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Must-have tools to free up your time as a small business owner

April 29, 2022

As your trusted partner in hosting, we’re here to help you grow your business. We’ve put together a list of time-saving digital tools to improve your day-to-day business operations, productivity, forecasting and so much more. 

Xero

xero is a cloud-based accounting solution developed specifically for small businesses.

You can use Xero to track and claim bills, manage expenses, and send invoices or quotes. You also have access to tools that can help you monitor your financial performance and cash flow in real-time. In addition, you can keep basic pay records online and do pay runs if you have few employees. You can also integrate your Xero account with a payment gateway such as PayFast to give your customers the option to settle their invoices online.

There’s a 30-day trial with access to all the features that can help you decide which plan best suits your business needs.

Yoco

Yoco is an easy way to process payments with the option of using a point-of-sale card machine, online link or payment gateway. 

Yoco allows you to accept card payments and comes with a free app that helps create sales, view your transaction history and track your business performance. If you’re an e-commerce-only business, you can use Yoco online payments – simply create a payment link in the Yoco App and send it to your customers on WhatsApp, social media, email or SMS. Alternatively, set up Yoco’s payment gateway on your website.

WordPress

WordPress is a popular content management system that allows you to create a professional website quickly and easily without any programming experience. Although there are thousands of plugins and themes to choose from, you can get started with a basic free theme, which includes a collection of custom blocks and Starter Sites. Creating an e-commerce site means you can reach more potential customers without physically expanding your space. 

Find out more about xneelo Managed WordPress Hosting.


Mailchimp 

Mailchimp is a web-based application that allows you to auto-generate email newsletters. 

MailChimp is a great way to keep your subscribers and clients up to date on your business or let them know if you’re running a promotion. You can use it to automate your marketing campaigns, send bulk mailer updates, create custom mailer templates and do A/B testing.

There’s a free version if you have under 2 000 subscribers.

A Managed Server

A Managed Server is a web server dedicated to your needs that’s administered by a service provider.

Using a managed server takes the hassle out of managing your server yourself. This solution is ideal if you have a high-traffic or e-commerce website. A managed server saves you time as someone else takes care of managing and maintaining it. You’ll save money, too, as you won’t be responsible for upgrading or replacing expensive hardware to keep the server running.

Calendly

Calendly is an app that helps schedule meetings, appointments or events. 

Calendly removes the hassle of back-and-forth emails when you’re trying to find a time that works. You send your availability with a Calendly link and the recipient responds with a time that suits them. The link works even if the person who is booking time with you doesn’t use Calendly and is compatible with Google, Office 365, Outlook and iCloud calendars.

The basic plan is free.

Monday.com

Monday.com is a cloud-based platform that helps plan, organise and track projects.

monday.com gives you the option to either create a customised workflow or choose from more than 200 ready-made templates. The dashboard is easy to use and has real-time notifications to keep you on track. Centralising all your work, processes, tools and files on the platform will streamline your workflow, especially if you need project management-specific features like budgeting and time tracking.

There’s a free plan available with limited functions to see if the platform is a good fit for your business.

No matter what business you run, your ultimate goal should always be to work smarter rather than to work harder. Achieving this is possible when you use digital tools that help automate your processes. Spend some time finding the right ones for your business. 

For more advice on how to free up your time as a business owner, read how WordPress gives you the freedom to be creative with your business website.

Image source: Pexels.

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