Cloud-Based Tools to Optimize Your Small Business

Cloud-Based Tools to Optimize Your Small Business

One of the biggest challenges in a small business is finding the right tools to help you track, manage and measure your progress. When working on a small team, it’s easy to complete work for your clients at any cost and put less emphasis on managing your process.

However, online tools can help your company make better use of your resources. Here are just a few of these tools to help your company operate smoothly and efficiently:

Teamwork

A study by Software Advice found that 70 percent of small businesses use manual tools to manage their projects. When working on a small scale, it is easy to stay organized by making lists on sticky notes and jotting down ideas on a whiteboard; however, this model is difficult to scale and becomes problematic when you want to share project details with your employees and contract workers.

With the Teamwork app, you can make a profile for every company you do business with and assign different projects for them. Inside each project, you can create task lists that are then scheduled out and assigned to different employees on your team. Once a task is assigned, it shows up on the employee’s active task list. A daily report also is sent to your employees’ inboxes based on a schedule of your choice. Teamwork also allows your to create templates. So, if many of your projects are similar, you don’t have to waste time rebuilding the process for every new job that comes in.

Once you commit fully to this system, your employees will know which tasks belong to them as well as what their teammates are doing. Because everyone is accountable for their own tasks, this app helps create a more cohesive culture at your organization.

Sage One

One of the best feelings as a small business owner is to see a payment come through for a recently completed project. While it’s important to take pride in a job well done, the success of your project is more than just how much you got paid.

Cloud accounting is becoming more and more popular. In fact, a study by Cloud Accounting Institute found that 73 percent of companies currently use cloud accounting applications. By using a cloud-based accounting solution like Sage One, your team can track your costs to better understand the net profit of your jobs, rather than just measuring the revenue. Over time, your balance sheet will be more accurate, which means you’ll never have to wonder whether you’re actually profiting from particular jobs or lines of business. Also, because Sage One is cloud based, you’ll be able to collaborate with your accounting team from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Expensify

As your team travels to tradeshows and events, they often need to make purchases on behalf of the company. Expensify is a smartphone app that lets users take pictures of their receipts and put together expense reports within minutes. These reports can then be sent to the accounting department. This way you’ll never have to wonder about unaccounted for expenses again.