Six Resources for a Rapidly Growing Business

Managing your small business during a period of rapid growth is often compared to building a plane’s engine while you’re in the air. You’ll need to find answers to questions you might not know to ask which can make it difficult to figure things out as you go.

How will you stay organized as the number of employees and clients significantly increases? Do you need to change the structure of your business, and what legal aspects must be considered? These are just a few of the countless questions you’ll encounter while learning how to manage a quickly growing company.

To help, we’ve compiled this collection of resources that are great for companies that are just taking off. Check out these tools to help with organization, time tracking, and many other factors crucial to the success of a fast-growing company.

(Source: GetApp)

Organization: Trello

Rapidly-growing small companies often leave a few employees with a lot of responsibilities while ramping things up. Sometimes, it seems like the notifications never stop and it’s hard to keep track of ongoing projects.

Trello makes it easy to organize tasks across small and large teams using their board system. Employees can create boards to organize projects and track the progress of smaller tasks as they move through stages in the workflow.

Getting started is easy, and the entire system can be explained in just five steps:

1. Make a board for any project, give it a name, and invite your team

2. Add lists to establish steps in the workflow

3. Create cards for individual tasks

4. Click on a card to add details such as the due date and who the project is assigned to

5. Move cards across lists to show progress

Use boards as you see fit! Some companies use boards for individual projects while others use them to coordinate tasks with other team members in the department or organization.

The software is free to use but offers three paid upgrade options (up to $20.83/user/month) for businesses interested in advanced features such as software and calendar integration.

(Source: G2 Crowd)

Time Tracking: Harvest

See where your time is going by using Harvest to simplify the time tracking process. The intuitive software allows users to start and stop timers as they work—then it automatically generates insights based on the data from your team. Create invoices for billable hours and use data to more accurately estimate how long it will take to complete future projects.

This highly-rated software is trusted by over 50,000 businesses and offers flexible pricing. Use the free version and receive access to two projects, or upgrade for $12/user/month and get access to unlimited projects.

(Source: PCWorld)

Productivity: G Suite

Work faster and smarter by using a wide range of tools offered in this software package created by Google. Create and collaborate on files in real-time using tools such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Integrate your calendar and email with team members to find time and take meetings from anywhere using video conferencing features. You can also use Google Drive to share and manage files with everyone on your team. Pricing plans start at just $6/user/month at the basic level and scale to give your team additional storage access as needed.

(Source: QuickBooks)

Finances: QuickBooks

Managing finances is something businesses of all sizes struggle with. QuickBooks simplifies accounting with easy-to-use finance software that automatically categorizes revenue and expenses.

See their Free Budget Template for businesses just starting out, or look at their software solutions to see how they can help you with finance areas such as:

• Tracking Income and Expenses

• Invoicing

• Payroll

• Tax deductions

• Bill payments

QuickBooks allows you to choose the pricing plan that’s best for your business with solution packages starting at $7/month. Save time and money by investing in accounting software that will help you manage your organization’s finances in just a few minutes a week.

(Source: GoCo)

HR + Benefits: GoCo

Hiring new employees during a period of rapid growth can lead to an unprecedented amount of paperwork, which is why it’s good to invest in HR software that streamlines the onboarding process. Online banking institution Fundera rated GoCo as the best HR software for small businesses and startups⁠—highlighting their all-in-one approach to HR.

GoCo allows you to get new employees set up in minutes through intuitive digital onboarding. Upload existing documents and turn them into “Magic Templates” that can be automatically filled with prior data for a faster signing process. Track and manage PTO without complex spreadsheets and integrate your existing payroll system.

Best of all, GoCo simplifies the benefits enrollment process by implementing your existing company benefits and letting your team enroll online. Employees can get help choosing or updating a plan by reaching out to a network of certified benefit advisors with changes that are automatically synced with insurance carriers to avoid costly mistakes.

Try the software for free, or upgrade at a base cost of $79.20/month plus $4 for each employee.

(Source: Swyft Filings)

Administrative Paperwork: Swyft Filings

Starting a business can be an exciting opportunity to follow your dream, but filing the necessary paperwork isn’t quite as thrilling. Many new businesses rely upon high-priced lawyers to determine which forms to fill out and what fees to pay, but Swyft can take care of this process for you with packages starting at just $49.

Swyft has helped tens of thousands of businesses get started by automating the filing process and removing the need to find, hire, and pay uncertain legal fees to expensive lawyers to file basic corporate paperwork with the state.

In fact, Swyft breaks down their thorough incorporation process into five simple steps so you can understand the status of your filing:

1. A thorough review of the information you provide.

2. An in-depth check of the availability of your business name.

3. Document filing and approval notification.

4. State approval document forwarding.

5. Reliable compliance support.

Don’t get lost in legal lingo when starting your business, focus on what you love while Swyft handles the paperwork.