SaaS tools have grown incredibly over the past few years. There are hundreds available that can revolutionise the way small businesses operate – and more importantly save valuable time, money and effort. However, according to research by Salesforce, only a quarter of SME’s are aware of how online applications can help to grow their business. We want to outline some of the best cloud-based applications and how they can help your small business:
Accounting
Say goodbye to your slow, old and expensive accounting software and hello to Kashoo. Kashoo is revolutionising the way small businesses manage their finances with their impressive ‘anytime, anywhere’ cloud-based platform. Kashoo is available across multiple devices and allows users to carry out a range of tasks on the go including sending invoices, making payments, viewing profit and loss accounts and keeping up to date with their tax status. You can enjoy a 14 day free trial, and prices start from just $19.95 per month.
Customer service
Zendesk is a simple yet powerful cloud-based customer service tool to help small businesses better engage with their customers. Apparently, it was started by 3 friends in a Copenhagen loft who wanted to bring ‘a bit of zen’ to the chaotic world of customer support and is now used by 200,00 businesses worldwide. Zendesk gathers customer queries across phone, chat, email, social media, and any other channel you can imagine, all come together in one place. You can enjoy a free trial, and prices start from $75 per seat, per month.
Project management
The days of list-making, 100+ page documents, and extensive company procedures are over. Trello is the handy one-software-does-all that manages all of your plans, projects, pipelines ranging from the largest company re-branding project down to what sandwiches to serve clients for lunch. And what’s more, it’s free! They’ve recently been acquired by Atlassian, so we’re excited to see what more is to come.
Communication and collaboration
Microsoft have recently launched their new cloud-based collaboration software, Microsoft Teams – and it certainly does not disappoint. Harnessing the power of communication, Teams is part of the Office 365 suite and allows team members to communicate via phone, video and voice – anytime, anywhere. You can live-stream meetings, co-author content and set up private chats. Office 365 Business Premium subscriptions start from just £9.40 per person, per month.
Are you already using cloud-based software to streamline your business? Let us know in the comments below.