Free tools for start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises
Focus on your strengths
One of the challenges for small and medium sized businesses is how to compete with established brands that already have a lot of budget, experience and structure. During the last few years, the situation seems to be even more difficult for small businesses.some typical questions our clients ask are:can I attract new customers through mailings and email?how can I build a successful online shop?do we need a content marketing agency?how do I create a corporate blog?behind all these questions, however, is the unspoken question of whether and where to start, and whether all these things are even financially feasible for small and medium-sized businesses.
A note in advance, as is often the case, there is good news and bad news:
The good news is that many of the tools that were previously only affordable for large companies are now available to small and medium-sized enterprises for a fraction of the cost. Most of these professional tools are available on the World Wide Web at the click of a button. If you do it right, you can run your business with a very small budget and professional tools.The bad news is that you need to understand how to use these tools and grasp the mindset behind this development. Many people are not comfortable in this new tech-driven social media world. Content marketing, social networks and the sharing economy are confusing and it's often hard to make sense of it all. We often speak to clients who would rather stick with Excel and Outlook because it was hard enough to understand and use these tools.To avoid misconceptions, it is not technology that will ensure your business survives. They need competitive innovative products and services as the basis and foundation of their business. But if you want to take your business to the next level of growth, you need to think about using modern, efficient tools. One problem with these new tools is the incredible variety of offerings available. How can you make sure you choose the right tools that make sense, and how can you avoid the problem of entering your data over and over again in different systems? This little guide should act as a guide through this jungle.
"You should use the map before you enter the forest".
In cooperation with our partners, customers and in our own companies, we have tested and implemented numerous products, but we have also chosen the products presented here for 3 simple reasons.
- There are free versions that you can test without risk
- They are easy to integrate with each other so that your systems work well together.
- They are user-friendly and easy to learn
But let's go back to the initial question, how can you, as a small and medium-sized enterprise, use your strength in highly competitive markets? The answer: as a small company, you are flexible and nimble. They can make quick decisions and react quickly to new developments. Groups and large companies often have cumbersome structures and are not very good at picking up on new developments quickly; they rely on their core business. This is exactly where your opportunity lies. With the availability of new SAS (Software as Service) programmes, you have the opportunity to work with professional tools that until recently were only available to large corporations.
