Cloud-based services are a good way for small businesses to sort out their IT needs without spending a lot of money. As your company grows, resources become limited, and this can lead to needing more tech solutions that can sometimes be expensive. To help with this problem they can use Software as a Service (SaaS) tools and platforms.
SaaS is a software distribution model in which a cloud supplier hosts applications and makes them available to end users. Basically, SaaS allows you to connect and use cloud-based applications over the Internet.
Small businesses need software as a service to ensure that growth is achieved and to keep scaling costs down. In this article, we look at which tools are SaaS-based and how they can help your business.
Slack – Communication
The SaaS-based app Slack is a communication tool used by businesses for internal communication. With Slack you and your employees can efficiently share messages, call each other and share files.
Slack also offers channels, threads and groups that you can use to structure conversations about specific tasks or projects. Slack is available to use and download via web, desktop and mobile making it easier to stay connected as a team.
Slack has a range of plans you can choose from including a custom business plan.
Stripe – Payment Processing
Stripe is a SaaS-based payment processing platform. It allows you to accept online payments and manage your financial transactions such as e-commerce transactions and subscription-based billing systems.
Stripe allows for various payment options, including bank transfers, debit and credit cards, cash-based vouchers and digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Stripe is a great tool to have as you can cater for customers who want to pay online and customers who are international.
Stripe has a range of plans you can choose from depending on your business needs.
Canva – Content Creation
Canva is a SaaS-based tool that allows you to create visual content. This content can be published across any device or format. The platform allows you to easily edit, design and print any content you need. This can be content for social media, your website and for promotional purposes.
Using Canva can help you bring your content ideas to life and ensure that your social media pages and website are appealing to your customers.
Canva has a range of plans (paid and free) that you can choose from.
HubSpot – Customer Relationship Management/ Sales
HubSpot optimises, tracks and manages the performance of your content. Using HubSpot will automatically optimise your content for both mobile and desktop. Additionally, the platform features Secures Sockets Layer (SSL) for safe browsing for you and your customers.
Another feature of HubSpot is that you can customise your content based on your location, source, device or any detail stored by your HubSpot CRM.
HubSpot does have a free plan that you can use. If you need more features, you can choose one of the paid plans.
WordPress – Website Builder
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that is easy to use. With WordPress, you can create a website that is easy to navigate for your customers. The WordPress website templates can accommodate your business no matter what industry you are in.
Additionally, WordPress has a range of free plugins such as contact forms, social media page linking, and images that are free to use for your website.
WordPress has a free plan that you can use as well as various premium plans.
Zendesk – Customer Service
Zendesk is a customer service SaaS tool. It allows you to integrate support channels and increase the productivity of your customer support teams. By using Zendesk you can increase your customer satisfaction levels.
Zendesk assists in promptly responding to customer inquiries and problems. It also offers a database for customers to locate solutions. Additionally, Zendesk tracks data to pinpoint areas that need improvement in customer service.
Zendesk has various pricing plans depending on your needs and also as a free 15-day trial.
Time Doctor – Employee Monitoring
Time Doctor is designed to help you record employee work time and monitor activities. This will help you see where there is a need for productivity improvement. This is a great tool for small businesses who work remotely.
Time Doctor can provide you with reports on employee activity (including hours), and time spent on various websites and applications, take snapshots and screen record in specific intervals.
Additionally, it allows employees to measure time spent on projects or tasks and helps them understand team productivity for future process optimisation.
Time Doctor has a range of pricing plans and a 14-day free trial.
Microsoft 365 – Operating Systems
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based family of cloud-based productivity software. The software includes apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, which you can use on your computer, mobile device or online. Employees can use the software to complete all their daily tasks, and since it is cloud-based, they can complete their tasks from anywhere at any time. It also promotes collaboration across an organisation through apps such as Teams and Sharepoint that form part of the Microsoft 365 suite.
There is a variety of pricing options available, depending on what works best for your business. The size of your business and its needs will determine whether you purchase one of the business or enterprise subscriptions.
These are just a few SaaS-based tools you should consider for your business. Using SaaS tools can help your business be more flexible, accessible to customers, secure, and also reduce growth costs.
