Cloud storage, social media management and relationship management tools all topped the list of favorite tech tools for 2016, according to a poll of small business owners by SurePayroll. Google Drive knocked Dropbox out of first place for cloud storage tools since SurePayroll’s survey from 2015.
You’ve probably already sorted out solutions for online storage and social media management for your business. Wondering what else should be on your list? Here are five tech items all entrepreneurs need to invest in upon starting a business.
Samsung Galaxy S7
Serious entrepreneurs need a smartphone that rises to the occasion whether making investor video calls, sharing financial projection graphs or taking product photos. Keep money in your business by purchasing a Samsung Galaxy S7 with a payment plan from T-Mobile. Stream videos from your vendors and get up to 36 hours of talk time. Rear- and front-facing cameras take crisp, clear photos while you’re out in the field. You can also hook up your bookkeeping and project management apps to keep tabs on what’s going on at your office.
QuickBooks
A business can’t thrive without understanding cash flow projections, expenses and projected revenues. QuickBooks helps keep track of personal and business expenses so you can stay on top of where your money is going. QuickBooks also integrates with third-party apps so you can see sales and expenses. And for entrepreneurs who need extra help, but don’t want to take out a loan, QuickBooks offers Fundbox to get paid for outstanding invoices at a fee.
Gust
Can’t find the time to hunt down agents and accelerators? Gust helps connect startups with investors and also offers resources to find and apply to business accelerators. Use their single common application to apply to angel groups around the world. Gust also offers a platform to electronically issue stock options and stay tax compliant with 409A coverage.
Socedo
There are plenty of social media tools that help schedule and monitor your online presence. But few actually help measure and qualify prospects through social media. Socedo can help fill your sales funnel with social leads based on your criteria. Geared toward business to business marketers, Socedo breaks down the concept of creating a social media silo and incorporates traditional lead generation tools like email marketing and sponsorships. Socedo helps identify leads by monitoring real-time social behavior to qualify your leads. From there, you can organize campaigns and study the engagement and ROI to capture the leads you’re looking for.
Slack
Connect your team with Slack and keep track of every detail of your project. Drag and drop graphs, PDFs and images to share with only the people you want. Integrate with your Google Drive or Dropbox account to sync up and search right from Slack. It can also help reduce your internal email, and Slack found that its customers reduce their email by an average of 48.6 percent, giving you more time to focus on your bottom line.
