If you're expecting software developers to create custom software products for all our business processes, you might be surprised. Many of our business processes are similar to those of hundreds of other companies. Additionally, there are numerous (free) software packages available for optimizing business processes. In the spirit of "sharing is caring," we're sharing the software we use the most. So, if you're looking for software for your administration, a CMS for your website, or a reliable communication platform (and if your requirements are generic like ours), you might find the following tools helpful.
These are the 14 tools we use to automate our business processes
Written by Linda
1. Moneybird
We use the accounting software Moneybird for our administration. With Moneybird, we send invoices, quotes, and manage customer data. It allows us to generate recurring invoices and easily add PDFs with recorded hours and descriptions.
2. Jira
When it comes to Agile work, Scrum boards, sprint planning, and refinement meetings are essential. We use Jira to create these Scrum boards, where we place the tickets that we'll tackle in a sprint. If all of this sounds like hocus pocus to you, you can learn more about how we work and the meanings of these terms here.
3. Employes
We handle our payroll administration with Employes. Here, our employees can find their payslips, official documents, and easily request leave. It saves us a lot of administrative work!
4. Github
We use Git to store all the code we develop. It provides us with a robust version control system, significantly reducing the chance of problems. Additionally, our clients can easily access their source code through Git.
5. Overleaf
In Overleaf, we generate our contracts. Overleaf is an online LaTeX editor that allows us to create templates easily. When dealing with a new client, we only need to fill in a few general details (such as name, Chamber of Commerce number, agreed-upon hours, description of the work, etc.), and a complete contract is automatically generated. Basic knowledge of programming/LaTeX is required to set up the templates, but once they're in place, even our non-programmers (read: Linda) can work with them.
6. Contentful
Contentful is the content management system (CMS) we use to provide text and images for our website. It's user-friendly, allowing our content marketer to easily update the website with new content without the risk of breaking anything in the source code.
7. Picnic
We have lunch together every day, and Picnic is our go-to grocery app. We even have a special "Picnic tablet" where everyone (read: Merel) can add products that will be delivered the following week. Picnic delivers to our door, so we never have to carry bags anymore. The only thing we still need to figure out is the occasional trip to the recycling bin.
8. Slack
We use Slack for our communication, both internally and externally. For our clients, we often create a dedicated workspace to keep the lines of communication as short as possible between the client and the developer. Slack is an ideal tool for asking questions throughout the day. It keeps all communication in one place, making it much more organized.
9. Bitwarden
We use Bitwarden to store passwords. Bitwarden is a password manager that makes it easy to generate, store, and share passwords with team members.
10. Tracking
Okay, "Tracking" is a program we developed ourselves. It allows everyone in our company to track their hours and add notes to different tasks. We also keep track of leave and sick days. At the end of each month, it generates a neat overview that we can use to create invoices and manage payroll.
11. Leadinfo
Leadinfo is an ideal tool for lead generation. It provides us with clear insights into which business visitors are taking a look at our website, how they arrive, and which pages they view. In combination with Google Analytics, it helps improve campaigns and online conversion.
12. Freshsales
With Freshsales, we have a CRM tool for sales that allows us to track our new leads and deals. It prevents us from unnecessarily bothering/spamming prospects (which we hugely dislike), without letting valuable opportunities slip away.
13. Homerun
With Homerun, we make the recruitment process for new employees much easier. Through a customized landing page (that you can find here), applications come in one place, and we can easily invite people for an interview.
14. Drift
Drift is easily the tool that sparks the most discussion within 10KB. It provides a pop-up window on the website, allowing people to contact us via chat (there's a good chance you already closed it). Although we unanimously find the pop-up a bit annoying, it often leads to valuable conversions. If you have a better, more beautiful, or more stylish alternative, please let us know!