As a small business owner, you are probably way too familiar with trying to do it all! In the case of start-ups, micro-enterprises or non-profits, it might seem that CEO stands for “Controlling Every Obstruction” and there are plenty of those facing a new small business every day.
We feel your pain and to make sure you can find time to relax and put up your feet along with everyone else at holiday time here are five helpful tips to make your life as a small business owner easier:
- Get that contact database under control! There are, no doubt, plenty of excuses as to why you haven’t yet collated and organized all the names and contact information of clients, suppliers, partners and staff into one easy-to-manage database. You have been too busy, your staff have been storing the contacts in their own email inboxes, specialized software is expensive, your volunteer helper only knows how to manage a spreadsheet – all understandable reasons for not taking a closer look at the best software to manage contact databases for small business.
However, with a little research we bet you can uncover an affordable, easy-to-use Customer Relationship Management software tool that will serve your needs and save you lots of time in the long run. Contact Boss for example is available for as little as $8.33 CAD per user per month and it is designed for organizations such as yours since it is easy to learn and offers several useful additional features such as event management.
- Store your valuable data in the cloud! If you are just setting up your systems you may find that share drives, hard drives, or external hard drives are in use in various parts of your organization. To save you time and keep all data organized and in one place, accessible to all members of your organization. A cloud-based contact management system for example provides the security and convenience you require to do your best work. There is no need to worry about hard drive crashes, transferring equipment or unauthorized access when your contact data software is cloud-based.
- Go mobile! Maybe as a start-up, you don’t actually have office space for all staff members as you grow, or as a non-profit you can’t afford to have all team members set up at your headquarters. Perhaps the workers in your small business continue to work from home. All of these situations require access to reliable mobile versions of business tools. If your sales team is often on the road or working evenings, they will want to be able to reach clients and prospects via their mobile devices. The best client management software tools will have functional mobile apps available for both iOS and Android devices, so be sure to investigate mobile capability before subscribing to customer database software.
- Look for software tools that provide extra value. Why invest in numerous tools if you can look after several tasks with one software? It will both simplify your life and save money if you can use your CRM software to also manage events for example. Imagine being able to log into your contact database software, select your invitation list, create an invitation, send the invites, and even track attendance and do follow-up all from one CRM software subscription! Some contact management software tools also offer the ability to send out task reminders and track activity.
- Save time for socializing. Everyone is pressed for time, and business is important, but your and your team will benefit from a bit of time that does not involve work! It’s proven that social interaction yields positive results in terms of emotional and mental well-being. Maybe it’s a coffee party, a gathering via zoom with no business agenda, or even organizing a fundraising event to benefit the local community. According to Gallup: “Organizations with higher levels of employee engagement indicated lower business costs, improved performance outcomes, lower staff turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents.”
Holidays can generate stress, but if you and your business are well-prepared and you have simplified your operations as much as possible you and your team members should be able to enjoy a fun and stress-free holiday break!
