10 best business tools

Is your new business in need of a boost? From finance and mobiles to accountancy and CRM, read on to learn about the tools your business needs

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Starting a business can be tough. There’s all sorts of things to do, and in the early days at least, you may well be the only one doing them. Luckily, there’s a plethora of tools out there that can give you a productivity boom – even when starting on a shoestring. From business communications tools to project management platforms and key hardware, there’s a bevvy of choices you can make to help your startup succeed.

Here, we’ve got a round-up of the top business tools that are going to help you get on track, so you don’t just hit your targets, but smash right through them.

Read on to learn about the business tools of today, and find out what’s worth purchasing to help get your business shipshape.

A business communications suite

Every element of your business success comes down to effective communication. Whether that’s nailing a video call with a key would-be investor, sending timely and professional email responses to your customers, or even managing the diaries and events of your own in-house staff.

Choosing the right platform for your business comms is one of the most critical decisions you can make. We all remember the panic of those first weeks of lockdown during the pandemic, when everyone started installing the free version of Zoom to do everything from yoga classes to company-wide announcements and client calls.

Lockdown is, thankfully, far behind us, and that means no more rushed choices for email, VoIP, calendars, documents and video calls. Smart businesses plan all of this with one set of tools to let staff seamlessly plan their day and collaborate without the friction of having to hop from one login to another.

In terms of what’s best, it’s hard to argue with the merits of Google Workplace. It’s a single professional suite that gives you everything from collaborative office docs (all safely saved in the cloud, not on individual devices) and effortlessly simple video calls and Gmail-powered business email.

Even more excitingly, Google is building AI into its suite of tools, thanks to the Google Duet function. It can do everything from help you craft an instant email response, to build a slick-looking slide deck for you, following a few prompts.

Pricing for Google Workspace is simple and approachable, keeping the platform competitive in a world where Microsoft 365 remains an alternative.

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Business Starter

Business Standard

Business Plus

Enterprise

Cost

£5 per user, per month for a one-year commitment

Cost

£10 per user, per month for a one-year commitment

Cost

£15 per user, per month for a one-year commitment

Cost

Contact sales

Features
  • Custom and secure business email
  • 100-participant video meetings
  • 30GB storage per user
  • Security and management controls
Features
  • Custom and secure business email
  • 150-participant video meetings and recording
  • 2TB of storage per user
  • Security and management controls

 

Features
  • Ediscovery and retention
  • 500 participant video meetings and attendance tracking
  • 5TB storage per user
  • Advanced endpoint management

 

Features
  • S/MIME encryption
  • As much storage as needed
  • Advanced security, management and compliance controls
  • Noise cancellation and in-domain live streaming

Website Builders

Over a third of people look online before deciding whether or not they’ll pay a business a visit and invest in their product or service. A business website is your first opportunity to impress your audience and entice the buyer – without a website, you could be missing out on some spectacular sales opportunities.

It’s for this very reason that website builders are a small business game-changer. They can help you get your business online quickly and easily, all for a fraction of the cost involved in hiring a professional web developer.

For example, to hire a professional, you’re looking at forking out something in the region of £30 – £50 per hour (depending on the size of the job) – and that’s not even taking into consideration the cost of a domain, maintenance, and updates.

Taking a DIY approach to website building has never been easier, or cheaper. With a website builder like Wix, Weebly or Squarespace, you get a free trial, and can then pay as little as £8.50 per month for a business website.

Worried your website building skills aren’t up to scratch? Fear not – website builders provide a wide variety of good looking templates and tools to make building your own website a real doddle.

For a more comprehensive breakdown and full-fat comparison of the best website builders for small businesses, take a look at our dedicated page, which really gets into the nitty gritty of the website builders out there, helping you to make the best choice for your business.

Accounting Software

best business tools accounting softwareAccounting software is great for those essential (yet time consuming and fiddly) tasks such as invoicing, expenses, time tracking, finance planning for projects, scheduling payments, reporting, and recording financial transactions within your business.

FreshBooks is a great accounting software provider geared specifically towards SMEs. The company hopes to help you to “spend less time filing receipts and formatting invoices, and more time building your business”.

Taking the stress out of invoicing and making the day-to-day budgeting a little more manageable, accounting software is great whether you’re self employed or running a bigger operation.

Not to mention the fact that it gives you peace of mind, knowing that your accounts are all in order and compliant with the latest legislation.

Accounting software is, by definition, a virtual tool, and is downloadable to a variety of devices. This means you can stay abreast of your accounts both in and out of office, which grants flexibility and complete accountability when it comes to the essential financial aspects of your startup. This is especially useful in those early days, when your budget is tight and you’ll need to keep a close eye on those accounts.

Project management tools

The day-to-day can get hectic – especially when you’ve got so many aspects of a business to oversee. Having a tool that gives clear targets and direction to any project can help you stay on track. That way, you deliver on time, and there’s not a mad rush in the process.

Gone are the days of the post-it note reminder, stuck precariously to a desk. In the digital age, even your diary has to be digitised. And what better way to make sure you and your teams’ schedules are aligned than by using an online project management tool?

Accessible via both desktop and mobile – so you can keep track of the important tasks no matter where you are – project management tools are invaluable to those striving for business success through a balancing act of tasks. Tools to consider include:

Trello (free and user-friendly)

Monday.com (full project management Work OS)

Business mobiles

10 best business tools business mobilesIn this day and age, you can carry out most business tasks from the device in the palm of your hand. But, if you’re expecting your staff to run their daily tasks and responsibilities off their personal phones, then you could make yourself a lot more popular by offering a business mobile as part of your employee benefits.

Business mobiles are essential pieces of kit – especially if your staff are often out-in-the field, or have regular contact with clients. Providing your team with mobiles allows you to choose a device, carrier and operating system that fits your company’s needs. It also means everyone has access to the same software and features, allowing for easy collaboration.

All small businesses need to be mobile and connected. The business world moves at an alarming pace, and not being there at the end of the line could mean you’re missing out on key sales opportunities.
There are lots of providers and contracts out there, though. If you think you’re in need of some advice regarding business phones, and want to pitch some providers against one another, then be sure to look at our guide to the best business mobile phone plans available today.

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Apple iPhone 15 Pro

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4

Google Pixel 8 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Best handset deal
  • Vodafone £45 per month (+ £50 upfront)
  • EE £51.20 per month (+ £30 upfront)
  • O2 £52.10 per month (+ £30 upfront)
Best handset deal
  • Vodafone £56 per month (+ £50 upfront)
  • EE £42 per month (+ £8.33 upfront)
  • O2 £63.24 per month (+ £30 upfront)
Best handset deal
  • Vodafone £58 per month (+ £50 upfront)
  • O2 £67.74 per month (+ £30 upfront)
Best handset deal
  • Vodafone £34 per month (+ £50 upfront)
  • EE £53.21 per month (+ £30 upfront)
  • O2 £48.03 per month (+ £30 upfront)
Best handset deal
  • Vodafone £39 per month (+ £50 upfront)
  • EE £61.67 per month (+ £30 upfront)
  • O2 £65.93 per month (+ £30 upfront)

CRM Software

As the old adage goes, “the customer is always right.” And, whether you buy into this idea or not, the fact remains that maintaining happy and healthy customer relationships is essential to the smooth running and success of your business.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is the secret to a successful and sustained business/consumer interaction. CRM tracks, records and refines your communication with clients, helping you to optimise your sales tactics and target those who are most likely to buy.
A CRM provider is able to give you a 360-degree view of every customers’ data across one simple interface – great for scheduling communications, retargeting marketing, and creating killer campaigns.

Customer data can come in many forms, and a CRM system will monitor and manage this information effectively via a database used to track a variety of things. The sort of data that can be tracked varies from system to system.

For example, the software of your choice might monitor:

  • Customer information
  • Sales figures
  • Team information
  • Goals and targets
  • Business information

Ultimately, the data collected will depend on the system you choose and the information you need.

Providers such as Insightly, Zoho, or Salesforce might be familiar sounding brands – but which is which, and who should you choose?

To help you make your mind up, and for a side-by-side comparison of CRM systems, take a look at our page on the best CRM for small businesses. Here you can find out which provider is best for budget, who’s got the easiest system to use, and which system to buy if you really want to drive those sales.

Digital marketing tools

In today’s digital age, 89% of UK adults say they’re regularly using the internet, while 9/10 UK households have internet access. This means that when it comes to marketing, every business has to be bringing its digital A-game, every step of the way.

‘Digital marketing’ is the process of promoting products or services using technology, mainly via the internet. It can include running campaigns for mobile, display advertising, and any other digital medium. Social media plays a part in this, as does Google, or any other search engine you use to run a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign.

Fortunately, the digital marketing minefield isn’t one you have to navigate alone. In fact, there are loads of tools out there that can help refine your digital presence, so you can market where it matters – and get on with running your business in the meantime.

The social media management tool Hootsuite, for example, has over 18 million users worldwide. It’s an exciting digital marketing tool that monitors multiple social accounts on one easy-to-navigate dashboard. This allows you to find and track your top keywords (making sure you’re at the top of the search pile), make multiple automated posts across various social media platforms, and respond to customers quickly and efficiently.

Merchant Accounts

A merchant account allows you and your business to accept credit or debit card payments, whether in person, over the phone, or online.

More than just a business bank account, a merchant account is crucial to the processing part of the transaction. However, where the money ends up afterwards is your choice (i.e. into a business or personal bank account).

A merchant account is a holding/current account that lets you process card payments. When a customer pays your business, the money goes into the merchant account to then be processed by your bank.

And when it comes to the modern consumer, card really is the new cash. Smaller and smaller purchases, like a morning coffee or newspaper, are being made on card – even black cabs have card machines in the back!

it’s clear that step by step, we’re edging towards a cashless society.

But, what does this mean for the everyday business owner? As we say, “out with the coin and in with the contactless.” You need to make sure your business is ready for any customer, whether they have cash or card ready in their hand.

The benefits of a merchant account are endless. Firstly, it will protect you from fraud – when payments are processed through the merchant account, fraud is detected and dealt with, so you’re never in the wrong. Secondly, they mean you can actually accept card; because if you’re currently working on a ‘cash only’ basis, you’re probably turning some very valuable customers away.

Keen to know more? Find out all about merchant accounts

 

Card readers

epos system best business tools

Sure, this one won’t be of much use to you if you’re an office-based business. But, everyone from a mobile masseuse to somebody running a coffee stand will find themselves in need of a simple card reader.

For the solo-run business, a card reader that can work with your mobile or tablet may be all you need – Square’s ubiquitous card reader is a great example. But, busy restaurants and retail stores will need a more fully-formed Point of Sales (POS) system

A good POS system will accept and process card payments, and help to efficiently run your business from one easily accessible hub screen. The best systems will provide features such as sales reporting, inventory tracking, staff management, customer care, and more.

To help you decide, we’ve put together a helpful guide that details all you’ve ever wanted to know about the best POS systems. This guide also features a side-by-side price comparison of the top EPOS providers for small businesses.

Overall

By now, you should have an idea of what tools you and your business might need, and where you’re most likely to find them.

Follow the links throughout the piece for more in-depth accounts of each tool. We’ll make sure you’ve got all the resources you need to organise, grow, and promote your business successfully and efficiently.

From website builders to EPOS systems, the tools are there to help your business function at its best. It’s our job to make sure you find the best tools for the task.

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