Understanding the secrets of growth in business is the beginning of success. Just as humans develop from childhood to adulthood, businesses are expected to develop from their humble beginnings to greater heights. It is an anomaly for a startup of today to still be in that category in the next 10 years.

Successful businesses are abreast with the digital world we live in. Their zeal to be in sync with technological innovators who are ostensibly passionate about improving the business terrain, gives them an edge over their peers.

The tech-savvy business owner does not have to move mountains or break down walls with their bare hands to set their business on a rollercoaster ride. They take advantage of business tools on the market for expansion.

It’s amazing how using the right tools can bring about tremendous growth in business.

Here are 14 online business tools you should pay close attention to:

1. Acquire

Acquire is a multi-channel online helpdesk. It enhances the customer experience by oiling the customer service wheel through real-time engagement. Your customer support team does not have to be overworked, neither do they have to worry about failing at their duties.

Built with high-end technology, Acquires’ self-training bot attends to customers inquiries and provides resolutions on time.

Why do you need it?

Talking to the right customer about the right product or service increases chances of patronage. Acquires’ AI-based sales bot collates online interactions of customers and gives you an idea of their needs. This helps you to save time and resources that would have been spent chasing customers about products they aren’t interested in.

Not having their issues resolved on time is a total turn off to customers. It’s even saddening to businesses when they are unable to tackle customer complaints; it reeks of incompetence. With pro-engagement features like cobrowse, your customer support team is better positioned to come through at a good speed.

2. Bit.AI

Documents these days need to be more flexible and multidimensional than ever before. And, as the information around us keeps growing, we need more powerful tools that can adapt to our needs. Bit.ai is an all-in-one document collaboration platform that offers a smart editor for creating interactive live docs, a robust content library so all your content can live in one place, and document tracking that allows sales and marketing teams to see how people interact with their documents after they are shared.

Why do you need it?

Teamwork and collaboration are the central pillars around which Bit documents are built. Considering over 75 percent of employers rate teamwork and collaboration as “very important”, that’s a good thing. With Bit, multiple people can collaborate simultaneously, creating a smart document in real-time. It’s a wonderful way to manage projects, create proposals, share meeting agendas, generate client-facing material, brainstorm ideas, and most of all, share and manage information and knowledge! Bit’s smart editor makes the process of documentation and content creation quick and easy, too.

3. ZipBooks

Do you have a hard time reconciling your financial records? You are not alone. Many business owners and operators share this experience; dealing with large numbers can be a hard nut to crack. ZipBooks is an accounting software that takes care of every number related need in your business.

Reliable for fine-tuning checks and balances, its intelligence-driven software takes it a notch higher by providing insights on performance to guide your interaction with customers.

Why do you need it?

Human errors are inevitable. Checks and balances are too delicate to be totally left in the hands of employees. Your inability to keep clean records of sales is counterproductive.

Businesses are unable to stand the test of time when tracking expenditures, revenue and profit becomes a problem. With ZipBooks automated bookkeeping, you do not have to lose a sweat. Recurring expenses, accounts payable and other financial transactions are recorded to show you where your money is going.

4. Basecamp

You would not be mistaken if you referred to Basecamp as an online “organizer” as it basically helps you put your office in order. Basecamp creates an opportunity for team members to work closely, executing both individual and group tasks without unnecessary hassles. It is indeed a vital tool as research shows that being organized at workplace increases productivity.

Why do you need it?

Effective communication enhances performance. When you inform team members about what they are expected to do and provide all the resources needed, they are most likely to deliver great results. Basecamp builds strong communication ties between team members by facilitating instant communication.

Big on delegation, it allows you to assign tasks to the most suitable team members based on their expertise. Employees are motivated to excel in their areas of specialization. Other team members are not left in the dark about the progress of projects as they are kept in the loop, and can follow the conversations – this creates room for learning, and promotes team spirit.

5. Wunderlist

As an entrepreneur gunning for the top, you might barely have enough time on your hands as there’s just so much to do. Unfortunately, you are stuck with only 24 hours a day – how do you make the most of it? Wunderlist helps you to organize your engagements and plan ahead, preventing things from sleeping through the cracks.

Why do you need it?

Contrary to popular belief, multitasking reduces productivity. To get the most of your efforts, you need to execute tasks one after the other. Wunderlist helps you organize your activities.  You can create a to-do list, giving priority to the most important things. With a little help from Wunderlist reminder, you get to stay on top of every activity, accomplishing them one step at a time.

6. G-Suite

Google must be doing something right to be a leading name in technology – this accomplishment speaks volume about the usefulness of their innovation G-Suite. It equips organizations with flexible tools that are essential for grown in today’s modern society in areas such as communication, management, cloud storage, and control.

Why do you need it?

Instant communication apps may be trendy at the moment, but they are yet to replace emails when it comes to professional business communications. If you do not have a Gmail account, you probably know people who do.

G-Suite takes it further beyond the regular emails by giving businesses the opportunity to have a prestigious business identity with a professional email.

It also boasts of several features to facilitate business functions in the areas of documentation, survey, presentations, mobility etc. G-Suites' cloud-based feature empowers businesses to initiate and execute tasks without physical restrictions.

7. Zoom

Regular face to face meetings is held in almost every organization, if not all, to appraise performance and deliberate on issues – this has indeed been proven to be very productive. But what happens when people cannot be present at the workplace for such meetings? You just Zoom it! Zoom is a video collaboration tool for real-time communications. It’s clear audio and video quality prevents noise interference during discussions.

Why do you need it?

You no longer have to worry about projects stalling due to important parties not being present to engage in face to face interactions, they can join the conversation from their individual locations. You can have meetings, trainings, video webinars etc.

8. Optinmonster

If organizations could convert the many people who come in contact with their business into customers, they will experience unprecedented growth. Optinmonster is a conversion optimization tool used to grow email lists for continuous customer engagement.

Why do you need it?

When customers have a reason to visit your business website, you need to grab that opportunity and retain them. Optinmonster automated messages make visitors feel at home, leading them to subscribe to your list. Its targeted website messages display useful messages to your newsletter subscribers and returning visitors based on their recorded interactions.

9. Ahrefs

Market competition is fierce. Identifying ways to beat the competition has become a survival technique; inability to step up to the plate leads to extinction. Ahrefs is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tool that gives you insights on what your competitors are doing to stay on top of their game, and shows you what you can do to outrank them.

Why do you need it?

When you know your competitors’ secrets, you can beat them at their own game. Ahrefs gives you the right tools such as content research, backlink research, web monitoring for competitive analysis. You are able to create useful and timely content that will gain traffic and motivate sales.

10. Buzzsumo

Content is king. But this assertion can only be truly effective when you churn out the right content. Online business tool Buzzsumo is a must-have for businesses with content marketing needs.

Why do you need it?

With a gazillion content on the internet, only one with substance gains traction. If you are not careful, you may spend resources creating content that people are not interested in. Buzzsumo’s analytic tools show you the leading keywords on various niches. When you inculcate these results in your content marketing, you go way up in search engine rankings.

11. Slack

Organizational goals are more attainable when teams work together to actualize them. Slack is a collaborative online business tool that brings team members together and empowers them to be optimally productive.

Why do you need it?

The easy flow of information is essential to keep the business train moving. As an employer, you need to give clear instructions to workers on task execution. Slack provides multi-channeled communications such as face-to-face video calls, audio calls, integrated file sharing and group discussion amongst others.

It offers advanced security features to protect data from indiscriminate access. Confidential files can be shared between parties involved without third-party interference.

12. ProofHub

Businesses today have a lot of projects going on at once, sometimes there are projects within projects. ProofHub is a web-based project management and collaboration solution that helps teams to organize projects and get them delivered on time.

With an emphasis on simplicity and an array of scalable features, ProofHub truly stands out as an ideal choice for nonprofits, universities, freelancers, and large enterprises.

Why do you need it?

Instead of using several different business tools to plan projects, assign tasks, track time, or proof files, you can use a single solution – ProofHub. From initial planning, actual implementation, and final invoicing, you can use this software to cover almost every aspect when working on a project.

It brings all your teams, clients, and communications in one centralized place, thereby giving you better control over your projects and offering higher work satisfaction.

Conclusion

Growing businesses aspire to be the next big thing. Unlike some years back, chances of attaining that feet are higher now due to technology advancements. These online business tools will provide solutions to issues that are hindering you from breaking the glass ceiling in your industry.