Medium businesses contribute significantly to the global economy. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, they add over a million jobs each year to the U.S. economy. However, many medium businesses face several challenges in scaling their businesses, especially in today’s COVID-19 era. That notwithstanding, new digital and growth opportunities continue to emerge for medium-size business owners to manage their success in the “new normal” presented by the pandemic. Here are some helpful tools for medium businesses.
Equipment Management Tool
As a medium business owner, a huge part of your operations hinges on efficient systems and equipment; therefore, fielding efficient equipment management can never be a miss. Essential factors in equipment management can include property identification, storage, maintenance, and repair. Many businesses deploy several strategies to help them perform equipment management functions unique to their medium business model.
Some of these strategies have evolved a great deal over the years, and there are many equipment management software solutions on the market today. You can download a check out sheet template to help you with identification and assessment functions. Others can opt to create customer versions using Microsoft Excel or Spreadsheet. Choosing a simple format can be a great way to detail equipment information and visualize them by rows, columns, charts, and graphs. It pays to also automate your checkout sheet. That way, you can easily add an extra column to your form template for important information like sheet date, time of departure, and more.
VOIP
Many businesses rely on new technologies like Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) for scalability and customer service success. Customer support can be a great way to manage your success as a medium business owner, as today’s customers have endless expectations. You can bet keeping a caller or customer waiting for long hours before accessing solutions is not one of their expectations.
As customers increase, brands need efficient systems to manage their contact centers and other communication needs. A VOIP system affords them the communication features to reach stakeholders from different locations and channels. The VOIP technology can significantly enhance a medium business’s Private Branch Exchange (PBX) systems and convert regular phone calls into digital data. That way, different team members of medium businesses can participate in video meetings from remote locations via a router or any other internet communication device.
Compared to a traditional landline, this option can be a much cheaper communication option for smaller businesses and large company leaders. A quick online search for a “VOIP phone systems for medium business” displays a wide variety of VOIP systems with various features.
Generally, business VOIP solutions are full of features and have become a go-to for enterprises seeking to gain ground in the new normal presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and VOIP phones can also provide medium businesses with the essentials for providing a seamless experience for customers. Call center agents can schedule phone calls and manage SMS and social media queries from one system, and the ease of use can save your customer support team time in dealing with repetitive customer queries.
Accounting Software
Managing a small or medium business is no easy task. According to Forbes, 10 percent of startups fail in their first year, and about 70 percent fold before the fifth year in business. Poor financial management is one of the major reasons for the failure of many small and medium businesses. Cash is always king; for businesses of all sizes, therefore, finding efficient accounting software to keep track of your books can never be a miss. Modern accounting software solutions come with a wide range of features to manage your medium business’s incoming and outgoing financial activities.
All in all, the global software market offers medium businesses enough tools to leverage for business success. However, you can enjoy significant benefits if you find options that work best for your business model. Therefore, assessing multiple tools before adopting a single choice for your business can be nothing short of a good idea.
