In the post-recession world of the Internet, where job markets continue to look stale and competition in every industry seems to skyrocket, it’s important to move quickly and assuredly. For established businesses, weathering the storm can be a little bit easier, as many have the funds and the experience to steer through the cyclone and come out alive.
But for first-time business owners, or business owners with a brand new company on the line, it’s not quite that easy. Starting a business is a rocky road, to say the least. That’s why every little bit you can take to smooth that path out is a blessing, especially today. While Singapore is a fruitful market to start a company in, rife with talent in various industries from commerce to finance and IT, it’s also a competitive market. Getting ahead of the competition is all about utilizing the right tools to your advantage.
Technologies today are all about collaborative action. As it becomes increasingly difficult to survive alone out there, small companies from different industries often look towards each other to offer their products and services in an effort to produce a combined successful effort that’s profitable to everyone. But the further apart your contacts are, the harder the collaboration can be. That’s where tech innovations come in to bring you all together and make working together a joy and a boon, rather than the bane of your business’ potential success.
Today, we’ll list three tools that startups should use to boost their efficiency, remain cost-effective and productive, and increase their collaborative power and appeal towards outsourcing companies looking for partnerships.
1. A Proper Communicator
Everyone knows communication is key, but the way most companies communicate with one another, their customers, and individual employees within the company isn’t necessarily ideal, nor is it very apt. While communication tools have exploded in popularity and functionality, pretty much everyone is still using email. Why not? Everyone has email, and it’s been around since the internet, beginning as a pet project during the internet’s development for the US military, according to Mashable. Aside from being pervasive, it’s also very simple.
You shouldn’t eliminate email from your company, ever, but you can easily utilize another form of communication to change the way your company works. Take, for example, today’s more elegant solution to the IRC channels of old. Having a chat room for your startup can be less resource intensive than using a dedicated software, and it’s much quicker and easier than email for simple little communications.
Another way to get to talking to your crew and start properly hatching plans for your business is through video calling. Video calls have become ubiquitous in our technological society. We often call our loved ones if they’re too far away or out on vacation, and countless businesses have adopted the web screen for meetings and more. But free VOIP software is notorious for being slow and difficult to work with, as well as exclusive. Premium video conferencing tools like Blue Jeans eliminate that, by providing a system that allows anyone to join into web-based, browser-based calls on any device. It’s simpler and light-weight compared to the conventional video-based solutions.
Communication between employees is important, but it’s not everything. You need to be able to talk to your people, schedule and perform meetings, and do much more while not being restrained by the difficulties of distance, especially if you’re working with freelancers. But communication between you and your clients is also a factor that you need to take into consideration. As per Inc., the combination of lowered costs and saved time due to video calling gives you a great upstart on your fellow competitors.
2. Social Media Management
Social media is extremely important for businesses trying to leave a footprint on the web for their name and brand, but it’s also a huge time sink. Setting up, managing, and keeping accounts updated, as well as regularly uploading relevant and interesting content is more than just a job of its own. That’s why it often requires a team. Social media managers are very highly held in regard because of the difficulty of juggling this kind of image and reputation work, but you can do it yourself, as long as you have the right tools.
Dashboard-based tools that let you update and track Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ accounts are blooming as a niche industry. With a little research, you’ll be able to find a social media management software that makes your job much easier.
3. Work Together, But Better
Collaboration software is the third tool Singaporean startups need. It doesn’t have to be a big investment, or a huge social network-based suite like many corporations have. Something as simple as Dropbox can help you save massive amounts of time and keep track of what everyone is doing in a transparent manner.
Google Docs is another example, allowing several members of an organization to work on shared and secured documents for free. However, with a little cash, you can also invest in a premium collaboration software that puts more of an effort into allowing your employees to interact with each other and their work.
