Top 5 Software Solutions for Improved Business Performance

Just like any other tool, ensuring your business has the right software to meet its needs can make the difference between accomplishing what you want — or watching tasks linger undone on your to-do lists.

For a long time it was a sad fact that most of the top software companies focused on big enterprises, instead of small businesses. This meant most of their solutions were unaffordable or full of features smaller firms didn’t need, or both.

Fortunately, this is no longer as true as it once was. More software providers than ever have developed small business versions of what were once considered “enterprise” tools — and in many cases, companies are targeting the small business exclusively, developing programs designed to specifically meet your needs. If you’re looking for new tools, here are our choices of the top software solutions to improve your business performance.

Accounting tools: QuickBooks     

Most entrepreneurs are good at what they do, but aren’t quite so skilled when it comes to administrative work. Whether you have knowledge here or not, accounting must be done. Accounting software solutions will help you get and keep the books in order, regardless of whether you’re doing it to manage your finances solo or whether you’ll be passing the information on to a professional accountant.

QuickBooks — it’s one of the small business accounting world’s most recognised names, and QuickBooks has both online and desktop versions — which is best for you depends on your company and team members’ needs. Regardless of which, QuickBooks represents a reasonably affordable choice that will nevertheless require some training to take full advantage of.

However, almost every accounting firm has QuickBooks experience. This means that if you’re planning to get outside help with your business finances, this program is a good choice — being widely known, it will make getting data to your accountant easy.

Human resources: Zenefits

Scaling a small business into a larger one represents a significant milestone. Yet as game-changing as this step forward is, not many business owners take enough time to fully understand the human resource needs of their growing business — or get around to implementing HR technologies which streamline the process.

Rather than letting your HR needs spiral out of control while you expand, consider Zenefits. It’s an all-in-one HR software solution which delivers benefits management, onboarding, payroll processing, and much more. Many of the Zenefits features can run automatically after you configure them initially, which significantly reduces the time you need spend keeping these things going on an ongoing basis.

Plus, Zenefits also makes it easy to manage the details of contractors, tracking compensation and handling their tax issues from inside a single solution.

Business improvement: SigmaXL 

As your business grows, it’s easy to develop areas of overlooked waste that ultimately bog down your business and hinder its growth. This is where tools like Six Sigma and Design For Six Sigma come in. When you’re developing a new product or a new business process, this methodology lets you ensure the new venture will perform at a superb level from the very beginning.

SigmaXL is a widely used package designed to make implementing these techniques much more effective, from developing flowcharts and plans to performing in-depth analyses.

Scheduling: When I Work and Booker

Scheduling concerns are one of the biggest headaches for many businesses, yet for some reason many business owners seem to overlook them. Whether it’s hourly workers or appointments with customers, many still rely on schedule books and outdated methods that make mistakes maddeningly difficult to fix.

When I Work makes it easy to schedule your staff hours. It reduces staff absences and avoids employee communication. The program also has mobile accessibility, meaning staff are able to see schedules, trade off shifts, and ask for time off even when they’re out and about.

Booker on the other hand makes it easy for clients to make appointments or sign up for any classes you might offer. Once you’ve installed it, Booker lets you attract customers on your website or your social media account, then bring them back to a central site which lets them book appointments. Like When I Work, Booker is mobile optimised, and it makes it easy to work on building client relationships through integrated messaging and client retention tools.

Alex Pejak is an economist currently working on a few projects in Australia. She is interested in topics related to project management and business IT.