As a start-up, growing your business without investing in a variety of services can be a difficult task. If you are a small, independent new business the chances are that you do not have a wealth of resources and funds to draw on. The good news is, however, that start-up businesses are not alone anymore.
Today, there are a number of online services out there, designed to help small, independent businesses succeed. By replacing larger investment costs in physical services with these online services you can not only save your business lots of money, but also establish working processes that will make your business more streamlined, and ultimately more profitable.
Here are the top five services every start-up should add to its go-to list:
Slack
Slack is a cleverly designed app that helps you to keep in touch with your team members 24/7. Designed to keep people working together wherever they are in the world, the app has been replacing email in small and large companies since its conception, negating the need to pay for Outlook and other email services, which can make up large chunk of a start-up budget. Not only this, but by not using email you avoid the daily task of deleting emails that come from other sources (i.e. spam) and can really focus on the task in hand. The app also connects your other communication tools, such as social media platforms, so you can have everything in one place.
Xero
Xero is your go-to accounting software. Able to connect to other third party business apps, Xero works as an online pay roll system, invoicing system, bank reconciliation system, inventory system, and so much more. You can manage all of your banking systems in one place and keep everything secure in the cloud using Xero.
Attest
Market research is one of the most powerful tools in business. Not only does it help you to target your demographic and customer specifically, but it also helps you to create marketing material and products that will benefit your audience. Attest is a tool that helps you to do just that. You enter your questions and criteria, and the app shares them with the right people. The data is then analysed using carefully crafted analytic tools and is ready for you to download and implement back into your business for profitable results. Research no longer has to account for the majority of your budget or your time, you can gain immediate and accurate responses from real people without the huge outlay.
Dropbox
It costs money to buy huge servers with enormous memory and even to house them. Dropbox allows huge cloud storage space, the instant upload of files to and from people remotely, and file sharing, so you can move data and files from person to person without waiting days or paying huge server costs. All you need is Wi-Fi!
Trello
Trello is an app that helps you to streamline the running of your project. Designed to simplify project processes, Trello organises your current work into one “board”. From this board you can see every piece of information about the project, so you no longer have to contact staff who might be away from work or in another country to find out the status – you and your staff can always be in the know. Utilise Trello to make project management more effective.
