Gadgets
There are a lot of gadget choices out there that will help you keep up with your business, even when you’re not office-bound.
Smart Phones
Smart phones let you respond to e-mails, pull a factoid off the Web, update your calendar and pull an important contact from your database – from anywhere!
The famous BlackBerry product line, the Treo product line and the newer “Q” from Motorola are all wireless smart phones that include these capabilities. Talk about working smart! You can set sail in the Caribbean or simply pick up the kids from school and still stay on top of things.
Being connected with this kind of capability gives you a huge advantage over old-school people who say, “Let me get back to you tomorrow.”
Wireless Tools
Have you caught the WiFi wave yet? WiFi (short for Wireless Fidelity) enables you to connect computers in a given location via a network that uses radio signals. So now you can hang out in the local bookstore with your laptop and do business at the same time. You can even access wireless networks in your car. Wireless broadband networks are available by subscription through such companies as Verizon and Cingular. You can also tap into these on the spot at places offering wireless networks for a small fee.
Speaking of wireless tools, it’s not expensive – or complicated – to set up a wireless office. It just requires a wireless router and a wireless network adapter. The router converts signals coming across your Internet connection into the wireless broadcast, similar to a cordless phone base station. Routers cost $100 to $200 for a small office.
Software
Today’s computer software for small businesses does everything from keeping track of your inventory to keeping you on top of your finances.
There are some obvious basics, of course, like Microsoft Office software that comes preloaded on many new computers. It often comes with the fundamentals, including an address book that ties in with your e-mail, a calendar system, Excel for making spreadsheets, and PowerPoint, which helps you quickly create dynamic and professional-looking presentations.
The next step comes when you buy your first business server. This special-purpose computer is the master administrator and router of all of your company’s computing needs, and is available in a wide range of models, starting with servers for small businesses. Any type of software or data that benefits from coordination and protection is stored on – and dispensed by – the server. It uses specific server software, often available preloaded on a server, making “going live” with the server relatively turnkey.
Inventory Software
With inventory software, you can handle tasks as simple as keeping track of inventory (and where you have it stored) or as complex as forecasts of your future inventory needs. Most importantly, it helps you be strategic and keep that inventory moving in and out the door!
Accounting Software
Amazingly, only about 50 percent of small businesses use software to manage their accounting. Yes, this is the 21 st century, but there are hangers-on who still push pencils along paper ledgers. And that would be an example, of course, of not working smart. Using software to help you with bookkeeping and accounting does a variety of things to make your business more efficient and also more strategic.
CRM Software
Do you have a formalized strategy for making the most of your customer relationships? With Customer Relationship Management software, you can improve customer satisfaction and revenue generation by tracking customer interests, needs, buying habits and contact information. You can also tailor your marketing approach to them based on permission they’ve provided you. They get what they need as they change, and you become their provider of choice.