Business software can help your small business in lots of different ways, including simplifying tasks, generating growth, and saving you money by reducing the need for staff.
There are lots of different types of software available. Most business owners are aware of some, such as online accounting systems and website builders. But there are also many other products cropping up with less familiar acronyms, like DMS and CRM software.
In such a crowded market, knowing what tools are necessary, and which ones are simply nice to have, can be tricky. So what software do you actually need to run your business?
Startups.co.uk has been guiding small firms through the different technologies available since 2000. In that time, we’ve learnt everything there is to know about business software and the big-name brands that make up today’s market.
In this article, we’ll take you through what we think are the most important software for SMEs to invest in. We’ll be reviewing the top three options in each category so that, when the time is right, you can make an informed decision about which one to buy for your business.
This article will cover:
- Best accounting and bookkeeping software
- Best project management (PM) software
- Best website builders
- Best customer relationship management (CRM) systems
- Best HR software
- Best payroll tools
- Best social media management (SMM) tools
- Best email marketing software (EMS)
- Best document management systems (DMS)
- Conclusion
Best accounting and bookkeeping software
Our top pick: QuickBooks
Cost: £5 per month for the first 4 months
This platform is famous for its customer support team, cost efficiency (even for sole traders) and strong range of features.
Why do you need it?
Spreadsheets are often the go-to tool for startups, but as your business grows, you’ll also need to invest in accounting software to make sure you’re fully compliant with HMRC and can handle large volumes of data. Accounting tasks – such as billing customers or recording transactions – are also some of the most time-consuming jobs when running a business. Automating these tasks is guaranteed to increase overall efficiency.
Did you know? Research has shown that firms using accounting software have, on average, five times the number of clients compared to firms with manual accounting roles.
What are the top 3 accounting software solutions for UK small businesses?
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Price From
|
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|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
QuickBooks |
FreshBooks |
Sage |
|
£12 per month |
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £5 for first 4 months
- All-in-one accounting solution
- Gentle learning curve for new users
Quickbooks project view
-
Free trial 30-days
-
Price from £4.40
- Generous and affordable payment plans
- Easily-navigable interface
- Great invoice creation and tracking functions
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £12
- In-depth reporting functions
- Strong integration capabilities
The accounting software market is incredibly crowded, with lots of variety depending on your sector or business specialism. Read our full review of the best accounting software for small businesses to learn more about the other options available.
Best project management (PM) software
Our top pick: ClickUp
Cost: £3.62 per user, per month
ClickUp serves as a great all-in-one work platform, and is designed to provide SMEs with the maximum amount of PM features for the lowest cost.
Why do you need it?
According to PWC, 77% of high-performing projects use project management (PM) software, and it’s easy to see why once you know what they can offer. PM software provides timelines, dashboards, and tasks, and can be used to digitally map your scheduling, organisation, and planning processes – giving you more time to focus on successfully delivering your project.
What are the best 3 project management software options for UK small businesses?
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Software
|
Price per user:
When billed annually
|
|
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
£3.62 |
£7 (per seat) |
£7.10 |
-
Free trial 'Free forever' plan
-
Price from £3.62 per member
- High-performing freemium plan
- Generous functionality and feature list
ClickUp dashboard view
-
Free trial 14-day
-
Price from £7 per seat
- Great customisation features
- Attractive interface for easy-to-grasp visuals
-
Free trial Yes
-
Price from £7.10 per user
-
Best for Project scheduling
- Unlimited users at any level
- Great team collaboration tools
We know that the way you manage projects can be as unique as the way you manage your business. To make sure you find the right PM tool for your company, read our expert guide to the best project management software choices for UK SMEs.
Best website builders
Our top pick: Wix
Cost: £9.50 per month
As a first-class website builder and a strong ecommerce platform, Wix has a wide range of tools and pricing to suit SMEs at every stage of their website building journey.
Why do you need it?
Hiring a web designer can be very expensive for SMEs – particularly if you just want a simple place for customers to find you online. Website builders remove the need for designers, coders and other specialist job roles, and give you pre-designed templates and webpages, plus ready-to-use applications and tools. They are cost-efficient and, once your website is built, can also be used to continually maintain and develop it.
Short on time? We’ve designed a simple online form which can help you to find your ideal website builder in minutes. It’s entirely free, and means you’ll spend your money on the right tool.
What are the best website builders for UK small businesses?
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Web Builder
|
Overall Score
Based on our in-depth research and user testing
|
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|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
Wix |
Squarespace |
Weebly |
|
4.7
|
4.5
|
4.3
|
-
Free trial 14-day
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Price from £9.50 per month
- Flexible pricing plans
- Good balance of easy usability and complex features
- Customisable, 'drag-and-drop' templates
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Free trial 14-day
-
Price from £15 per month
- Over 100 stunning prewritten templates
- Great e-commerce capabilities
-
Free trial Free plan
-
Price from £4 per month
- Good integration with other apps
- Simple, easy-to-use interface
Your website is often the face of your company, so it needs to perfectly reflect your brand. Our experts have carried out extensive research to pick out the top six website builders for small businesses, to help you to make your decision.
What are the best ecommerce software options for SMEs?
Online shopping has been steadily growing for years, but since the pandemic, it has positively boomed. In 2020, it was forecasted that UK consumers would spend £141.33 billion online in 2021 – a massive increase of 34.7% from 2019’s figures.
If you need to design a retail website, Wix is also an excellent ecommerce platform, thanks to its industry-leading features and matchless customer support services. But don’t let that alone sway you – read our full review of Wix ecommerce functions to learn more.
Here are some of the other most popular ecommerce platforms on the market:
- Shopify – you can read more with our Shopify review for small businesses.
- 3DCart
- Magneto
- Volusion
Finding the right ecommerce platform will help you grow your retail business, and enable more customers to find you online. Learn more by reading our guide to the best ecommerce platforms for UK small businesses.
Best customer relationship management (CRM) systems
Our top pick: Less Annoying CRM
Cost: £10.83 per user, per month
We think this platform is the number one choice for SMEs thanks to its simple, single-tiered payment plan and user-friendly interface.
Why do you need it?
The right CRM system can perform several functions for your business, including storing and managing customer data, tracking interactions and helping you to win more customers. This makes a CRM system a superb investment for improving both your sales processes and customer relationships.
To help you to learn more about the different CRM platforms available, read our guide to the best CRM systems for UK SMEs, where we review the most popular brands on the market and look at how well they perform against specific priorities for small businesses.
What are the top 3 CRM systems for UK small businesses?
|
Price per month (billed annually)
|
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|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
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Free trial 30-days
-
Price from £10.83 per user
- Easily-navigable platform
- Simple pricing structure
- Quick setup time
-
Free trial 14-day
-
Price from £7 per seat
- Great customisation features
- Attractive interface for easy-to-grasp visuals
Monday.com main workspace
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Free trial 14-day
-
Price from £12.50 per user
- Integrates with tons of third-party apps
- Intuitive interface focuses on user experience
If you’re new to CRM systems, don’t worry – our expert team has built a quick and easy online form to help you tell us more about your business's requirements. It's completely free of charge and will save you time and effort as you search for the right CRM solution.
Best HR software
Our top pick: CitrusHR
Cost: £2.50 per user, per month (minimum of 8 users required)
CitrusHR provides all six of the key features offered by HR platforms, and is a terrific all-round solution at a low cost.
Why do you need it?
According to a CareerBuilder survey, HR managers lose an average of 14 hours a week manually completing tasks that could be automated. And since many small business owners perform tasks that are typically done by entire departments at mid-sized companies, this figure is probably higher for SMEs. That’s why the right software tool can save a lot of time and money by taking care of many of the key HR processes for you.
What are the best 3 HR software solutions for UK small businesses?
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Rating out of 5:
|
||
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
CitrusHR |
Gusto |
Deputy |
|
4.6 |
4.3 |
4.1 |
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Free trial 14-days
-
Price from £2.50 per user
- Excellent capabilities across all 6 main HR functionalities
- Scalable payment plans
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £28 + £4.20 per additional user
- Unlimited payrolls
- Comprehensive security features
-
Free trial 31-days
-
Price from £1.50 per user
- Great template capabilities
- Strong scheduling and timesheet features
Deputy schedule view
Best payroll tools
Our top pick: 12Pay
Cost: £66 + VAT
This easy-to-use, low-cost solution is designed to make managing the payroll process simpler and more effective.
Why do you need it?
No matter the size or industry of your business, as long as you’re employing staff, you should invest in payroll software. Manual payroll is an extremely time-consuming process, and delays or mistakes in paying staff don’t just cause frustration among the workforce – they can also create legal complications. That’s why it’s best to make sure you’re managing and processing your payments on time. More advanced tools can also take care of things like calculating bonuses and securing employees’ data.
What are the best 3 payroll tools for UK small businesses?
|
12pay |
Sage payroll |
BrightPay |
 |
|
 |
|
4.2 |
4 |
3.8 |
-
Free trial Free plan
-
Price from £66 + VAT
- Easy to use once set up
- Impressively functional free version
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £7 per month for 5 employees
- SImple, 4-step DIY payroll
- Expert support 24/7
- Good automations for saving time
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Free trial 60-day
-
Price from £199 (flat rate)
- High customer satisfaction rate
- Modern, sleek interface
Best social media management (SMM) tools
Our top pick: ContentCal
Cost: £22 per month
As a multi-purpose tool, ContentCal can fulfil all your content needs, and its built-in approval flows can help streamline your process.
Why do you need it?
Social networks provide a particularly strong opportunity for SMEs when it comes to generating brand awareness, given that they are low-cost and attract huge online audiences. However, the ins and outs of a good social media marketing strategy can be confusing to understand. The right management tool makes it much easier to navigate the key pillars that make up social media marketing, such as content production and publishing, social media tracking, advertising, and traffic analytics. To learn more about the costs, benefits, and options available, read our guide to social media marketing.
Did you know? Over 53% of the world’s population uses social media.
What are the best 3 social media management tools for UK small businesses?
|
ContentCal |
Hootsuite |
Sprout Social |
 |
 |
 |
|
4.3 |
4.1 |
3.7 |
-
Free trial 14-day
-
Price from £22 per month
- Simple to use, but powerful
- Good UI helps manage multiple clients
-
Free trial 30-days
-
Price from £39 per month
- Strong brand building tools
- Excellent social media engagement capabiltiies
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £65 per month
- Clear, well-structured dashboard layout
- Excellent reporting tools
- Strong data analytics
Best email marketing software (EMS)
Our top pick: Mailchimp
Cost: £7.30 per month
Mailchimp is the dominant player on the market, and for good reason – it offers impressive integrations and smart automation capabilities.
Why do you need it?
Is there anything more time consuming than sending emails? Email marketing software allows you to contact large groups of potential customers at once, which is incredibly useful for generating new business leads and supporting marketing campaigns. Plus, according to Litmus, email marketing generates £26 for every £1 spent on it, giving this type of software a valuable return on investment of 2,600%.
What are the best 3 email marketing solutions for UK small businesses?
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Rating /5
|
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|---|---|---|
|
MailChimp |
GetResponse |
Constant Contact |
 |
 |
 |
|
4.5 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
-
Free trial Free plan
-
Price from £7.25
- Affordable pricing plans
- Easy to personalise
- Good functions for targeted messaging
-
Free trial 30-day
-
Price from £11 per month
- Visual campaign builder makes complex campaigns easy
- Funnel Builder tool helps to improve customer workflow
-
Free trial 60-day
-
Price from £14.50
- Excellent e-commerce integrations
- Convenient drag-and-drop interface
Email CRM software is another smart way to utilise your customer data to drive more effective marketing campaigns with substantial return on investment. So how does it work? Read our guide to Email CRM to learn more about the benefits and the different tools available.
Best document management systems (DMS)
Our top pick: Zoho Docs
Cost: £3.20 per user
Performs well for security, reporting, and collaboration, all with affordable payment plans.
Why do you need it?
DMS are used to manage, store and retrieve information from any documents that your business might need. They are a means of organising your paper copies digitally, to keep them more secure and easier to view from any location you might be based in. Plus, they often have features for team collaboration, which massively improves efficiency for brainstorming and planning. If your business requires any kind of filing system, you need a DMS.
Did you know? On average, 64% of office workers experience issues searching for information found in company documents.
What are the best 3 document management systems for UK small businesses?
|
Rating /5
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
Zoho Docs |
eFileCabinet |
Box (For Business) |
 |
 |
 |
|
4.1 |
4.1 |
3.8 |
-
Free trial Free plan
-
Price from £3.20 per month
- Excellent integrations with Microsoft Word and Google docs
- Comprehensive and generous feature list - even at the lower tiers
- Top security features for data protection
-
Free trial No
-
Price from £40 per month
- Unique feature list for specialist industries
- Offers both on-premise and cloud-based plans for more flexibility
-
Free trial 14-days
-
Price from £12
- Superb collaboration features for organisation-wide working
- Great security tools including data loss protection
Did you know? In 2019, the Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report estimated the average cost of a cyber attack to be £11,000.
Conclusion
This guide has taken you through what we think are the must-have business software tools for UK small business owners, as well as the best choices for each category.
- The best accounting and bookkeeping software is: QuickBooks
- The best project management (PM) software is: ClickUp
- The best website builder is: Wix
- The best customer relationship management (CRM) system is: Less Annoying CRM
- The best HR software is: CitrusHR
- The best payroll tool is: 12Pay
- The best social media management tool is: ContentCal
- The best email marketing software (EMS) is: Mailchimp
- The best document management system (DMS) is: ZohoDocs
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the huge range of business software on this list, don’t worry. There are a lot of tools that have been designed to help you run your business, but remember: you don’t need to buy them all to generate success.
Instead, we recommend you think about how your business is run, and what your current priorities are.
To compare each software provider more closely, and learn more about whether they’re right for your business, read our full guides below:
- Best accounting software for small businesses
- Best project management software for small businesses
- Best website builders for small businesses
- Best ecommerce platforms for small businesses
- Best CRM systems for small businesses
- Best HR software for small businesses
- Best payroll software for small businesses
- Best collaboration tools for small businesses
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
September 20, 2021 at 05:45AM by Helena Young, Khareem Sudlow
