Leveraging the right online tools and apps can significantly enhance your small business, streamlining operations, boosting productivity, and driving profitability. These tools don’t just help align your team and improve business intelligence — they also simplify and transform how your customers shop and pay. For instance, a mobile document scanner can be a game-changer, allowing you to digitize important paperwork on the go, improve organization, and save time. Let’s explore the best options to elevate your business.
1. Slack
Slack is a powerful collaboration and messaging tool that has become a favorite among businesses worldwide. While it’s perfect for small businesses, its versatility and reliability have also made it a go-to choice for major companies like Airbnb, BuzzFeed, eBay, HBO, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Dow Jones.
Built for 21st-century team communication, Slack enables businesses to create dedicated channels for various functions like marketing, sales, and operations. These channels streamline internal communication and can even be used to collaborate with suppliers and partners.
Slack’s intuitive interface makes it incredibly easy to use, with all conversations fully searchable. Each channel supports messaging, file sharing, comments, and multimedia uploads, including images and videos. Plus, Slack integrates seamlessly with popular tools like Twitter, Dropbox, and Google Drive, ensuring a smooth workflow across platforms.
2. MS Office 365
For businesses reliant on Microsoft tools, MS Office 365 offers a comprehensive software suite perfect for streamlining operations and enhancing collaboration. Designed with entrepreneurs in mind, it supports up to five users across PC, Mac, tablets, or smartphones.
With 1TB of cloud storage, 60 minutes of Skype calls per month, and access to trusted programs like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, it ensures your team stays connected and productive. MS Office 365 brings convenience and security to your workflow, keeping your files organized and accessible in one place.
3. Pastel
Pastel My Business Online is an intuitive, cloud-based accounting solution loved by small businesses and startups worldwide. Its user-friendly interface provides dashboards, graphs, and drill-downs for real-time access to your financial data, whether online or via your smartphone. With features like customer sales history tracking, supplier purchase management, and bank statement uploads, you can effortlessly monitor cash flow and banking.
Generate quotes, send them to clients, and even contact customers directly from your smartphone, complete with map links to their offices. For those seeking alternatives, Xero is another popular cloud-based tool offering multi-currency support, online banking integrations, and compatibility with apps like ADP for workforce management, Vend for POS systems, and PayPal for payments and invoicing.
4. iKhokha
iKhokha is an innovative mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) system designed to simplify payments for small businesses. Merchants are provided with The Edge, a compact card reader that connects to Apple or Android smartphones. Customers can securely swipe their debit or credit cards, enter their PIN, and complete transactions on the spot.
iKhokha also allows merchants to sell mobile airtime for networks like Vodacom, MTN, Virgin Mobile, Cell C, Telkom Mobile, and World Call directly through the app. Best of all, it’s proudly South African, making it an excellent fit for local businesses while supporting homegrown innovation.
5. SnapScan
SnapScan is a widely popular South African mobile payment app powered by Standard Bank. Free to download and easy to use, it works with any VISA or MasterCard credit, cheque, or select debit cards from any South African bank. Customers can pay by scanning your SnapScan QR code and entering the payment amount — no need for cash or a physical card.
Once the transaction is complete, both parties receive instant confirmation. With over 14,000 South African businesses already using SnapScan, it’s even been adopted by Big Issue vendors and is being explored as a solution for street parking payments. Setup is quick and requires no hardware — just your mobile phone.