5 Best Business Tools You Need to Know in 2024

There are many personal qualities typically associated with successful business people. Drive. Commitment. Confidence. Passion.

But in this digital age, even the best of us need a little help running our companies. And with so many helpful, effective, data-driven, online business tools and solutions at our disposal, why would we shoulder the burden of doing it all ourselves?

In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the 5 types of online business tools that are essential for modern businesses.

When used properly, the best online business tools can free you up to pursue your passion and channel it into productive areas of business, saving you man-hours, money and unneeded stress in the process.

Project and Task Management Software

Unless you’re a Luddite keen to manage projects and tasks armed only with a notepad and pen, you probably already use some form of project and task managing tool – and that’s a good thing.

These kinds of small business tools help processes run much more smoothly, letting you keep all your prospect and customer details in one place.

Project planning and monitoring, resource allocation, real-time budget management. These are all areas that can benefit from dedicated small business software, providing insights, potentially saving you money and ensuring tasks are completed on time and within budget.

Clever project management business tools help you see the bigger picture and quantify the success of a project, taking the guesswork out of the equation.

Finding a project management solution that caters to your business, and that can genuinely help you add value, should be a top priority moving forward. And if your current software isn’t working, think about a replacement.

The website, Software Advice, has put together a long list of task management programs you might want to check out, complete with star ratings, a cost comparison, and compatible networks. Some are available on the cloud while others are network-based.

Trello

One of the best free business tools out there is Trello. It allows you to collaborate with your teams around the globe and helps you organize your tasks as well. You can use its boards to create tasks and assign them to your team members.

The platform also has loads of integrations called “Power-Ups.” To use more integrations, you need to sign up for one of their paid plans.

Communication Tools

Communication is at the heart of business. And whether you’re conversing with employees, customers, or other external parties (suppliers, contractors), you should be able to get your message across in the most hassle-free manner possible.

Internal and external communications are made easier with VoIP (voice over IP) technology. Which allows you to have your phone line on an Internet Protocol network.

The benefits of using this form of communication are extensive, but features include an ability to make calls to (and from) anywhere in the world at the same exact cost, the functionality to set up whole-team conferences, inexpensive hardware, and software (sound card, microphone, etc.), flexible infrastructure and mid-call data transfer.

Switching to a more fault-tolerant, cost-effective communication platform like VoIP is a no-brainer.

GetVOIP

Use GetVOIP to obtain a personalized quote from a VoIP provider. As is the case with mobile networks and car insurers, there are countless providers vying for your business so it pays to shop around.

Slack

Another online business tool you might want to consider – this time, particularly for internal communication – is Slack. This streamlined, easy-to-use messaging platform lets you track projects and share files with internal and external parties.

It’s got loads of integrations such as time trackers and project management tools. These can help you manage your team and streamline operations.

Slack also has a mobile app through which you can communicate on the move. It’s also free for small businesses and startups that want to use it for their communication.

Skype

You can also use Skype for Business to collaborate and communicate with your team from anywhere.

Accounting Tools

If there’s one business tool that’s a little more essential than the others on this list, it concerns accounting. After all, if your figures aren’t right, you won’t have a business for much longer. What could be more important than ensuring the numbers add up?

From Sage Accounting to FreshBooks, digital accounting solutions help businesses large and small track expenditure, sort out tax, run reports, handle payroll, invoice customers, and put checkmarks next to all key financial management processes. That way, most of your accounting will be simplified.

They also provide insights into your businesses’ financials, cash flow forecasting, etc. Many of them offer integrations with other major CRM and customer service apps to give you better functionality.

There is no shortage of such small business tools. And in many cases, you can use bookkeeping software on a selection of devices – computers, iPads, and even smartphones. The net result is quicker data entry, time saved thanks to report automation (profit and loss, forecasting, etc.), and a reduction in human error.

Handily, many account management software can be integrated with other systems such as online banking and e-filing.

If you’re determinedly crunching numbers without the use of accounting software, you are missing out on valuable insights and cost savings. Just be sure to choose your package carefully to ensure it’s got the features you need.

Hiring Software

Recruiting staff can be a costly process, particularly for small business owners. Think about the expenditure of time and money initiating background, reference, and credit checks, not to mention degree verifications.

Using a recruitment consultancy takes much of the legwork away, but it’s expensive in its own right, and turnover of staff can be high.

GoodHire

Thankfully, there are special business tools to help you streamline your recruitment processes. GoodHire is one of them.

Used by over 75,000 employers, it’s known for its user-centric, mobile-optimized workflows and ease of use, helping business owners hire better and faster than ever before – with no paperwork.

The company’s enterprise platform automates background checks to improve speed, assure accuracy and build scalability into complex business processes.

It also specializes in resume verifications, credit checks, drug screening, international checks, and personal background checks.

However, there are numerous options to choose from; it’s important to do your homework and use software solutions that meet your needs and fit the budget of your small business.

Some business tools are built specifically for recruitment agencies themselves, while others have been created exclusively for small business owners.

Zoho Recruit is yet another helpful hiring platform for businesses. It helps you find, track, and hire candidates from numerous sources directly from the dashboard.

Additionally, you can create and publish job alerts to premium job boards directly from the platform.

It’s also possible to design pre-screening assessments to help you automate your process and workflow as well.

The best part about this online business tool is that you can get detailed analytics and reports about your recruitment. This can help you figure out what you need to do differently to close more candidates.

Email Marketing Tools

Email marketing remains a great way of reaching your customers. In 2017, global email users totaled 3.7 billion, with the figure set to hit 4.3 billion by 2022.

Sure, email marketing can be hit or miss but properly executing your strategy will inspire brand loyalty and deliver a strong ROI.

A range of email marketing solutions are available, and these promise to help you keep in touch with subscribers, dispatch newsletters and offers, set up autoresponders, capture leads, and use statistics (e.g. open/unsubscribe rates) to improve retention and increase brand recognition.

Though we all complain about receiving spam emails, customers actually like to hear from their favorite brands. Indeed, 49% of consumers said they liked to receive promotional emails from their preferred brands on a weekly basis (Statista, 2017).

Whether you use MailChimp, Constant Contact, or some other email marketing service, it’s important to start building up your contact list and getting your name out there. These online business tools are simple to use, cost-effective, and crucial elements of modern marketing campaigns.

The best part about these online business tools is that they can help automate your email marketing processes.

They offer pre-built templates, 1-click automation, and even ready-made segments. As a result, you can easily build your email marketing campaigns and send out newsletters to your email list quickly.

FAQs

Q1. What are the different business tools?

A. The following are types of business tools:

• Communication tools
• Accounting tools
• Social media management tools
• Project management tools
• Email marketing tools
• Hiring tools
• Collaboration tools

Q2. What business tools are most important today?

A. Essential business tools you need today include:

• Communication tools
• Email marketing tools
• Project and task management tools
• Human resource tools
• Accounting tools

Q3. What are the best online business tools for small businesses?

A. Depending on functionality, the following are some of the best software solutions small businesses can use:

• Microsoft 365: For Office Online, Microsoft Teams, email, calendar, file sharing, and cloud storage.
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting: For accounting, HR software, payments, and banking.
• Bitrix24: For CRM, communications, tasks and projects, chats, video calls, contact center, sales intelligence, online store, analytics, sales and marketing automation, etc.
• Slack: For communication, collaboration, messaging, voice and video calls, file transfers, and chat.
• Salesforce: CRM, customer service,  sales, and marketing.
• Trello: For task management.

Q4. What software do most small businesses use?

A. These are the top most-used business software solutions based on functionality:

• Gmail: Email software
• YouTube: Video hosting
• WordPress: Content management system
• Amazon CloudFront: Content delivery network
• Mailchimp: Email marketing software
• Marketo: Marketing automation software
• Zendesk: Customer support
• Moz: SEO
• Salesforce: CRM
• Optimizely: A/B testing
• Google Analytics: Web analytic software
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting: Accounting and HR
• Trello: Task management

Q5. What's better than QuickBooks?

A. Some QuickBooks alternatives include:

• Xero US
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting
• FreshBooks
• Kashoo
• Wave Accounting

Q6. What are business intelligence tools?

A. Business intelligence tools are applications that collect and process unstructured data from both external and internal systems. These include health records, videos, documents, journals, books, files, email, images, and other business sources.

They offer businesses a way to collect vast amounts of data, prepare it, and turn it into actionable insights they can use to make better-informed decisions.

Q7. What are the best free business tools for startups?

A. These are some free business tools your startup can use:

• Google Workspace
• Google Analytics
• Trello
• Asana
• Yoast
• Mailchimp
• Buffer
• Bitrix24
• WordPress
• Hunter
• MozBar

Q8. What is the difference between business tools and techniques?

A. Business tools are devices or platforms used to complete or aid in the completion of a specific task.

Techniques are the engagement activities or methods used when either implementing a tool or completing a task.

Are You Ready to Save Money and Grow Your Business with Online Business Tools?

Start using the online business tools at your disposal and your results are sure to improve. These five types of small business tools are just the tip of the iceberg. If you aren’t already, you should look into apps and platforms for social media management, appointment scheduling, content marketing, graphic design, file sharing, and customer relationship management (CRM).

Upping your game in business has never been easier.