The best small business software to boost productivity [2023 guide]

In order to compete with bigger players, small businesses need to ensure that they’re as agile and efficient as possible. One way to do so is by investing in the right software tools to help streamline operations, improve productivity, and enhance overall performance.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll explore the best small business software available in 2023 across various departments within your company.

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Simplifying your SaaS management

Managing a SaaS stack can be a daunting task for small businesses, as they often have to deal with multiple subscriptions, billing cycles, and vendor negotiations. The best small business software for SaaS management should offer features like usage tracking, cost optimization, and vendor management to help you stay on top of your SaaS subscriptions and make the most of your investments.

Some popular SaaS management tools to consider include:

Vendr

Vendr is a SaaS management platform that helps small businesses save time and money by streamlining the purchasing, renewing, and managing of their SaaS subscriptions. With Vendr, you can easily track your SaaS usage, identify areas for cost optimization, and negotiate better deals with vendors. The platform also provides insights into your SaaS spending patterns, helping you make informed decisions about your software investments. Vendr's user-friendly interface and comprehensive feature set make it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to simplify their SaaS management.

Zluri

Zluri is a SaaS management tool designed to help small businesses discover, manage, and optimize their software subscriptions. The platform provides a centralized dashboard for tracking your SaaS usage, monitoring costs, and identifying underused or redundant subscriptions. It also offers vendor management features that can help you negotiate better deals and streamline contract renewals. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, Zluri is a valuable resource for small businesses looking to take control of their SaaS management.

Zylo

Zylo is a comprehensive SaaS management platform that helps small businesses gain visibility into their software subscriptions, optimize costs, and manage vendor relationships. You can track your SaaS usage across your organization, identify opportunities for cost savings, and receive recommendations for software optimizations. The platform also offers tools for vendor management, including contract negotiation and renewal support. Zylo's robust feature set and easy-to-use interface make it an ideal solution for small businesses seeking to simplify their SaaS management.

These platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and a range of features that can help streamline SaaS management and make it easier for small business owners to manage their software subscriptions effectively. By using a SaaS management tool, small businesses can gain better visibility into their software usage, optimize their spending, and negotiate better deals with vendors.

Streamlining project management and collaboration

Effective project management and collaboration are crucial for any small business, as they help ensure that teams are working efficiently and staying on track to meet deadlines. The best small business software for project management and collaboration should offer features like task assignment, progress tracking, and communication tools to keep your team connected and focused.

Here are some of the best tools available:

Asana

Asana is a widely-used project management tool that helps teams plan, organize, and track work. With its intuitive interface, Asana allows you to create tasks, assign them to team members, and set deadlines. You can also add descriptions, files, and comments to tasks, ensuring that everyone has the necessary information to complete their work. Asana's progress tracking features make it easy to visualize project timelines and monitor the status of tasks, helping teams stay on track and meet their goals. See our guide on Asana's pricing, plans, and discount insights for more info.

Trello

Trello is a popular project management tool that uses a unique board-and-card system to help teams manage their tasks and collaborate effectively. Each board represents a project, while cards represent tasks, and users can organize these cards into customizable columns or lists to represent different stages of the project. Trello offers a highly visual approach to project management, making it easy for team members to see the status of tasks and understand their responsibilities. The platform also supports file attachments, comments, and checklists, allowing for seamless communication and collaboration.

Basecamp

Basecamp is a well-known team collaboration tool that offers a central workspace for teams to manage their projects, share files, and communicate. With Basecamp, you can create separate projects for different teams or initiatives and easily assign tasks to team members. The platform's built-in communication features, including message boards, to-dos, and real-time chat, help keep team members connected and informed. Additionally, its automatic check-ins and progress reports provide an easy way to monitor project status and ensure that everything stays on track.

These platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and a range of features that can help streamline project management and improve collaboration among team members.

Enhancing marketing and sales efforts

Marketing and sales are essential aspects of running a small business, and having the right software can help you attract customers, generate leads, and close deals more effectively. The best small business software for marketing and sales should offer features like email marketing, social media management, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools to help you manage your marketing campaigns and track your sales process.

The best marketing and sales tools on the market include:

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that enables small businesses to create, send, and analyze email campaigns. With its user-friendly drag-and-drop editor, you can design professional-looking emails without having a technical background. Mailchimp also offers built-in analytics tools to track the performance of your campaigns, including open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. By using Mailchimp, small businesses can reach their target audience, nurture leads, and increase customer engagement through personalized email marketing campaigns.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management tool that helps small businesses manage their social media presence across multiple platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. With Hootsuite, you can schedule and publish social media posts, monitor and respond to comments and messages, and track the performance of your social media campaigns. The platform also offers integrations with various third-party apps, making it easier to manage your entire social media strategy in one place.

HubSpot

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing, sales, and CRM platform that helps small businesses manage their entire marketing and sales process. HubSpot offers a range of tools for creating and managing marketing campaigns, including email marketing, landing page creation, and marketing automation. The platform also includes a built-in CRM which allows you to track leads and customer interactions, helping you better understand your sales pipeline and close deals more effectively. By using HubSpot, small businesses can gain a deeper understanding of their customers, optimize their marketing efforts, and drive sales growth. Check out our guide on HubSpot pricing for more info.

These platforms can help you create and manage your email marketing campaigns, schedule and monitor your social media posts, and track leads and customer interactions.

Optimizing customer relationship management

Building and maintaining strong relationships with your customers is critical to the success of your small business. The best small business software for customer relationship management should provide features like contact management, task tracking, and analytics to help you manage your customer interactions and gain insights into their preferences and needs.

Popular CRM tools for small businesses include:

Salesforce

Salesforce is a leading CRM platform that offers a comprehensive suite of tools to help small businesses manage their customer relationships effectively. With Salesforce, you can track customer interactions, manage leads and opportunities, and create customized sales processes to streamline your sales efforts. The platform also provides robust reporting and analytics tools, which allow you to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, helping you make data-driven decisions to improve your products and services.

Zoho

Zoho is a versatile CRM solution that offers a range of features tailored to the needs of small businesses. With Zoho, you can manage your contacts, track deals and sales activities, and automate routine tasks to improve efficiency. The platform also includes built-in analytics and reporting tools to help you monitor your sales performance and identify trends in customer behavior. Zoho's user-friendly interface and affordable pricing make it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to implement a CRM system.

Insightly

Insightly is a cloud-based CRM platform designed specifically for small businesses. The platform offers features like contact and lead management, sales pipeline tracking, and project management capabilities, making it easy to manage customer relationships and collaborate with your team. Insightly also includes customizable reporting and analytics tools, allowing you to gain insights into your customer data and make informed decisions to improve your business. With its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set, Insightly is an excellent choice for small businesses looking to optimize their customer relationship management efforts.

These platforms can help you track customer interactions, manage your sales pipeline, and generate reports to analyze your customer data. By investing in a CRM tool, small business owners can better understand their customers and tailor their products and services to meet their needs, ultimately leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Improving communication and team collaboration

Effective communication and collaboration are essential for any small business to operate efficiently and stay on track. The best small business software for communication and collaboration should offer features like messaging, file sharing, and video conferencing to help your team stay connected and work together more effectively.

Here are some of the best communication and collaboration tools to consider:

Slack

Slack is a popular messaging platform designed to help teams communicate and collaborate more effectively. With Slack, you can create channels for specific projects or teams, making it easy to keep conversations organized and relevant. The platform also supports file sharing, video conferencing, and integration with various third-party apps, allowing your team to stay connected and work together seamlessly. Slack's user-friendly interface and robust feature set make it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to improve their communication and collaboration efforts.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive communication and collaboration platform that's part of the Microsoft 365 suite. It allows you to communicate with your team through chat, audio, and video calls, and collaborate on documents and projects in real-time. The platform also integrates with other Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, making it easy to manage and collaborate on files within the same platform. Microsoft Teams' extensive feature set and integration with other Microsoft tools make it a powerful solution for small businesses seeking to improve their team communication and collaboration.

Google Workspace

Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite, is a collection of cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools developed by Google. With Google Workspace, your team can communicate through Gmail, chat, and video conferencing using Google Meet, and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations using Google Drive. The platform also includes additional tools like Google Calendar, Google Forms, and Google Sites, providing an all-in-one solution for team communication and collaboration. Google Workspace's seamless integration of its various tools and its user-friendly interface make it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to enhance their communication and collaboration efforts.

These platforms can help your team communicate in real-time, share files and documents, and collaborate on projects using various productivity tools.

We put together a complete guide to Google Workspace's pricing and plans for more info.

Choose the best small business software based on your specific needs

Investing in the right software tools can make a significant difference in the productivity and overall success of your small business. And it's impressive how many there are now. There is software for managing ceramic studios, software to find someone to cuddle with, and who knows what else.

By considering the various options available and selecting the best small business software to address your unique challenges, you can streamline operations, improve communication, and enhance the overall performance of your business.

So, take the time to evaluate your needs and invest in the best software for small businesses to boost productivity and drive growth in 2023.