Technology
Small Business COVID-19 Survival Guide - Part 2: Software



In our last piece outlining COVID-19 survival tips for small businesses, we explored the steps that business owners need to take to communicate, care and be mindful of their employees during this pandemic. 


As a result of the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent national hard lockdown restrictions imposed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, many businesses and individuals have had to rely on remote working for continued operations. Fortunately, the world of software has prepared us for this pandemic for years, meaning business owners and freelancers can switch to remote working solutions with ease and some have already been working remotely for months or years.


In this piece, we’ll explore some essential software you could be using to make your transition to digital business more comfortable. 


Software tools for remote working:


  1. Typeform. Typeform is an idiot-proof online tool used to gather information quickly from clients with a myriad of surveys and conversational form templates.


  2. Xero. Perhaps the world’s most well-known household name when it comes to cloud-based accounting, invoicing and getting your numbers in order. 


  3. Trello. A popular project management tool, used by many agencies, for sharing tasks, assigning duties and teamwork.


  4. Loom. Loom is a free screen and video recording software, which you can use to create training materials (see #10) and host conferences. 


  5. Microsoft Teams. Teams is a hub for Office 365 teamwork where you can centralise your team’s meetings, files and apps. 


  6. Zoom, Skype or Whereby. These are mostly free video conferencing solutions which you can use to meet clients, suppliers and staff members virtually. 


  7. Monday.com. Another fantastic cloud-based tool for project management and workflow management. 


  8. Google Suite and Drive. Google’s cloud storage solution for saving documents, photos, videos and any other work-related collateral. 


  9. Slack. Commonly used among software developers, Slack is a fantastic tool for easy team communication. While many use WhatsApp, Slack is better as it works for the handling of individual threads of discussion within groups. 


  10. Toggl. Toggl is a useful time management tool. It’s an excellent way for you to track your tasks and to keep track of what your staff members are doing from home. 


Conclusion:


These are just a handful of the mostly free-to-use tools which small business owners can utilise to streamline their work-from-home efforts. In the next piece of the COVID-19 small business survival series, we’ll be discussing key ideas for how small businesses can recover from the deficit caused by the pandemic by improving your sales tactics. 

  • COVID19
  • Coronavirus
  • small business
  • Coronavirus Guide
  • software
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