It is said that when you start up your business, the first five years are the hardest. Cash inflow is minimal (if anything, your cashflow would comprise primarily of expenses rather than profit) and you may need a few programs and SaaS purchases to help you get started. It may get overwhelming, so a reliable SaaS marketing consultant may come in handy while you choose which products are best for your company and your budget. The top SaaS tools for small-scale businesses that you can use for the different departments or categories, depending on the need include project management, team collaboration, marketing, and customer relationship management.
Slack for Team Collaboration
Back in the day, offices would use Yahoo! Messenger or Skype for team collaborations and virtual comms. Bigger companies such as IBM have their own dedicated software such as Sametime. Nowadays, the trending app for team collaboration for the last five years or so is Slack — to the point that it’s coined itself its own term “Slack me” to signify the need to be messaged.
Because of its simple user interface and integrations (Google Drive, Trello, and other SaaS tools can be connected to the app for easier management), it has become the top choice for team collaboration, most especially for remote working team management.
Basecamp for Project Management
Most small businesses start out remotely before they scale up and build offices. Basecamp is another favorite when it comes to project management. It offers several payment plans depending on your company’s current needs, allows for file upload and management (perfect for creating a repository and choosing accesses for team members), and can also be a tool for assigning tasks. If you’re working remotely, Basecamp is a viable SaaS no matter how small or big your team is.
Quickbooks for Accounting and Payroll
Though this is a bit pricey for small businesses, the features make up for the cost. Whether you’re a small-scale business or a solopreneur, Quickbooks allows for connecting your bank accounts so you can easily monitor your profits and losses, transacting in multi-currencies if you’re paying employees or invoicing clients outside of your country, and adding access for your personal accountant to manage your books. It also features templates for invoicing minus the need for creating separate documents to send over to clients as well. Overall, Quickbooks is steadily becoming a business favorite due to its user-friendly interface and features.
File-Sharing Services for Productivity and Security
There are several file-sharing software to choose from since some of these have little to no difference when it comes to their capabilities and features. Google Drive is a staple, as well as Microsoft, who has upped their game and created a new collaboration and file-sharing software called Microsoft Teams. The beauty of Microsoft is that if an employee leaves the company, the access can easily be disabled versus Google, where revoking accesses to certain files can get tricky. Nevertheless, both are very intuitive, easy to use, and can handle as little to many team members as possible.
While you’re starting out your business or solo venture, you need to consider which platforms are best for you in terms of functionality and budget. Gone are the days when purchasing software licenses can get quite expensive and SaaS tools now are more affordable and even offer free trials prior to purchase. Speak with a consultant who can help with your selection process, as all the trials and errors may reduce efficiency on your end.
