How to Choose the Best Business Software for Your Small Business

Whether you’re buying a new accounting tool or a project management suite, selecting new software for your company should be a collective decision that considers the needs and desires of everyone involved in your business. This means thinking about employee needs, customer needs, and your needs in conjunction with one another. If you alienate the needs of any group, you might wind up with the wrong solution.

A funny thing happens in business. When we’re managing a group of people, we often follow this unspoken rule that “we know best.” However, at the same time, we want to operate under an illusion that shows our employees and customers that we care for them. So we give them some say in what happens. This “say” typically only happens with small things, though.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you hold a weekly roundtable meeting on Monday mornings. In order to make the meetings more enticing, you make a habit of providing coffee and doughnuts for the attendees. And because you’re the caring executive that you are, you kindly take requests from employees in regards to how they like their coffee and doughnuts. Some like their coffee black and doughnuts glazed, while others prefer one cream, two sugars, and cream-filled doughnuts.

So, you start the meeting off by handing each employee his or her food order. But, when you dig into the meeting’s agenda and really start to work on meaningful things, you share only your views without ever asking for a single opinion from anyone else. Or, if you do ask others to speak, you quickly discount what they say and continue down your own path.

Do you notice the contradiction in this example? You’re giving your employees freedom to make choices, but only when it comes to small things that have no bearing. In other words, you’re more than willing to give them an illusion of control with the small things, but when it comes to the things that really matter, you’re tuning them out and restricting them. You may not realize this is what you’re doing, but small choices like these clearly show where your heart lies.

In business, there are certainly times when executive leadership must make choices without the input of employees or third-party influences. However, there are also plenty of times when an organization’s leadership needs to take into account everyone’s needs. This includes your employees’ needs, the customers’ needs, and your own needs.

With all of that being said, let’s look at what this means in terms of choosing new software for your business. How can you take into account everyone’s needs without compromising? Well, here are some things to think about for each of your three target groups:

1. Employees.  When it comes to your team, you’ll want to consider a variety of factors. The software features you need will likely depend on:

These are just a handful of questions and factors to think about, but they’ll hopefully get the wheels turning. Put your employees first and you’ll have a satisfied and productive workforce.

2. Customers.  Next, you need to think about the needs of your customers and clients. While they may not directly interact with the software you select, their needs will certainly dictate the direction you choose. Think about the following:

Consider these questions and answer them honestly. When used in conjunction with the information you’ve compiled on your employees, you’ll begin to see a clear picture emerge.

3. Leadership (Yourself).  Finally, it’s time to think about executive leadership–which includes your own needs and preferences. These will come naturally to you, but think about the following:

By no means should you discount this aspect of the software selection process. While customer and employee needs are important, so are your needs. Give equal weight to these elements.

The best way to evaluate software is to identify certain criteria that are important and then cross-reference your findings with the needs and demands you’ve identified for your employees, customers, and leaders. Specifically, you may want to consider the following criteria:

1. Price vs. Value.  When it comes to choosing software, there’s always the debate over pricing. Should you spend a few thousand dollars extra to get a particular feature, or is it better to save some money and find another way to handle a certain task? There’s no definitive answer to this question, but there is some sage advice.

“Quality products may cost slightly more or slightly less than others; however, the real concern is value,” writes Katie Hawksworth. “Taking time to look at what software offers the best value for money in terms of all its functionality, as well as taking into account how often you would be using the tool within your business, will make it easier to decide based on overall suitability, longevity and scalability of the tool as your business grows.”’

2. Accessibility.  How accessible is a certain software solution? Can it be easily accessed by everyone who needs it, or is it restricted to just a handful of folks? Even more important, can it only be accessed from certain locations/devices, or does it allow for remote connectivity? Accessibility is a big deal when you’re investing in expensive software that will ideally be around for a number of years.

3. Collaboration.  How much collaboration a software solution allows for is very important. In many situations, you’ll need the platform to facilitate communication between different teams, clients, support staff, and yourself. If collaboration is limited, you may find yourself in trouble from time to time.

The moral of the story is that you need to become more familiar with your business. To choose a software solution that truly benefits everyone, you need to think about everyone involved. This means not just giving employees and customers a false illusion of control, but actually giving them a say in the choices that are made.

Do this, and the health and profitability of your business will surely benefit.

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