7 technologies that save time and make money

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Together with the Beeline Business blog, we have collected the services necessary for entrepreneurs. Use them if you want to earn more and not waste time on routine.

1. Online checkouts

From July 1, 2019, most entrepreneurs need to make payments using online cash registers. These are devices with a fiscal drive and the ability to connect to the Internet. The fiscal drive collects data on cashier transactions and transfers them to the fiscal data operator, who sends the information to the tax office.

The task of online cash registers is to make business transparent: now the tax authorities are aware of how entrepreneurs are doing and do not torment them with sudden inspections. A fine is imposed for work without such equipment. Its size depends on the amount received by the businessman bypassing the cash register. Officials (for example, employees) will have to pay 25-50% of this amount, and legal entities - from 75 to 100%.

Why does business need it

Together with the inventory accounting mechanism, online cash registers help automate business and ultimately increase profits. Thanks to this system, there is no need to waste time on inventory: the balances of goods in the store and in the warehouse are easily recorded, and if the stock is running out, an order is formed for the supplier.

Also, this service helps to optimize the assortment. The inventory system shows which goods are in demand and which ones need to be worked on - for example, move them closer to the checkout or announce a discount in order to sell them faster. The functionality allows you to calculate periods of growth and decline in sales in order to plan activities in advance to increase demand.

With the goods accounting service, it is easier to control the work of employees. The system shows whether the cash register shifts open on time and how many sales each cashier has. Based on this data, you can create a fair and understandable motivation system.

If you don't understand online cash registers at all, you run the risk of overpaying for functions that you could easily do without. The B2Blog media resource for entrepreneurs made a selection of articles on which online cash registers are suitable for different companies, how to choose a fiscal data operator and why you need merchant acquiring.

B2Blog is useful materials for everyone who has their own business. No water, only practical advice on how to work and earn.

2. FMC

FMC (fixed-mobile convergence) is a technology that connects employees' mobile phones and office phones into a network. Many companies have internal PBXs that can be used to call employees using short numbers. With FMC, this function is available not only for office phones, but also for personal mobile phones.

A short number can be used to contact an employee, even if he left for a meeting: calls are automatically forwarded to his mobile. There is no need to rebuild a PBX and buy new equipment: FMC can be connected to a ready-made corporate network.

Why does business need it

Managers will be in touch with clients both in the office and on the road. All business calls go through the office network and are recorded in the CRM. This way you can control the quality of employees' work and quickly deal with controversial situations.

FMC helps to reduce communication costs: when an employee is on the road and wants to call the office from his mobile, the conversation will be free. If you reimburse your subordinates for phone charges, you will only pay for business conversations with FMC. In this case, calls from a work mobile phone to extraneous personal numbers can be completely disabled.

3. Cloud services

It's not just about storing data in the cloud. You can translate here accounting, CRM, warehouse management and telephony.

Cloud solutions are great for companies where some of the employees work remotely. The team receives a set of tools necessary for the work, only stable access to the Network is needed.

Why does business need it

With cloud services, you can manage your business from any device, including your smartphone. You will always be aware of how the company is doing, and will be able to quickly resolve work issues both on a business trip and on vacation.

Cloud solutions help you save money on equipment purchases. For example, if you are going to launch a promo page for a promotion, there is no point in spending money on a server. It's easier to rent it in the cloud and pay only for the resources you really need.

4. CRM

CRM (customer relationship management) is a customer relationship management system. Simply put, this is a service that provides a complete report on the history of working with customers.

CRM shows how the client learned about the company, what and how many times he bought, here you can even store call records and the history of correspondence. All information is collected in one place: to see it, you just need to open the buyer's card. You no longer need to find out from the manager why a seemingly regular customer has been ignoring your offers for several months.

Why does business need it

CRM saves the sales department from routine, repetitive tasks: for example, you do not have to manually enter information about contacts with him into a customer card. All calls, letters, messages in chats will be automatically recorded in the system. When a deal moves to a new stage, the service tells the manager what he needs to do.

With the help of CRM, you can analyze the work of the sales department and track at what stages potential customers are most often lost. The system allows you to monitor the effectiveness of each employee and saves you from situations when the manager left and took some of the clients with him. After all, the entire history of communication with them will be saved in the database.

5. Services for working with social networks

Publishing company news manually on each social network is a good solution only if you have a lot of free time. In all other cases, it is better to use special services for SMM.

They help you schedule posts, track competitors' actions, and control subscriber growth. Such programs can even suggest the best time to post so that as many people as possible see your post.

Why does business need it

Social media is a great source of new customers. You can talk about your business and new offers, share discounts and get sales growth for this.

SMM services are useful if you want to attract buyers from social networks, but there is no money for a separate specialist to work with your pages. With these apps, it's easy to tailor posts for each platform, create a content plan, and set up automatic posting on weekends or holidays.

6. Number tracking

It is a tool that helps you understand where customers are coming from. Call tracking connects customer calls to advertising channels and shows which placement generated the most sales.

Number tracking can be static and dynamic. In the case of static, you assign a different phone number to each traffic source. For example, you place one number on a leaflet, another on an Instagram page, and then look at which one is called more often.

Dynamic call tracking is suitable for online advertising. A client visits your site and sees a unique number generated specifically for him. So you can track the source of the referral to the site and find out what queries in the search engine brought a client to you.

Why does business need it

Number tracking shows which ads and campaigns are actually working. You can ditch ineffective channels and invest the freed up funds in those that bring more buyers.

With the help of call tracking, you can calculate the cost of attracting one customer for different traffic sources and compare where it is more profitable to place an advertisement. If you don't have enough money for promotion, this is a good way to properly allocate your advertising budget.

7. Internet accounting

Bookkeeping is a nightmare for aspiring entrepreneurs. You need to count taxes and fees, and then spend more time on exciting (actually not) trips to the tax office.

Internet accounting comes to the rescue. It is a cloud service that takes care of all the paperwork. It helps to calculate taxes and salaries, generate invoices and closing documents for clients. Often such services provide expert advice: an experienced accountant will help you figure out if something went wrong.

Why does business need it

At the start of a business, it is difficult to find funds for the salary of an experienced specialist, but this is not a reason to give up on reporting. If you work with the accounting department according to the principle “it will do well”, there is a risk of losing part of the profit or attracting the attention of tax officials - they will certainly have many questions.

The online accounting service will remind you in advance that it is time to submit reports, automatically generate them based on a bank statement and send them to the tax office. When the time comes for the next payment, the system will calculate the amount of contributions taking into account the changes in the legislation and create a payment order for the Internet Bank.

An important advantage of online accounting services is an extremely clear interface. They are designed for beginners and are available from any device: for example, you can pay taxes even on vacation directly from your smartphone.

If you do not know which service to choose, read the Beeline Business blog: here is how to find a suitable online accounting department. B2Blog is useful both for those who are just starting their own business and for entrepreneurs who have already learned a lot through trial and error. The blog talks in an accessible language about the complexities of Russian laws, explains the basics of marketing, advises how to work with clients so that business is a pleasure and not a source of headaches.