WHAT YOU FEEL: things seem so so disorganized and you don’t know how to change that

PERSPECTIVE:   You need to implement a few tools that can help you organize your business.  You may not need all of them, but they will help you create order.  Many of these tools are available online and free (or very low-cost) and allow multiple people in your company to access them with their specific level of authorization.

• Project and Task Management Tools. Online project management tools (e.g., Basecamp, Bitrix24) help organize your company and the tasks you are undertaking.  They create a single, central source for all activity of your company.

• Accounting Package. You may be spending time creating invoices, tracking expenses and trying to keep track money in spreadsheets.  Online small business accounting packages are efficient at managing the basic financial elements of the business including creating invoices, purchase orders, and keeping track of customers, employees and vendors.  Also, if you track all financial activity in the package, you can produce the standard financial statements (i.e., income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement) with the press of a button.

• Sales Pipeline/CRM Package. For businesses that are selling to customers, online customer relationship management (CRM) tools allow you to keep track of all sales opportunities and the size, stage, and likelihood to close. You can also use this to manage progress with investors.

• Document Management. You generate documents as your business evolves.  Use an online document management tool that allows you to house all documents.  Set up a section for each department and other major area of the company.

Rigorously using these tools allows you and team members to have visibility to company activity with the press of a button.  This allows everyone to be using one tool, accessible from everywhere, and which contains all relevant information about the topic.  A single source for the major activities of the company with progress updates at the press of a button can be an invaluable tool.

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