As entrepreneurs, starting a new business may and can feel like the hardest part, but not quite. Keeping your business afloat in a highly competitive business ecosystem is as crucial as starting the business itself. This means being able to work smarter and streamline your overall business process as much as possible.
Business owners cannot possibly overemphasise the importance of various business tools and apps that can help simplify the running of any business. These tools and apps ensure that the day to day running of a business does not become challenging and tedious. Whether you are a start-up looking to break into the market or you already operate a well to do business and simply looking to move on to greater things, there is always that little bit of your business operation that you could be running much better. Without further ado, here are some of the best business applications and tools that can help you visualise your business processes to help you plan, conceptualise and speed up your business operations.
1. QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online can be likened to a virtual online secretary. If you are looking to keep things organised and streamlined, then you cannot go wrong with QuickBooks. With the remote feature, you can seamlessly send files to any member of your team from any mobile device or computer, from anywhere. You can also sync your Accountant with QuickBooks and stay on top of all your financial dealings. Tracking inventory, statement and reports, sending invoices and receiving payments is easy and straightforward on QuickBooks.
Backed by an excellent customer assistance team, QuickBooks is a useful tool for business owners looking to automate, streamline and visualise various aspects of their business processes.
2. Trello
Trello is perfect for those who prefer to learn with their eyes rather than ears. Trello is an excellent visual organisational tool because it replaces your traditional notice board and acts as a virtual whiteboard too. With Trello, once you post a task or message on it, it sticks for real! Basically, Trello is a webpage that contains several lists of items, and within those lists, some cards can easily be rearranged within the lists. Each card can include a deadline, project milestones, images, labels and more.
Trello presents these virtual posts it notes with bright graphics in a moveable way that essentially gives you a bird’s eye view into all of your projects – ensuring that you do not miss a thing. For business owners that handle a lot of project management tasks, Trello can come in handy to keep track of progress and milestones.
3. EMERGE App
EMERGE App is a web-based application that gives business owners complete control over their sales and purchases. This app is extremely useful for entrepreneurs that are looking to streamline and automate their business operations and cut costs. EMERGE App has an ample number of valuable features and functionality that allow business owners to view and customise information for different customers. EMERGE App features a visual and detailed dashboard that presents business information ranging from sales, quotes, order to both drop shipping and general shipping information. Customer information and sales statistics are arranged in a clear and concise manner such that a quick glance at the dashboard can reveal a reasonable amount of customer and business operational information.
EMERGE App can be integrated across a variety of platforms like WooCommerce, Amazon, Shopify and eBay for the ultimate e-commerce experience. In addition to tracking and managing inventory, workers can also collaborate and share files seamlessly with each other.
4. Tallyfy
Tallyfy is a workflow and management software that allows you to see and manage all of your business processes from one place. There is a section that lets you view all your operational processes from a management point of view, allowing you to also oversee and create new tasks. You can seamlessly view various projects and see which tasks are on track and which processes are facing issues.
Tallyfy also has an employee-based dashboard, that allows you to view and prioritise tasks based on size, urgency and complexity. With Tallyfy, you can also automate various processes, and there is an option to notify employees when a job has been assigned to them and when its due.
5. LucidChart
LucidChart like the name suggests is a workflow chart that allows you to visualise every step of a project or process completion. Efficiently streamlining tasks is vital to the success of any project. LucidChart is perfect for those looking to create a workflow diagram and highlight steps or processes needed to complete a task successfully.
This online chart tool allows you to create a variety of work chat and process flow for various processes, effectively making the visualisation of business processes easier and better.
6. FullContact
Managing contacts can be a really messy business, from clients to customers to partners to colleagues. But, you do not have to rely on the good old generic and mundane contact list that come with most laptops or smartphones. FullContact is a contact management app that does all the sorting and arranging for you.
All you need to do is to input basic information about a contact such as personal social profiles, company’s official numbers and web address, and FullContact will help you create a full profile about these companies and people. Initially, they will be curated into one list. However, there is an option to arrange, sort and categorise them according to your preference.
Conclusion
As a business owner of any kind and size, you must always place emphasis on getting work done in the smartest and most comfortable way possible. Visualizing your business processes will not only ensure that you do not miss a thing, but they will also make sure that projects and tasks are carried out comprehensively. When projects are completed in an efficient and timely manner, your business will immensely benefit, and this will translate into a steady growth of your business operation.
