One of the best ways to shoot your business in the foot literally, as well as metaphorically, is to get the wrong software. Your business software must be of high quality, able to do the jobs you need done efficiently and without creating further costs in terms of managing data. Your software can either create a truly efficient business environment or give you a lot more work without any real benefit to your business.
The software to avoid
There are a range of so-called business software options which are so bad they’re really liabilities. This range includes:
1. The notorious do-nothing “business apps” which are no more than recycled software, not much better than out of date organizers. If you read the reviews of some business apps on Google and Apple, you’ll see a lot of these apps being literally loathed by users, and with good reason. These things may not even be secure. They may not work with other administration software. They can’t be upgraded until the app developer comes up with a new version, if ever.
2. File sharing software which may or may not be secure and may cost a lot more than they’re worth. Some of these things are glorified versions of email, simply adding files and creating a distribution list of file sharers. Quality varies, but unless you’re using a lot of big files with a lot of people, do you need this sort of software?
3. Big business software packages come in various shapes and sizes. They’re well known for providing a lot of features which are utterly useless for most businesses. Some are not industry standard like MYOB or dedicated enterprise software, and may not work on some business systems.
4. El Cheapo business software, particularly the sort that says you can do all your business on it, is usually a set of spreadsheets which you could create yourself for even less money, and without cluttering up your system with software which is equally suspect.
5. “Business accounting software”can be a true liability, worse than useless. To start with, all countries and the EU have their own different accounting requirements. The software is unusable, if it can’t meet these basic standards. You can get customized business accounting software which is very efficient meets standards, and get support when you need it.
6. Ecommerce software which may be unsuitable for use with major league ecommerce operators like PayPal or the big credit cards is a true own goal. Banks won’t touch this software unless it meets their security standards, and with good reason. It’s not secure. Some types of ecommerce software are literally targets for hackers and phishing scams.
How to avoid mistakes
The way to avoid mistakes is simple:
· Check out enterprise software, which is an all-in-one type of software which can be tailored to provide full spectrum business services for any business.
· Make sure your software conforms to the required accounting standards you need.
· Check with your bank regarding its requirements for ecommerce and ask for their advice about acceptable software.
· Talk to professional business software consultants about your needs.
Above all- Avoid the mistakes, and you’ll save a lot of time and money.
image credit online business software