5 Tools your business needs after you find a location
The initial stages of starting a business, which include obtaining a business education and drafting a business plan among other, smaller steps, are grueling enough to deter most would-be entrepreneurs from following their self-starting dreams. However, those who do manage to push through to the phase of finding a business location know the joy of seeing the office come to life.
Unfortunately, even after procuring a base of operations, there is still plenty for a new business owner to do. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools to make the next few steps so much easier. Once you have a space where you can finally get your business going, you should immediately get the following five tools.
1. Recruitment Tool
You have a business space ― now it’s time to fill it with staff. To ensure your small business the greatest chance of success, you need to devote time and effort to finding the perfect people for the job. Unfortunately, recruitment is almost always exhausting and excruciatingly expensive ― but having the right tool helps.
Unless you already have a handful of specific people in mind, you will need to endure the application process, which means you should obtain an application-tracking tool. The best of these is Applicant Stack, a web-based tool that parses resumes and CVs, posts jobs on multiple channels, builds screening questionnaires, and more. Applicant Stack condenses all the tasks of recruiting, so you can use one interface to hire the best possible team.
2. HR Tool
You probably won’t need an HR team until your business grows a bit, but you should still have some type of system in place to facilitate the integration and organization of employees. Even partnering with a professional employer organization (otherwise known as outsourced HR) might be a bit hasty, unless you are immediately starting with a staff of 50-plus. Therefore, you’ll need a simple, reliable HR tool.
Though there are dozens of options, a tool called Parklet is perfectly suited to a brand-new business. Parklet automates annoying steps in hiring, including creating contracts and W4s, and it keeps the structure of your business organized as people join and leave. Though it won’t work for a large company, this tool is simple enough for a startup to use well.
3. Collaboration Tool
Modern small businesses tend to provide more modern job benefits, including flex time or location, which means you will likely have workers telecommuting or living out of state. As long as you have a digital system for collaboration, this will never be a problem. In fact, in one study, Harvard Business Review reports that at-home workers complete about 13.5 percent more than their in-office counterparts.
Look into Cisco Spark to ensure everyone can collaborate properly. Cisco, the prominent business technology company, produces some of the finest communications equipment you can buy, so it makes sense that the brand also offers a fantastic collaboration system. Cisco Spark allows you to create groups, send messages, schedule video conferences, and more to ensure your team gets work done no matter where they are.
4. Web Development Tool
Now that you have your physical space squared away, you should consider your digital space. Clients and customers no longer crack open the Yellow Pages to find the businesses they need; as much as 94 percent of consumers perform online research before committing to any kind of purchase. At the very least, you need to develop a website to get your business’s name on the web.
Plenty of web hosts, including WordPress, Go Daddy, and Wix, offer simple and inexpensive website builders, but because your business’s site is essentially your first chance to make a good impression, you might opt for premium packages that unlock useful features. Then, you can customize your website to provide a unique customer experience.
5. Financing Tool
More likely than not, you have already suffered the pains of finding funding for your business idea, but if you are a smart entrepreneur, you know that the need for business loans might never end. Even businesses that are operating in the black usually opt for loans when they need expensive, new equipment because emptying the savings account is a bad business move. Unfortunately, lenders and vendors rarely play fair, especially with new business.
Behalf is a merchant cash advance solution that makes obtaining essential business supplies dramatically easier. More than 40 percent of the loans secured through Behalf are approved, which means you can improve your business’s credit score faster while using the items your business needs to grow.