When launching a new business, one of the key things to get right from day one is efficiency. You don’t want your team of fresh new recruits wasting their time on repetitive tasks or manual work which can otherwise be taken care of by the machines.
Adopting software can also help to improve employee engagement, by freeing up the time of staff and allowing them to focus on what they actually enjoy – another tick for business efficiency.
Take a look at the 8 types of software below which you might benefit from for your startup.
- Communication Software
When starting a business, communication with customers and suppliers is important, but so is communication between your employees. Thankfully, there are a wide choice of free communication software options available, such as Slack and Zoom to name two popular choices.
- Project Management Software
Gone are the days of teams gathered round a whiteboard and the dread of important project information being wiped off by mistake. Like communication tools, project management software is widely available for free, with options such as Trello and Asana which come packed with features to run business projects of all sizes.
- HR Software
A HR team is one of the most important areas of a business, as they manage the businesses most important asset – it’s people. Proving the right HR solutions to your team will allow them to cut out manual and repetitive tasks, and focus on the more important areas, such as helping to improve employee engagement and staff retention.
- Office Software
The world of business is very familiar with Microsoft Office, and many can’t operate without it. But for startups with limited budgets, or perhaps more frugal teams, there are free options available which do just as good of a job, such as Google Docs – which come with the added bonus of being in the cloud and allow for collaborative working.
- Sales Software
Depending on your business type and size, there are a lot of sales tools and applications on the market to help supercharge your conversion rate and get closer to that end of month target. This allows you to create a successful strategy. Some focus on lead conversion such as SalesForce, and can be plugged in to associated marketing software, while others are strictly sales focused and help to improve efficiency for your sales team.
- Marketing Software
Over the last 10 years, marketing software has completely changed the game for marketing teams up and down the country. With the advent of marketing automation with software such as Hubspot and Marketo, marketeers can now spend much more of their time focused on creative tasks, and leave the repetitive tasks, such as sending and monitoring email campaigns, to the machines.
- Customer Service Software
The way in which customers want to make contact with businesses has changed, and thankfully, so has the software available to customer service teams. With apps like Zen Desk, customers can now reach a business, discuss their issue, and have it resolved – all without having to pick up the phone and wait in lengthy queues.
- Fun Software
Last but certainly not least, fun software. Launching a startup isn’t all about driving revenue and hitting the sales figure. It’s also about looking after it’s people and ensuring they’re engaged in the workplace. For just a few hundred pounds, consider investing in a games console for the office, which will likely provide a return on investment over time like nothing else.
