- Boost efficiency and streamline tasks with top productivity tools like Microsoft 365, Kofax Power PDF, and Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
- Enhance team collaboration and stay organized, even in hybrid or remote settings, using scalable software solutions.
- Manage projects with ease through tools like Microsoft Project and TurboProject Professional, which simplify planning, tracking, and budgeting.
- Choose the right software by identifying your business’s unique needs and focusing on tools that integrate with your current systems.
Small business owners often deal with big challenges. Dealing with limited time, tight budgets, and competing with much larger companies can be tough. Fortunately, the best business productivity software can give your small business a leg up to stay ahead of the competition.
Are you ready to help your small business stay organized, automate boring tasks, and improve efficiency? You’re at the right place.
In this blog post, SoftwareCW will show you:
- The amazing benefits of office productivity software
- Our helpful list of the best small business software
- How to choose the right software for your business
What Are the Benefits of Small Business Software?
Investing in business software can be a game-changer. Here’s how powerful digital tools directly support the growth and efficiency of your small business.
Maximize Office Productivity
Staying productive is a key concern for any business. When companies don’t produce, they have no services or products to offer. Thus, they don’t make money. Thankfully, the best software for small businesses might resolve your small company’s productivity problems.
For example, Microsoft 365 is software that many companies use to help create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and more. Another option, especially if your small business often works with PDFs, is Kofax Power PDF, which streamlines the creation, editing, and sharing of PDFs.
Better Collaboration
Smaller companies are used to having single or double-digit employees. However, small teams can and often do struggle with effective collaboration. The same applies if you work in a hybrid or remote environment, where employees can sometimes be states or even countries apart. Fortunately, the best business productivity software can keep any work group operating as a tight-knit and collaborative team.
Scalable Solutions
Owning a small business means taking on unpredictability. Your company may expand or downsize in the future. If either situation happens, it shouldn’t have any major impact on the best software for small businesses. That’s because most modern programs are scalable, meaning they can expand or subtract features, users, and more to remain a perfect fit for your small business.
Our Top Picks for the Best Business Productivity Software
You’ve learned what makes the best software for small businesses so important. Let’s now get right into our top picks for software that every small business should have in its arsenal.
1. Microsoft 365
When it comes to staying productive at work, Microsoft 365 remains the gold standard. This software suite includes must-have programs for companies of all sizes, including:
- Microsoft Word: Create, edit, and share documents by using a wide range of templates or starting from scratch.
- Microsoft PowerPoint: Design professional presentations that make use of customized themes, animations, images, and more.
- Microsoft Excel: The classic name in spreadsheet management and one of the best software for small businesses, Microsoft Excel lets you automate calculations by using advanced formulas, pivot tables, and charts.
- Microsoft Outlook: Stay on top of your schedule by using this popular scheduling app to manage your emails, contacts, and calendar.
- OneDrive: Microsoft’s cloud-based storage service that lets you and your co-workers store, access, and share files.
Microsoft 365 provides incredible value, giving you the power of four excellent business tools and ample storage space, enabling your team to work and share together. Plus, this office productivity tool is compatible with Mac and PC.
2. Kofax Power PDF
Whether you work in a warehouse, office, or law firm, PDFs are likely a daily aspect of your job. However, these files aren’t always the easiest to create and edit on certain word-processing software. Fortunately, Kofax Power PDF makes managing and working with PDF files easier.
Top features of this office productivity software for small businesses include:
- Create PDF files from many commonly used file types
- Merge, reorder, and split PDF files
- Batch processing for power users
- Integrates with Microsoft 365 and other cloud services
- Enhanced document security options
Instead of wasting time trying to figure out how to perform functions with PDFs, Kofax Power PDF instantly unlocks a world of features. You and your employees can handle everything from product documents to contracts professionally and quickly.
3. Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking
For most business professionals, typing makes up a sizable part of their workdays. If you want a faster, more streamlined way to draft reports, case files, blog posts, or just about anything else, Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a game-changer. This voice recognition software offers superior speech-to-text capabilities.
For those who are tired of typing all day, aren’t the most proficient typists, or need small business software for accessibility purposes, Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking is easy to use, accurate, and offers customizable voice commands to help you save even more time.
If you work in the legal industry, another one of the best business productivity software is Nuance Dragon Legal. This digital tool was trained using over 400 million words from legal documents for enhanced voice recognition, even with the most complex legal terms. Nuance Dragon Legal also features pre-programmed voice commands tied to commonly used terms related to contracts, briefs, and other types of legal documents.
4. Microsoft Project
Planning, tracking, and managing projects is often easier said than done. Fortunately, Microsoft offers an excellent project management software called Microsoft Project to help you out. This comprehensive office productivity solution can assist you with meetings, appointments, and whatever else life throws your way.
Standout features of Microsoft Project:
- Interactive Gantt charts for timeline management
- Milestones and task dependencies for easy workflow transitions
- Built-in budgeting tools to track costs while avoiding overspending
- Seamless integration with Microsoft 365 apps, including Word and Excel
Try Microsoft Project, and you’ll soon see why small and large companies consider it one of the best software for small businesses to juggle projects and easily manage deadlines.
5. TurboProject Professional
Projects are vital in the business world. Whether you want multiple solutions or Microsoft Project isn’t what you’re looking for, check out TurboProject Professional. This software lets you create Gantt charts, calendars, and project timelines quickly and easily. Whether you’re managing solo projects or are a project manager for a small business, TurboProject Professional’s flexibility, functions, and features help you save time and complete more work.
Standout features of TurboProject Professional:
- Easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface
- Many built-in time-saving templates
- Resource tracking for an easier way to manage workloads
TurboProject is intuitive, so it won't cause frustration, and it's an affordable solution for any small business.
How to Choose the Right Software for Your Small Business
As we’ve covered, there are many types of business software. Because of that, figuring out the best programs for your small business can feel overwhelming. As you research our software solutions, think about your business needs. For example, Kofax Power PDF can be ideal if your company spends a lot of time working with PDF files.
A helpful strategy is to identify your company’s most persistent roadblocks. Then, browse SoftwareCW for software solutions that address those key issues. For instance, Microsoft Project or TurboProject helps small businesses manage projects and deadlines.
Another way to get help choosing the best small business software is to look at integrations. Specifically, consider what programs integrate with the software your business uses.
Running a small business is a challenging but rewarding experience. Have a helping hand taking on these challenges with the best business software available at SoftwareCW.