Overview of Business Management Solutions
Software is at the core of most business operations. Can you imagine operating a restaurant, accounting office, or a global retail chain without IT software for business? Hard to imagine today yet that was exactly how such companies operated before software came into the picture.
The software has come a long way since then, and thanks to technological innovations, we can now enjoy advanced tools for every operation in a company. According to Deloitte, higher digitally mature firms experienced revenue growth of 45%, compared to 15% growth for lower mature firms.
The good news is that many small business management software applications are designed to be easy to learn and use, even if you aren’t a tech expert. These programs can help automate your processes, manage your inventory, track your sales and customers, and more.
Different Types of Small Business Management Software Solutions
Every business needs software to operate effectively. But with the thousands of options available in the market, how do you figure out what tools are right for your business?
The answer is simple: By choosing an all-in-one business management software solution that can manage multiple areas of your business — such as sales, accounting, inventory, etc — you can run every aspect of your business from a single platform.
1. Accounting and Invoicing Software
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) comprise 90% of all businesses worldwide. Few SMB owners, however, can handle accounting on their own. As a result, they often rely on accountants to perform all their bookkeeping and other accounting tasks.
Outsourcing accounting work to professionals is not a bad idea, but business owners planning to do so should realize that not every accountant is available 24/7.
This is where accounting and financing software come to the rescue.
This business software allows you to see whether or not you have enough money to cover upcoming bills. The software can help you organize and manage every aspect of your company — from employee data to inventory tracking. You can also generate profit and loss reports as well as tax documents, ensuring that you have everything you need when the time comes to file your taxes.
2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
When you’re running a company, you need to be able to keep your eye on the big picture and organize your business in such a way that allows you to see what’s coming down the pipeline. That’s where CRM software can help you.
CRM software has been shown to increase sales by 20%, improve sales forecasting accuracy by 30%, and improve sales productivity by 40%, according to a study from Salesforce.
CRM boosts customer relationships — you can use it to keep track of who you’ve sent proposals to, how many people you’re following up with, and who needs more attention. It’s also useful for keeping track of contacts within the company so that no one is left out of the loop on important decisions or information.
In short, CRM software is used to keep detailed records of customers and their contact information. The information is then stored in a database that is updated automatically as needed. This includes everything from an individual’s name, email address, and phone number to their purchasing history, preferences, and all of the other details associated with their interactions with your company.
3. Content Management Software
As of August 2021, there are around 1.8 billion websites on Earth and the number keeps going up. It’s safe to say that most of them run with the help of Content Management Software.
Why?
Because it empowers you to create and manage content on your website, including its design, text graphics, and even code. But CMS platforms go much deeper than that. They handle the architecture of your online presence — landing pages, pillar pages, product pages, service pages, and contact pages. Because of their all-around utility and affordability, companies are investing more in CMS systems.
This type of small business management software can be used for internal and external information, including business documents and customer-facing materials.
By helping a company coordinate all of its content creation and management, a CMS simplifies document flow and makes business operations more efficient.
4. Sales Quoting Software
Sales quoting software is a vital part of the sales process and it allows your sales staff to create, submit, and track quotes that they send to clients. It was recently reported by Accenture that 83% of sales professionals are now using a configure, price, quote (CPQ) solution to run their operation, so no company can afford to lag.
One of the best things about sales quoting software is that it allows you to easily find out where the customer is in his purchase journey. You’ll be able to spot trends in what your customers care about, giving you more insight into how you can improve your business processes. With this information in hand, you’ll be able to create better quotes and proposals for potential customers.
5. Inventory Management Software
Did you know that 43% of small businesses use manual processes like spreadsheets for inventory management instead of tech-driven solutions? Yes, if you’re a small business owner, you must be tight on budget but, a little investment in automation can boost your sales, inventory accuracy, and order fulfillment process.
Good inventory management software allows you to monitor your products’ demand and make updates in real-time. This way, if the demand for one product increases while the other decreases, you can adjust your inventory accordingly.
With cloud-based inventory management software, you can also see what items are losing their popularity and order new products to replace them. You can even use it to monitor how quickly each product moves through the warehouse so that you can adjust your ordering strategies in the future. This is especially important if you sell products through multiple distribution channels.
6. Marketing Automation Software
Business owners and marketers are seeking the best ways to improve their marketing efforts, such as using chatbots and big data. Lenskold found that 78% of successful marketers attribute their success to marketing automation.
Marketing automation software is a tool that helps businesses automate their marketing efforts, including social media posts, email blasts, and other direct marketing campaigns. Marketing automation software allows you to streamline your marketing processes to create campaigns that will help you reach your customers faster.
This type of business software often integrates with CRM software to share information about customers and leads between systems. Marketing automation systems are designed to help you easily create content for your campaigns and deliver it directly through emails, workflows, and other tools. Many marketing automation platforms also include tools for social media management, landing pages, SEO, and other aspects of marketing.
7. Human resources information system (HRIS)
As a business grows, it can be difficult to keep track of all of the company’s employees and schedule their hours. 47% of HR teams cite employee retention and turnover as their top challenge.
Human resource management software enables business owners to record information about employees, including contact details and employment history. From managing employee time to filling out tax forms and keeping track of employee benefits, human resource software can handle several tasks that would take up too much time for a small business owner.
The best HR management solutions software will integrate payroll and scheduling into its platform. Some companies offer mobile apps that allow employees to punch in and out of their mobile devices. The best software will also have a self-service portal where employees can access their personal information and request time off.
8. Project Management Software
Approximately, 11.4% of investment is wasted as a result of poor project performance. Whether your team works in-house or remotely, a project management system is essential for communicating and tracking progress on projects.
This software is ideal for any company that has ongoing projects or even one-time projects, as it will streamline project management efforts and save money in the long run. Project management software allows you to create online workflows, track tasks, add notes and view a timeline of your project so that you can see what needs to be done next.
You can assign deadlines and tasks to individuals or teams, as well as provide collaborative tools for feedback and communication. Some solutions also allow you to set up notifications that remind employees when important milestones are approaching.
The Key Takeaway — Save Time, Capital, And Effort On Standard Processes With All-in-one Business Management Software
So, what kind of software choices should your business have? There’s no right answer to that question since it depends on the type of business you operate and your core business needs.
However, the above options will likely fulfill the basic needs of most businesses, while providing an affordable, functional, and scalable foundation for future growth. You’ve got employees, suppliers, schedules, events, inventory and so much more to keep track of within a limited amount of time.
If you manage all the aspects manually then you will have to sacrifice the core aspects of running a business. That’s why you need to choose the appropriate one from these eight
