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You’re doing it! You’re running your own company. and working for yourself is just amazing.
But past the excitement of gaining your independence, reality awaits with a ton of responsibilities, paperwork, and difficult clients to juggle.
Being an entrepreneur means having to think of everything yourself. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel like you’re never gonna make it. But you can’t let that feeling of defeat win.
It helps to think logically and break things down into baby steps. With today’s technology, there are also lots of practical business tools to help you run your company and avoid burnout.
This article will give you seven useful business tools to take your company to the next level.
1. WordPress
As a business owner, you just can’t afford not to have a website.
Having a website has become an essential tool no matter what your company does. It’s how people find you, learn more about you, and decide whether they’re interested in doing business with you.
Blogging has also become a way of letting the world know about your business. Having regular publications helps your website get a good rank in Google searches. Additionally, it allows you to inform and connect with your customer base.
WordPress is the most popular platform for creating a website or blog. As the most popular option, they offer an enormous amount of content to use and choose from.
What’s more, you don’t need to know how to code to make it work, though you can use coding if you’re familiar with it. You just need to pick a template you like for your website, and from there, start adding your content.
WordPress has two versions: WordPress.com is free while WordPress.org is self-hosted.
If you intend to make your blog a primary component of your website, it might be worth it to use the self-hosted version. However, if you intend to only use your blog as an addition to your site, WordPress.com will suit your needs.
2. Google Analytics
Once you’ve got your website online, you have to see how well it does. Check to make sure people are able to find it and find out the kind of content they’re interested in.
How much traffic do you get? How does your audience find your website on average? What kind of demographic are you speaking to? What content do they respond to?
Answering these questions is key to spreading the word about your business. It could mean the difference between success and failure.
Just like other Google services, Google Analytics has innovative and intuitive features. It’s a statistics tool that’s meant to give you information about your website.
You can view the countries where people have seen it, along with what pages and articles are popular or not, with their key numbers. All the data is presented as percentages and broken down into day, week, month, or year readouts.
What’s more, Google Analytics has a host of clear charts and graphs. So, even if you’re not tech-savvy at all, you’ll be able to read and understand all this information easily.
3. Evernote
Being a business owner means you’re going to have to deal with a mountain of information and multi-tasking has to become second nature.
If you find yourself with a ton of papers on your desk, you’re losing precious time rummaging through it anytime you need something. You could also be forgetting crucial information that’s hidden under the pile.
What you need is an organizational tool such as Evernote.
Evernote has three basic functions: capture, access, and find. First, you capture all your information, from your next business meeting to your dentist appointment.
Then, you can access it from all your devices: computer, tablet, or smartphone. Finally, you can find anything you need immediately.
Having all your data stored in one orderly digital space really helps with organization. It’ll save you time and energy that you can dedicate to growing your company instead of getting lost in a maze of papers.
Last but not least, Evernote is a free application. So no need to break the bank; save it for your business.
4. Pay Stub Creator
Another important aspect of having a company is keeping track of your finances and having the correct paperwork to pay your employees.
Pay Stub Creator allows you to create your pay stubs online. You enter all the information on the form and your pay stub gets instantly delivered via email. You can receive it as a PDF or Zip file according to your preference.
Your pay stubs can be used as legal documents. What’s more, Pay Stub Creator has very reasonable rates and will give you a full refund if you’re not happy with their services.
5. Skype
Skype is a phone and video service that’s sure to prove useful in your communications.
It’s excellent to hold conference calls and its video capabilities can be great for large groups.
You may also have to deal with overseas clients and time differences, in which case you won’t have to worry about an exorbitant phone bill.
Additionally, Skype lets you send documents even during calls. Its multiple functionalities as video, phone, and chat make it a powerful business tool.
6. LinkedIn
One of the essential facets of owning a business is networking, either to find other professionals to collaborate with or potential clients.
Thanks to LinkedIn, you’ll have access to not only your own professional network but also your contacts’ networks.
As a place to gather resumes, it’s your chance to connect with like-minded people, who may need your services or possess the skills you require.
LinkedIn can help you start your company with a team of talented people and avoid having to struggle by yourself.
7. Square
If you’re still in the starting phase of your business, using temporary locations to run it, Square could be a great tool for you.
No matter what you do, a credit card machine could be the deciding factor in making a sale or not.
Square is a tiny credit card reader that connects to your Ipad or smartphone. It’s like carrying a credit card machine everywhere you go.
Onward and Upward With Your New Business Tools
Maintaining a business is no small feat, but these seven business tools can help make your life easier.
Keeping up to date with technology can be a game-changer when it comes to modern businesses, so make sure to stay tuned!
