3 Best Business Software Solutions for Startups

Where software solutions were once a luxury for the majority of small businesses and startups, today they are a necessity! Most businesses won't last if they don't try to implement some tried-and-true software solutions.

When your competitors are using these business software solutions en masse (and you should believe that they are, or will be soon!), you need to keep pace to stay competitive. It's a digital world, and some technological literacy is required to survive.

Fortunately, business software solutions are usually aimed at increasing efficiency and keeping things as simple as possible. Here are the 3 Best Business Software Solutions for Startups.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been long relegated to the realms of science fiction and video games . . . until now. Did you know that AI can completely change your customer service and digital marketing strategies?

Beyond the androids we see in movies and even the virtual assistants built into our smartphones, there is an entire industry of AI dedicated to improving conversion rates for startups and small businesses.

Oftentimes, AI might be at work without you even realizing it's artificially intelligent technology making it happen. Take chatbots for instance: they seem simple enough, but they are actually quite complex pieces of technology made to seem simple with slick user interfaces and efficiency.

These days, most businesses are using some form of chat bots on their websites. These chatbots are an easy way to ensure your customer is CONSTANTLY being handed a conversion opportunity. Even established brands like Sephora, one of the largest cosmetic retailers on the planet, have seen an increase in conversion rates by implementing chatbots.

One of the best parts of using chatbots to provide excellent customer service to customers while keeping leads warm is that you can usually just set the service up and forget about it for the most part. It will show up on each page without you having to worry about web-building.

Better still, there are so many cheap or completely FREE AI services out there that rival the quality of paid services. Automated response services can save a startup or small business thousands of dollars in labor each year. At worst, if you are a sole proprietor, it will save YOU a ton of time.

Enterprise Resource Planning Software

If you are not using an enterprise resource planning software like Microsoft Dynamics GP, you are missing out on the opportunity to streamline all of your business processes into one, user-friendly software.

Think about how much easier your life would be without having to set up each and every office computer with it's own slate of individualized programs from different publishers. Think about how much time you could save if all of those programs magically interacted with eachother without provocation-just imagine!

But you don't HAVE to imagine. You can have it all with enterprise resource planning software. Payroll, sales leads, accounts payable OR receivable...all accessible from one software. Enterprise planning software will be the future for small businesses who value their time above all else.

Remember: knowledge is power, and when it comes to knowledge you can trust, data is king. As the owner or proprietor of a small business or startup, it is your responsibility to stay on the latest consumer trends in your industry as well as the trends in your business! As your business ages, as long as you are using the right software, you can have reams of data to mined.

As you amass this data, you can use it to make decisions that impact the future of your company. And it's data integrated from ALL departments of your business, remember, because they are all "talking" under the umbrella of one software. The possibilities are endless!

Cloud Storage & Security

If your business uses any kind of data in its day-to-day operations, you should have a reliable backup system. Nowadays, most small businesses can't afford to retain a dedicated IT guy. Fortunately, professional-grade products are being released to benefit those less tech-savvy among us.

You can find affordable cloud-based storage solutions for your company's data, regardless of how demanding your data needs are. The best part about cloud-based storage solutions is that the overhead is cheaper than retaining a physical backup (though you should anyway!) of all of your company's data, so if that is not an option for you, the cloud is a great alternative.

The cloud is also fairly safe. As long as you put just a bit of effort into vetting the company you work with, cloud-based storage encryption is usually reliable. You would be hard-pressed to find someone that could violate the sanctity of your data once it's in the hands of an encrypted, trustworthy cloud-based data storage service.