Are you thinking about starting an online business? Or running one already?
Then you’ll know that there are a plethora of tools out there that promise to streamline your workflows, save you time, and make you more efficient. However, you can’t use them all.
We’ve winnowed down the massive range of different tools down to five essential ones. Here’s everything you need to know.
Bookkeeping
First on our list of essential tools for online businesses is a solid bookkeeping solution.
No matter whether your online business provides consulting services or you need to focus on Shopify bookkeeping, having the right tool at your back is crucial.
Bookkeeping tools let you keep track of all your incoming and outgoing transfers, on all of your accounts. Plus, they can generate finance statements and reports, handle billing and invoicing, and help you manage your payroll.
Come tax season at the latest, they’re a godsend, and a crucial basis for accounting.
Team and Project Management
Next up, every online business should have a reliable and versatile team and project management solution.
Managing a virtual team comes with its own unique set of challenges – from time zone differences to making sure everyone stays on track with their tasks.
A team management platform makes life easier. You can set deadlines, assign tasks, send messages, and check out everyone’s progress at a glance.
Even if you’re running a solo business, having a project management platform is invaluable. It can help you optimize your time, stay ahead of your to-do list, and assess your own efficiency.
Business Communication
Another crucial tool for online businesses is a communication solution. Communication is key to customer satisfaction and, consequently, to business success.
And in 2024, there’s a plethora of communication channels businesses need to provide to make sure their customers are satisfied. From email to live chat and voice and video calls.
And that is not to mention internal communication, like video conferencing and group messaging.
Juggling all these communication channels using different platforms can easily get overwhelming.
That’s where unified business communication solutions come in. These offer a large range of internal and external communication channels through one central access point. This makes it easy for your team to follow up on conversations with individual customers, and to coordinate amongst themselves.
Plus, as your business grows, business communication can be a serious asset in scaling up. Some even come with contact center capabilities.
Data and Document Sharing
The next essential tool for online businesses on our list is a data and document sharing solution.
No matter if it’s the Q4 financial records, the digital marketing team’s year-end presentation, or your annual report, all of your data and documents need to live in an easily accessible but secure space, in which team members can collaborate and co-create.
Managing data can be tricky, especially as your business grows. Over time, records accumulate and may get siloed between teams. Centralizing your data management and document sharing can help you prevent friction losses.
A good data and document sharing solution is flexible when it comes to user access, as well as highly secure. Two-factor authentication is a must, as well as roles and individually adjustable user permissions. That way, you can control exactly who has access to what.
For certain kinds of data, you might want to opt for a specialized data storage and management option. For instance, if your online business deals not just with dozens, but hundreds or thousands of customers and their associated information, you might want to consider a Customer Relationship Management System.
Cybersecurity
Finally, one crucial tool that every online business needs is a high-level cybersecurity solution. Cybercriminals are still a widely underestimated threat, even though they cost the global economy $8.15 trillion in 2023 alone – a number that’s expected to rise further this year.
For an online business, being breached and having customer records exposed is disastrous. Not only will you have to deal with the financial fallout, you will also face a serious loss of customer trust.
To prevent this from happening, you should invest in the best possible security solution – including antivirus, a VPN, a (team) password manager, and financial fraud monitoring.
Plus, you should set systems in place that hold your individual team members to cybersecurity best practices, including being able to recognize phishing scams and enforcing password complexity standards.
Conclusion
Choosing the right tools for your online business can be tricky, but it’s well worth your time.
By following the checklist of the five essential types of tools above, and taking into account the unique configuration of your online business, you’ll be able to pinpoint the best solutions. Ultimately, they’ll help you put in place efficient, time-saving workflows to take your business to the next level.
