10 essential tools for scaling your online business.

Managing and running a business strictly online can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. For some, this is the most simplified business model, primarily because there is no brick-and-mortar overhead, facilities, and maintenance. However, to those who are even slightly technology-challenged this model can quickly become overwhelming. It can seem like you are trading traditional brick-and-mortar for what seems like an endless number of platforms and systems. In this blog, I want to correlate a traditional business model to an online model by showcasing the online tools that would help you scale with purpose.

At first glance, most people would assume that all online platforms and apps would fall into the “IT” or “technology” sector of the business. However, if we look at the function of the platform or app, each fits in a distinct section. Let’s use the parts of the new program Scale Smart Solution as our template for the elements of a business to show how these tools serve a more specific purpose.

Unit 2: Organizing your business

• Google Suite, Monday.com: online platforms for organizing business documents, tasks, calendaring, etc.

Unit 3: IT Infrastructure 

• Shopify or WooCommerce: Essential for setting up and managing your online store.
• Payment Processing Solutions: Stripe or PayPal: To securely handle online payments.

Unit 4: Marketing sales and branding

• Mailchimp or ConvertKit: For creating and managing email marketing campaigns.
• Social Media Management Tools Hootsuite or Buffer: For scheduling and managing social media posts across multiple platforms.
• SEO Tools: Ahrefs or SEMrush: For optimizing your website and content for search engines.
• GoDaddy or other website hosting platforms will keep your website live

Unit 5: Customer journey 

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System: Salesforce or HubSpot: Helps manage customer interactions and data.
• Zendesk or Freshdesk: To manage customer service and support tickets.

Unit 6: Know your numbers 

• Analytics Tools: Google Analytics: To track and analyze website traffic and user behavior.
• Accounting software: QuickBooks manages your overall accounting functions.

Unit 7: Collaborating with your professionals

• Meeting platforms: Google Meet or Zoom can manage your meetings with your professionals and advisors.

Unit 8: Self and time management

• A shared platform for documents, emails, reminders, and calendars: Google Suite

Unit 9 & 10: Building and leading your team

• Clickup, Trello, or Asana: For managing tasks, projects, and team collaboration.
• Teams for meeting virtually

Unit 12: Exit strategy and business processes

Automation Tools: Zapier: For connecting and automating workflows between different apps and services.

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As you can see, nearly every section of a business, as discussed in the Scale Smart Solution, can be served through an online platform or app. This makes the business owner and team much more flexible when it comes to when, where, and how the business can function, making all of the above much more mobile. 

While Scale Smart Solution will help you identify and work on each section of the business, the model of your business can dictate the modality you use to fulfill that function. Scaling an online business simply requires taking each section of the business and finding a method that works within that framework. 

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"Audra guided me to discover and release fears that were holding me back from elevating to the next level. Within 6 months, business doubled and every dynamic of life including quality family time flourished."

SARAH ARDALEAN |OWNER, TWINKLE TOES NANNY AGENCY | FL

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