Capitalize on the best business IT solutions available to maximize profit and return on investment. This post will discuss choosing the right solutions for your startup and selecting the right one according to your company’s pressing issues and different stages.
A startup is an entrepreneurial endeavor to introduce a particular product or service. Startup founders often design their companies around a modified or new solution to an existing or potential problem; therefore, startups often venture into uncharted territories.
As of 2023, the annual global statistics for startups are at 305 million new startups created, generating 2.96 million new jobs. Often, these ventures are in their infancy, requiring a comprehensive business model and the necessary financial resources to advance to the next stage.
Identifying the Right Business IT Solutions for Your Startup
A Business Information Technology Solution or Business IT Solution is an individual or combination of multiple programs or applications that drive towards a particular business objective. You can integrate most solutions available to operate smoothly with other relevant features, programs, and apps.
How do you identify what kind of business IT solution your startup needs? These are the steps you can take:
- Determine problems – dissect the company’s current issues from the most to the least important.
- Set objectives – create realistic, detailed, measurable, relevant, and specific business goals.
- Designate a budget – set a sensible amount range you’re willing to spend on solving the problem/s based on the objectives.
- Explore various options – most technologies are available online and often have free trials or limited free access.
- Review selections – choose which programs are most suited based on budget and expected output.
For example, your newly created startup business needs help with net sales that have stagnated at $20,000 monthly for the past two quarters. Your business objective is to increase monthly sales by at least 25% for the next two quarters. A 25% increase in sales translates to $5,000 monthly for six months or $30,000, which means a budget of $3,000 ($500/month) is only 10% of the goal and 4% of current monthly sales.
After setting the budget, you can try the various apps and automate essential sales-generating functions like email campaigns, social media or search engine ads, project management, better e-commerce features, improved analytics, heat mapping, competitive analysis, etc. You can choose the ones offering the best returns and budget adherence among the available options.
Even if your startup is beyond the planning stage, you can explore options based on your issues or needs. You can use various business IT solutions to fix immediate problems and prevent further mishaps in the future.
Marketing Tools
Marketing is the unsung hero of every company. While sales efforts often translate to profit and cash flow, marketing campaigns assume responsibility for the customers’ relationship with, perception of, and understanding of the brand or company.
According to startup failure statistics, 22% of failures are due to incorrect marketing strategies. This rate means that one out of five startups have closed because they need to work on their marketing efforts or use the right marketing tools. Fortunately, many marketing business IT solutions are available online, also known as Marketing Technology (MarTech).
MarTech is a specific category of tools, software, and programs designed to assist in the production, planning, execution, analysis, review, optimization, and reporting of marketing efforts. MarTech is sometimes confused with AdTech, which focuses more on advertising and sales than marketing aspects.
A set of MarTech tools is called a MarTech stack. These are some of the Marketing business IT solutions you can use on your stack:
- Analytics and Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – use data to improve your website’s traffic performance using tools like Google Analytics and Kissmetrics.
- Email Marketing – email your clients and customers using programs like Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor.
- Social Media – plan, schedule, monitor, and analyze your campaigns with tools like Sprout Social and Buffer.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – improve consumer connections with data from programs like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to startup marketing issues. You should anticipate potential mishaps instead of waiting for them to happen. Marketing is a time-consuming yet gratifying endeavor, especially for startups with limited budgets.
Accounting Programs
Every company needs funding to create their products and improve their services. Startups must do the delicate balancing act of building their product and securing funding for their future endeavors.
These are some of the business IT solutions that deal with the startups’ financial aspects:
- FreshBooks – seamlessly integrates with an extensive selection of over 100 apps, revolutionizing business operations for owners.
- NetSuite Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – offers a comprehensive cloud-based management solution, automating core operations and granting real-time insights into financial and operational performance through a unified suite of applications, empowering businesses with enhanced control and visibility.
- QuickBooks – has multiple finance and accounting features that offer scaling pricing relative to usage.
- Zoho Books – an online accounting tool designed to handle financial matters efficiently, automate diverse business processes, and facilitate seamless department collaboration.
- Centage – a cloud-based financial planning and analysis (FP&A) solution simplifies complex budgeting, planning, and forecasting tasks, offering intuitive automation that enhances workflow speed and accuracy.
- Scoro – business management and budgeting software empowers you to plan, track, and gain real-time insights into your company’s financial performance.
- Xero – manage your small business effectively from anywhere with the bookkeeping app, allowing quick invoicing, real-time tracking of payments, on-the-go reconciliation, and instant visibility into your cash flow.
Some of the abovementioned solutions can cover bookkeeping, accounting, invoicing, budget management, forecasting, and other financial aspects. You can check their websites for a full range of advantages and their respective prices.
Venture-funded
This stage marks the start of your first Series A round, usually lasting 18 to 24 months. It’s crucial for building a solid fundraising base to attract more investments. With Series A investors backing your product and growth potential, your focus shifts from potential to hitting specific goals set by investors. This initial funding supports expanding your team and infrastructure, significantly strengthening sales. Early decisions on hiring, marketing, and tech upgrades are critical for smooth growth. Adaptability is vital during this unpredictable phase, as you must quickly tackle challenges and seize opportunities.
As a founder, you’ll oversee the bigger picture while delegating smaller tasks to steer through growth. You reach this stage with a working product, proven ROI, efficient sales, and secured Series A funding, and advancing involves substantial growth, team expansion, more funding rounds, and transitioning from startup risk to sustainable growth strategies.
Once you obtain sufficient funding, you can invest in minimal human resources and accounting programs to focus your resources on stabilizing your company. Once you have improved your product or service quality and earned revenue, you can slowly scale according to product demand and sales.
Mature
Securing Series A funding in the late-stage startup phase is a testament to your company’s growth capacity. At this point, your business is established with sales, deployment, and support teams, often led by a capable CEO handling daily operations.
As you navigate this phase, your focus shifts towards securing more funding and attracting top talent. Expansion becomes a key consideration—whether diversifying your product range, entering new markets, or contemplating acquisitions supported by additional funding. Assessing financial stability amid expansion risks becomes crucial.
This stage is characterized by being fully staffed, experiencing robust growth, exploring expansion possibilities, and contemplating exit strategies. Advancement involves funding based on performance, organic or acquisition-driven growth, IPO readiness, or becoming an appealing acquisition target. This journey through startup phases can take time, progressing gradually or swiftly based on your product and success levels.
Understanding where you are in this continuum helps you anticipate what lies ahead and enhances your chances for success. At this stage, you should focus on business IT solutions that add value to your company, like cybersecurity, optimization, or automation using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
It would help if you considered the integration and scalability of the tools, especially when your company has over 50 employees. You would not want to redo everything from scratch when your system reaches the maximum capacity. Go for products or software with expandable enterprise options.
Advantages of Using Business IT Solutions for Startups
Startups have a high risk of failure and closure within the first year, but you can prevent this with proper planning and technological support. You can anticipate the potential problems in your company and prepare the necessary apps or innovations to circumvent the negative impact.
You can do due diligence and select the best business IT solution for your startup’s needs based on various goals, issues, and stages. Perfect tools are always available for your business, whether doing an accelerator, trying to scale up, or improving your company’s offers. You can consult experts if you need help determining what technologies to get.
