3 must have tools for new businesses

Are you adventurous? Do you thrive off challenges? Can you succeed when others say it can’t be done? Then you are most likely an entrepreneur. There is no time like the present to apply this unique set of skills, way of thinking, and desire and commitment to success than the present. If you would define yourself as an entrepreneur, then here are three tools that will help in the setup and day-to-day management of your business.

1. E-mail. Every business today requires electronic messaging of some sort to communicate internally and with valued customers. In today’s market, a small business generally can use a hosted POP3 solution. Generally speaking, these lower cost solutions tend to satisfy all the core business requirements for a small business, and in most cases, POP3 mailboxes are available directly from the web hosting vendor if you own a website.  Of course, for a more technically savvy business owner, the limitations of a POP3 mailbox versus the flexibility and functionality of a full Exchange e-mail environment will probably justify the increased cost. In future discussions, we’ll highlight the main differences between POP3 and Hosted Exchange solutions. Regardless of the vendor solution you select, the important thing is to have a professionally branded e-mail domain name; for example: yourname@yourcompany.com. This is adds immediate credibility to your company, contributes to the professionalism of your communication, and of course further proliferates your brand name.
2. Website. Any time I begin investing in a new business, regardless of how large or small, the first thing I do is look at their website. The website is an opportunity to create an online presence and present to the public an overview of what your company is all about. This is an important step in the customer acquisition process – your website might be all these potential customers ever see or hear about your business. If you had a few minutes to tell me about how your business adds value, what would you say? Think about it – then put it in writing and publish it to your website. Add a few representative pictures to catch your viewers attention and you should be all set. This can be an exhaustive project, so I suggest starting small. Focus on content for one or two pages, then expand as you have time or the need to do so. I would avoid just adding a lot of pages, just for the sake of adding pages – this tends to result in the content suffering.
3. SMN Tools. So you have this great idea, you’ve got a way to communicate to potential customers via email. You can present your list of services or products to the world via your website. But here is the question that ties it all together – how do you get people to know about you? Or, perhaps more importantly, care about the innovative solutions that you have to offer? Well, with the theme of low cost tools for start-ups, nothing can beat these free tools! Check out Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Accounts can be requested and provisioned on each of these service providers for free. Look for opportunities to highlight your brand and services by posting information, running contests, and more importantly helping others with questions that fall in your area of expertise. I have been using Twitter for a little while now and have built up an absolutely fabulous group of professional colleagues, fellow twitters, that I can leverage as a resource for guidance, advice, and assistance when challenges arise. Check back for future in-depth discussions on how to leverage these other SMN (social media networking) tools to add value to your business. In addition to telling others about yourself, these are also great resources for learning from others.

Innovation, persistence and perseverance in today’s modern economy will help any new business owner build a lasting foundation for success. Trust yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask for help – use the endless SMN resources available to you online to make the right and best decisions. Be professional, use e-mail and a website to create the presence that will leave a lasting impression on your potential customers. Enjoy being your own boss. Here’s to success!

Filed Under: productivity • startup

Tags: entrepreneur • productivity