Turning a small business into a successful one is not easy. It takes time and effort and it takes doing a lot of things right. While it is important to have an idea for a business that others are looking for, it is also important to deliver what the business offers in the right way. There are just as many good business ideas that did not succeed as there are bad business ideas that never had a chance of succeeding. It comes down to the execution of the idea. Many years ago, the biggest obstacle that a small business had was getting the manpower that was needed to grow. That can be an issue today, but there are now many online tools available that can help eliminate the need for many people. The key for a small business is to find the right online tools that will help lead them to the success they want. 10 Tools to Help Your Business Succeed These are some of the best tools that can help make a small business more effective and that can help that business extend their reach. WordPress – It is a free, open source content management system based on MySQL and PHP. At present, it is the most popular blogging system used by more than 23.3% of the top 10 million sites of the world. In this digital era, businesses are getting online to enhance their customer base. WordPress helps a business to publish their content as well as catalogue on the internet so that it can be seen all over the world. Further, by using WordPress plugins you can sell your products online. It does not take a computer degree to do this and is something that can become an effective way to communicate information about the business. Google Analytics – It is a Google web analytics service that tracks and reports all the traffic of your website. Launched in November 2005, it is now the most widely used website analytics solution. Small businesses can become more successful when they are easy to find on the internet. Google Analytics allows businesses to see what their online presence is with advertising and website statistics. Google Drive – Created by Google, it is a file storage and synchronization service that allows you to store, share and edit files in the cloud. It permits collaborative editing of spreadsheets, documents, drawings, presentations, forms, and more. This tool makes it easy for a small business to store and share documents and other files among their employees, business partners and clients. It stores everything in the cloud for easy access when needed from any computer device. Square – Based in San Francisco, California; Square Inc. is a mobile payment company that provides financial services. The company markets various software payments products, including Square Reader and Square Register. Cash is becoming obsolete and if a business cannot accept credit and debit cards they will miss out on a big opportunity. This tool allows businesses to take the credit and debit cards with the help of a smartphone. It is not only fast but also safe; hence, a must have tool for a successful businesses. Creately Desktop– It is a cloud-based diagram tool that is widely used to create flowcharts, infographics, organizational charts, Gantt charts, website wireframes, UML designs, and mind maps. Almost every business has to create maps, flowchart, and outlines of website on day to day basis. If you want to create mind maps, wireframes, website outlines, etc. in a hassle free and professional way, creately desktop will be the right tool for you. It is cloud-based collaboration software known for its amazing features such as real-time collaboration, automatically sync of diagrams, offline usage, and many more. UberConference – Created by Switch Communications, Inc.; it is a cloud-based conferencing system. Located at San Francisco, California; the company has won many awards for its quality products. This simple and easy to use conferencing tool allows you to easily interact with your employees, business partners and clients without having to meet in person. IT allows a business to reach more people in an effective way and improves communication. In addition, you can save your precious time and money as you don’t have to travel for your meeting. MailChimp – Founded in 2001, it is an email marketing service provider. Each month its 7 million users collectively send more than 10 billion emails by using this service. It is a web-based application, although for some features there is offline application. Emailing is a basic requirement of any business. This email service makes it easy for a business to send out informational and promotional material to large groups of people. While some may not like this type of communications, it is hard to deny its ability to work. Score – It provides free business mentoring services to the entrepreneurs. In addition, it designs many tools that help businesses to grow. Professionalism is essential for a successful business. This tool provides a variety of forms that allow your business to have a professional look. Financial templates, forms and other important documents can be created with the help of this tool. Naming Force – It is a business naming service that provides company name, domain name, product name, or tagline for various businesses. One of the most important things that the biggest successful businesses have is a well-known brand. This tool helps a business come up with names for the business or for products that have been reviewed and ranked and that could be a key to creating the right image for a business. QuickBooks– Developed and marketed by Intuit, it is an accounting software package that offer on-premise accounting applications as well as cloud based versions. Its products are geared mainly toward small and medium-sized enterprises. If you want to succeed, you need to have all your financial information precise and well arranged. With the help of a tool like this, a business can keep accurate and easy to access financial information. It can keep track of the balance sheets of a business or it can help create and send invoices. Having this tool can take the place of a full time accounting service. Finding the Right Combination While the tools listed above can help a business grow, they may not be needed for every business. It is very important for a business to create the right combination of tools that helps them succeed. It is something that should be thought about and evaluated to make sure that the business is using everything they need. These online tools will not guarantee a successful business, but they can help. Whenever a business employs online tools, they need to make sure they understand how they work and what they are able to do. The time spent learning about how the tools are supposed to work could be as valuable as the tools themselves. Image Credit: Raymond Sam
