The Best Tools for Running a Business From Home

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There are a lot of great tools out there to help you run your business from home. Whether you need to track marketing efforts, staff management, time tracking, or finances, there’s a tool for that. Here are some things to consider as you start to manage your workflows from your office:

1. Marketing

Managing your visibility and customer acquisition, across both offline and online channels, is crucial no matter where your place of work is.  Marketing software can help automate tasks such as email marketing, social media campaigns, and even customer relationship management (CRM).

Marketing tools are crucial, because a lot of leads for businesses come from online channels. You can take plenty of approaches, from social media and paid ads, to press releases (Get the Word Out have a great explanation on this) and organic search – and that is just online. Offline, you can use print ads, business cards, and even offline forms of customer relationship management to get your name out there and manage existing relationships.

2. Staff Management

Keeping track of your team’s time and attendance, as well as managing their roles and responsibilities, can be a daunting task. People are an integral part of running a business, and if you run a small start-up or work from home, it’s important to manage team members and remote workers across time zones. Time tracking software can help you stick to budgets and goals (and make sure everyone gets their lunch break). Plus, it can help to take the load off by automating things like shift scheduling and payroll processing.

SEE ALSO: Navigating Your Small Business in Uncharted Waters

3. Time Tracking

If your employees aren’t local or if at least one person works remotely full-time, then good time-tracking software is invaluable. You need to know how much billable hours each contractor has at the end of the day (and for them to get paid accordingly). And you also want to know when certain tasks are being worked on. This helps critical projects from falling behind.

4. CMS

A content management system (CMS) lets you manage and create your website’s content without needing to know how to code. This is especially helpful if you want to make changes or updates to your website on your own, without having to wait for a developer. When communication gets more difficult while working remote, a good CMS is crucial in avoiding costly mishaps.

SEE ALSO: A Guide to Workforce Management Software

5. Finance Management

Keeping track of your business’s spending and income is key to making sure you stay in the black. The right financial software can automate tasks such as bookkeeping, invoicing, and even tracking payments. This can help you save time and avoid any nasty surprises come tax season.

6. Task Tracking

There are all sorts of things you need to keep track of as a business owner, from client tasks to product development. Task tracking software can help you manage and assign these tasks, as well as track deadlines and progress. This is especially helpful if you have multiple team members working on different tasks.

Working From Home Can Be More Efficient Than Ever

So there you have it: some of the best types of tools out there for running a business from home. No matter what your needs, there’s a tool to help make your workflow smoother and more efficient. So go ahead and take the plunge—your business will thank you for it!