Superfast Business Wales digital adviser Emma Goode shares her top tips to consider when choosing software that eases the pressure.
- Identify the bottlenecks. Think about which areas of the business take up the most time and if you can you solve this with software e.g. Booking appointments/reminders can be automated, as can generating and sending quotes/invoices, working together on a document and updating customer information when you are out and about. It’s like having an extra pair of hands to do the work for you.
- Check you don’t already have the power. Lots of software now offers a huge amount of inbuilt functionality. Do an audit of what you already use and do your research to see if you can get more out of what you already have.
- Prove the concept. Most suppliers will offer free trials, MAKE USE OF THEM. Put a small sample of data into the software and play around with the functionality to see if it is going to be easy to use and actually helpful to the business.
- Do the Maths. Weigh up the cost versus the benefit. Software does have a cost, but it also has some huge benefits: time saving, increased resource, automation of processes, and greater opportunities to increase sales and retain customers. However, it has to pay. The reward to you as the business owner has to be more time and/or greater profit.
- Adapt to succeed. Make your processes fit the software’s functionality. Bespoke software can be expensive, so you need to adjust to work with the way the software is set up to avoid additional costs.
- Get help when you need it. You may have to pay for additional training or to help with implementation, this is not a bad thing, you will reap the rewards when you know how to use the full capability of your software solution and accept that whilst you may be amazing at what you do you may not be an IT expert and that is ok.
- Be agile. Most software has mobile apps so you can input info, create estimates/invoices, update client records, create promotions all on the fly, increasing efficiency and capabilities even further.
- Does it play nicely with others? Is there any software currently in use in the business that this new solution needs to work with? If so, will they work together?
- Phone a friend. Like anything a recommendation from someone you know, and trust is always reassuring and can give you confidence especially if you are not particularly tech savvy? Talk to other business owners in your network to see what software solutions they use, the pros and cons, cost v benefit etc., and speak to an expert at Superfast Business Wales.
- Keep an open mind. Many business owners think their businesses are too small to benefit from these kinds of solutions, this simply isn’t true. Software solutions can free you up to do what you are best at, while they provide you with that much needed extra resource.
Access Superfast Business Wales’ free, impartial Software Essentials directory to help you choose the right software for your business.