Shout out to all small business owners! If you’re waking up at the crack of dawn to a desk full of paperwork, invoices piled high and yesterday’s cold coffee still standing in the mix, then maybe it’s time to think about a business management software system to help you, not only get through the day, sleep through the night, but help you manage, control and grow your business. Sounds too easy? The fact is, it is easy – and it’s even easier than you think. Here’s why your small business needs small business management software (and presumably, also a good night’s sleep).
Like most of us, when the success of your business depends wholly and solely on you, you’re always on the lookout for ways to save money and resources, build your brand and more importantly, enhance the customer experience. Every quality product or service you sell that is delivered on time and on budget, results in a satisfied customer. And when you’re in control of the sales process from the initial purchase order to delivery at your customer’s door, you can and will grow your business.
One way to do this is to implement a small business management system, a web-based “on line” system that lets you or others in your business access the system and work remotely at any time and from any location. This is the #1 reason why a small business management software solution is a perfect fit for your small business. But wait, we’ve got a few more:
- Save valuable time – Time is money! It will save you and your team valuable time each and every day. When you’ve got one system in place, you won’t need to switch back and forth between systems because you’ll have your accounts, orders, customer lists and more – all convenience in one application. Tasks will be easier to access, manage and control.
- Control your daily schedule – Many systems offer integrated (shared) calendars to help you and your team manage appointments, deliveries, customer visits and more. Plus, as a manager, you’ll be able to see where you team is, what they’re doing and “plan” their time accordingly to get the most out of your business day. And when it comes to employee timesheets, a small business management system can also track employee work hours. Now, employees in the field (sales reps, tech service teams, etc.) can easily access the system, fill in their work hours and you can track their projects and manage their payroll/salaries – right from the system.
- Manage your projects – Basic project management is essential for the success of any small business. With today’s easy project management tools, you can create a project, e.g. a customer visit, new vendor price lists, restocking your inventory, and assign responsibility to a team member. Then you can track its progress by just clicking into that project without having to chase after employees to view its status and take the appropriate action to… get the job done.
- Generate price quotes and invoices – Sales are the heart of any small business, so why not generate your price quotes and invoices via a single application? Now you’ll be able to easily follow up sales leads and prospective customers by verifying which quotes were given out and not followed up. Just imagine… you’ll be able to see you’re your price quote has been accepted and instantly, you can change it into an invoice, close the deal and yes, save valuable time – and create another satisfied customer!
- Reduce those reams of paperwork – A business management system easily creates and more importantly, stores your business and sales documents in one convenient, easy to access location. As soon as you’ve created a new document, say, a price quote, invoice, shipping doc or even an email to a customer or supplier, now it can be saved directly into your system. No more hunting for or waiting for emails between employees, from suppliers or customers – it’s all instantly retrievable – again, at any time and from any location!
- Yes, your business is big enough – Small businesses, anywhere from one up to 50 employees can learn and use a small business management system. Today’s systems are highly intuitive, meaning they’re very user-friendly, where anyone with basic computer skills can easily learn and use the system. What’s more, you don’t need to be a super small company to enjoy the benefits of a business management system, but you also won’t need costly external IT (computer) support to be up and running and easily managing your business from the get-go.
If you’re thinking about how to grow your small business, how to get the most out of your employees, how to boost sales and improve customer retention, then it’s time to shop around for a small business management software system. When the going gets tough, so they say, the tough… get going. How about you?
