcing, this is key, especially with the rise of remote working. Consider what will work best for everyone and facilitate cross-communication with ease. Slack is a great tool because it is free to download to your desktop and can accommodate multiple channels for different areas of the business. If you get a lot of emails and are finding it difficult to keep on top of them, Slack is a great alternative because you can integrate other tools and systems and receive push notifications whenever you receive a message or any important files.
Project Management
Aligning team goals with business goals will help you prioritise your daily operations and strategic facing activities. If you don’t have a hold on a project because there is no collaboration software in place, it can be detrimental to deadlines. With project management tools like Trello, you can keep informed on what projects and tasks are happening from start to finish, allocate tasks to specific staff and see what needs to be done. Running a business is a team effort so building a network of shareable knowledge and an ecosystem of shared resources will align the team for better problem-solving. Trello allows you to assign responsibilities if there is more than one of you and review the progress of specific tasks within the associated goals you have set. In essence, it will help you to monitor whether you are being effective in your delivery and that you are not getting lost in the mele of business life.