Top Four Things Every Small Business Needs

October 23, 2018 Geekopedia 0 Comment Accounting, Business, credit card, CRM, Security, Tax, Web

Welcome to the future where computers can do everything from typing out an article, to controlling the lighting in your house, to operating rovers on Mars. If you are establishing a small business in this day and age, it is doubtful you will need anything as powerful as a Martian robot. But you will undoubtedly be using computers to manage your business, along with a combination of other technologies.

These technologies will be different for each of the plethora of industries out there. You will be using both hardware and software to operate your small business. Discussed below are a few of the technologies you will be using to reach out to clients, manage internal transactions, and stay on top of current trends.

Web Presence

You will need to establish yourself on the Internet. Even if you are a brick-and-mortar business, you still need a platform so potential customers can find you. In an age where more and more people shop online, your website should be that platform. From this site, you will be able to explain who you are and why you are in business. If you are an ecommerce company, then you will be making your products available for sale from this site. If you are a service, then online is probably the means through which you will be providing these services.

Just establishing a website will not be enough; you will have to conduct online marketing as well. Television and radio advertising is no longer effective. Online advertising will be crucial to announcing and spreading your business. Side bars and banners, though annoying on sites where there are too many, can be an important part of your marketing campaign. You will have to advertise on sites that make sense to your business. Do not advertise a cupcake business on an Overeaters Anonymous support site.

You will also need to spread your business’s presence by maintaining a blog and conducting SEO (search engine optimization) activities. These constantly provide search engines with fresh information, making them easier to identify. The more relevant and popular the information you put out there, the higher your business can appear on the first page of the search results.

Customer Relation Management

Customer Relation Management (CRM) is a necessity to running any business in the digital age. Along with your web presence, this is software you will need to engage with your clients. These allow you to track spending habits of guests, inventory and sales data, and customer contact information, along with various other information. These can be extremely helpful in identifying who your clients are, what they are buying from you, where they are purchasing from, and how they are using your services.

The metrics displayed in CRM dashboards are good indicators of how your business is running. They are also excellent at developing the KPIs for your company. Key Performance Indicators are the processes and products / services you provide that are the most crucial to your business. These are the ones that can make or break you. Develop your KPIs quickly so you can improve on those aspects that are detrimental to your business’s survival

Credit Card Processing and Security

Every business needs a way of receiving payments for their services. Credit cards are the most common means of payment, especially considering that many card users enjoy perks such as cash back on purchases. As such, your company needs a way of accepting these. Credit cards in a physical location can be accepted by terminals connected to the countertop, credit card readers that can plug into cell phones and tablets, or through typing information into apps on either.

These come with a combination of security problems. Information transmitted through a pin pad has to be protected from the terminal; there are devices available that allow someone to connect to the pin pad and copy the credit card data. The same exists for tablets and cell phones. Both are susceptible to hacking if not protected properly.

If your business is an online one, you will be able to accept credit card payments through a processing company. These companies provide a certain amount of security, but you will need to protect your website as well, to fortify these walls of security. By including this additional layer of protection, you will also be increasing trust in your company; you are taking the extra step to protecting your clients’ information, and that is appreciated.

Accounting and Tax Software

You cannot run a business of any size without conducting some form of accounting. Accounts payable, accounts receivable, cost of goods; these are all important factors that require tracking. Small businesses are no exception. If you do not keep record of your transactions, you really have no idea how much money you are making, or how in debt you are. Using accounting software will make it easy for you to do this.

Small companies will more than likely seek a small business loan at some point in their early years. Regardless of the purpose for such a loan, whether it be for the purchase of additional product or expansion to increase production, lenders will want to see the books. They will want to see perfect tracking, the amount your company is bringing in, and the amounts you are paying out.

Along with maintaining financial records, it will be easier on your business if you use tax software. Again, you will be required to keep track of all of your expenditures and sales so that the computer program can accurately calculate the amount owed to the various government agencies.