THE Complete Software Stack Every Small Business Needs 🤫

Summary

Efficient App (Alex & Andra) shares their expertise on building the ultimate software stack tailored for small businesses. In their video, they unveil the essential tools that will prevent you from wasting time and money finding the perfect CRM, project management, and finance tools. From setting up on Google Workspace to leveraging modern banking solutions like Mercury, and integrating AI-powered bookkeeping with Kick, this guide is about enhancing business efficiency and security. The video also discusses optimal CRM choices for small teams, innovative project management tools, and streamlining email communications, helping you focus on what truly matters - growing your business without the tech headaches.

Highlights

• Pick Google Workspace over Microsoft 365 for versatility and widespread use 🌍.
• Secure passwords with Dashlane or 1Password for peace of mind 🔐.
• Stay away from oversized CRM tools; instead, use Folk or Copper for simplicity 🚀.
• Use virtual mail services like Stable for convenient remote business operations 📬.
• Mercury is the modern bank solution with seamless integration and zero fees 💳.
• Switch to AI-powered Kick for user-friendly bookkeeping – way better than QuickBooks 🤖.
• Boost team efficiency with Motion task management and Cal scheduling 📆.
• Enhance email productivity with Superhuman's innovative features for faster responses 📧.

Key Takeaways

• Choosing the right software stack can save tons of money and time for small businesses 🔧.
• Google Workspace outshines Microsoft 365 for small businesses due to better integration options 🌐.
• Secure your business with modern solutions like Dashlane and virtual mailboxes 🛡️.
• No need for bloated tools like HubSpot – Folk and Copper are perfect for small CRM needs 🤝.
• Revolutionize your banking and bookkeeping with tools like Mercury and Kick 💰.
• Integrate AI in your workflow with smart tools such as Superhuman for emails 💻.
• Embrace flexibility in scheduling and project management with Motion and Cal 📅.

Overview

When it comes to setting up your business for success, choosing the right tools can make or break your efficiency. Alex & Andra from Efficient App dive deep into the must-have software stack for small businesses, starting with workplace basics. They recommend ditching Microsoft 365 for Google Workspace due to better app integration and widespread acceptance, while also securing your operations with password managers like Dashlane.

The video emphasizes the importance of utilizing the right CRM and financial tools. They highlight how Folk and Copper serve small teams much better than the larger players like HubSpot, thanks to their user-friendly interfaces and affordability. Moreover, innovative banking options like Mercury provide financial services tailored for small businesses, combined with the seamless bookkeeping of AI-driven Kick, making financial management both efficient and enjoyable.

Efficiency doesn’t stop at finances. Enhancing daily operations with project management tools like Motion, which integrates scheduling into task planning, and Cal for flexible meeting setups, can transform team dynamics. To top it off, Superhuman offers a unique email experience that not only organizes but optimizes correspondence, ensuring that small business owners can focus on growth rather than technical disruptions.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Why Choosing the Right Software is Crucial The chapter discusses the importance of selecting the right software for a business, especially in the software consulting industry. Since 2010, the speaker has been receiving inquiries from other teams seeking recommendations for software stacks. The chapter emphasizes the inefficiency of spending excessive time researching tools like CRM, project management, and accounting software only to find them inadequate. Instead, the speaker proposes sharing the specific tools their eight-person business uses, aiming to help others avoid wasting time and resources on unsuitable software choices.
• 00:30 - 05:00: Foundational Tools for Small Business In 'Foundational Tools for Small Business,' the focus is on equipping small businesses with essential tools rather than opting for big-budget solutions frequently adopted by larger companies. The chapter introduces four foundational tools crucial for business stability, four financial tools aimed at relieving financial pressures, and three operational tools designed to enhance team efficiency on a daily basis. It starts with the pivotal decision of choosing between Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for business setup, encouraging businesses to consider their specific needs and preferences.
• 05:00 - 15:00: Finance Tools for Small Business The chapter titled 'Finance Tools for Small Business' discusses the importance of selecting foundational tools for business operations. It emphasizes using Google Workspace for its widespread compatibility with modern software, ensuring ease of login and integration. The chapter also hints at the necessity of a secure password management system, pointing out the risks associated with relying on browsers or traditional methods like pen and paper for storing passwords.
• 15:00 - 17:00: Day-to-Day Operations Tools The chapter 'Day-to-Day Operations Tools' discusses the importance of using secure passwords and the pitfalls of reusing simple passwords across multiple platforms. It encourages viewers to avoid using easily guessable passwords and stresses the inability to safely share such passwords with team members. The chapter recommends utilizing a password manager, specifically Dashlane, for its ease of use and aesthetic design, particularly for users unfamiliar with password managers. For those who are more technically inclined, other solutions may be more appropriate, but Dashlane serves as a user-friendly option for managing passwords securely.
• 17:00 - 18:30: Project Management and Productivity Tools The chapter discusses various productivity and project management tools that can enhance business operations. It begins by highlighting the importance of maintaining security with API-integrated password managers like One Password. The focus then shifts to sales enhancement with CRM systems, which facilitate personalized interactions, automate follow-ups, and improve closure rates. Popular CRM tools such as HubSpot and Salesforce are mentioned, although the recommendation is made for larger teams of 500 to 1,000 members, suggesting alternative solutions for smaller entities.
• 18:30 - 20:00: Scheduling and Email Management In this chapter, the focus is on scheduling and email management within the context of using CRM systems like HubSpot. The text highlights how HubSpot entices small teams with free CRM services, but as businesses grow and start utilizing more advanced features and marketing automations, the costs can increase significantly, sometimes reaching over $20,000 annually. Many businesses find themselves wanting to move away from HubSpot's expensive subscription fees at that point. Additionally, there is a mention of Adio CRM, suggesting that evaluations were conducted on its effectiveness.
• 20:00 - 21:00: Conclusion and Next Steps This chapter wraps up the discussion on CRM platforms and provides recommendations based on user needs. It advises technical users who want extensive customization to look into certain CRM options, while suggesting Folk or Copper for small business owners or teams, emphasizing ease of use and simplicity, especially for beginners. Folk is highlighted for its simple interface, including features like a Chrome extension for adding contacts and tools for building sales process pipelines.

THE Complete Software Stack Every Small Business Needs 🤫 Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 We've been running a business in the software consulting space since 2010. And we get weekly emails from teams asking us, "Can you just recommend my entire software stack? Just tell me what you use." I mean, how many hours have you spent Googling CRM, project management tools, and accounting software only to find out that they don't fully serve your needs? So, in this video, we are going to share the exact tools that we use to run our eightperson business so you don't waste your time and money picking the wrong tools and then having to switch later.
• 00:30 - 01:00 And trust us, the companies with the largest marketing budgets are rarely the right choice for most businesses. We'll cover four foundational tools to stabilize your whole business, four finance tools to alleviate financial stress, and our top three day-to-day operations tools to help upgrade your team's efficiency. [Music] Your first decision is choosing to set up your business on Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. So, just think about when
• 01:00 - 01:30 you log into the most popular software apps. When's the last time that you saw login with Microsoft? And that's exactly why we recommend Google Workspace because you will always see that login with Google option because modern software always builds for Google first. If you're starting a new business, use Google Workspace. Now, the second foundational tool is one that will help keep your business secure and one that you won't want to implement. Most people rely on their browsers to save their passwords or worse, pen and paper or
• 01:30 - 02:00 their mind, which means you're using the same password for everything. It's like their dog's name. 1 2 3. So, if you're doing that and you're watching this, shame on you. You look bad and you should feel bad. that is not only not secure, but you can't safely share your passwords with your team members. If you've never used a password manager before, then what we recommend is Dashlane. It's what we use. And the reason for that is it's so simple to use and it looks nice. But if you're more technical and things like an
• 02:00 - 02:30 API for your password manager excite you, then you might want to check out one password. Now that your business is more secure, let's talk about a tool that will help you increase sales. A CRM will help you stay on top of sales conversations, help you personalize outreach, even automate follow-up and help you close more deals. Now, you would have probably heard of tools like HubSpot or Salesforce, but if you're watching this video, it's highly unlikely that you would need either of those tools. We recommend them for larger teams like 500 to a,000 plus
• 02:30 - 03:00 employees. HubSpot lures small teams in by offering a free CRM, but the CRM is designed like a gateway product. So, if you want to use any of their advanced features or their marketing automations that they're known for, it can get really expensive. For example, we've worked with many businesses who had started on this free tier of HubSpot, but then towards the end of the year, they got an annual bill of over $20,000 in subscription fees and then wanted to move off of it. We also always get asked about Adio CRM, and what we found when we were evaluating it was that it's more
• 03:00 - 03:30 for a technical user who wants to deeply customize their CRM. So, if that's you, maybe you want to check them out, but it's not the CRM we would recommend for an average small business owner. The CRM that we do recommend for small teams are either Folk or Copper. Now, if you've never used a CRM before, you want to start with Folk because they are the most simple to use. So, for example, they have a Chrome extension that allows you to easily add contacts. You can build pipelines to manage your sales process, and they even have some really
• 03:30 - 04:00 cool AI features. Now, if you want a more traditional CRM, then you want to use Copper, especially if you care about integrating it with third party tools. It's literally built with Google Workspace at the core and has deep integrations with Gmail, Google Calendar, and even Google Drive. If you're wondering if Copper can scale with your team, we've worked with companies that are using Copper that are doing up to 50 million in revenue. So, it checks out. But what if they didn't listen to you earlier and they're using Microsoft 365 instead? In that case, you
• 04:00 - 04:30 want to either use Pipe Drive if you're looking for a more traditional CRM or just use Folk. Just a heads up, if you want to dive in deeper into any of the tools that we're talking about in this video, then make sure to check the link down in the description because we have full dedicated videos for some of these tools along with written reviews and even some exclusive deals that you don't want to miss out on. The final foundational tool is for those of you that run your business remotely and you live in the US. You're going to need a
• 04:30 - 05:00 reliable way to receive important mail, like documents from the government, for example. We used to use our home address, but we kept moving, so it became super difficult to keep track of where our mail was going. Now, when we looked into our options, we saw that there were some co-working spaces that also served as a physical address. But for us, it was overkill and way too expensive given we didn't even need a physical space. Then we found stable, which is a virtual mailbox. And how it works is when our mail comes in, they scan it and they send us an email with it. Now, there are other virtual mailbox
• 05:00 - 05:30 options, but we really like stable because they're are the most modern and they also allow you to integrate. So, for example, it integrates in with Slack. So, we get notified in Slack when we get a new piece of mail and then we can take action on it like we can shred it or we can even deposit a check right from Slack. Now, I'm looking for a man in finance. I'm not in finance, but I could tell you all about these finance tools. I've tried so many over the past decade, but I'm going to talk about four
• 05:30 - 06:00 that you should absolutely have in your small business. First, you'll need somewhere to manage your business's money, and that's where a business bank comes in. Most people think of using a traditional bank, like opening up one of the business accounts from a local branch. But the problem with traditional banks is that they're extremely dated and just cluji. So the cool thing here is there's an entire category dedicated to just modernizing traditional banks. It's a fintech layer on top of the bank. And in the US, the two most popular
• 06:00 - 06:30 companies are Novo and Mercury. We use Mercury specifically because of its super slick interface. And they actually have like a product team that cares a lot about what they're building. It even has a deeper integration with the accounting software that I'm going to talk about next. Mercury also provides FDIC insurance of up to $5 million, whereas Novo only covers up to $250K. I'm standing on a pile of cash of $5 million. I am sitting on $5 million of FDIC
• 06:30 - 07:00 insurance. Open the gates. So, we love Mercury because they make managing your business finances like actually enjoyable because they put so much thought into their user experience. It's free and unlike traditional banks, there's no fees. They even allow you to send invoices which is super convenient and saves you from needing another invoicing tool. They even have a personal banking option and we use that as well. We've included non- US options in the description and if your country
• 07:00 - 07:30 isn't listed and you have a modern bank recommendation, drop it in the comments for others to see. The next finance tool will help you track income and expenses and give you reports like profit loss statements. You know, everything that you need for your annual tax filing. The thing with accounting software is that there's a different tool depending on where you live. So, we're going to recommend both US and outside of US options. So, we currently use QuickBooks online, but not because it's the best tool. I started the business back in 2010, and the reason why I started using
• 07:30 - 08:00 QuickBooks was because that's just what my CPA recommended. and pretty much all that was available at the time. But we're actually in the process of trying to ditch QuickBooks Online because it's been the one tool that I've continually dreaded going into every time I've had to go into it the past decade. We recently set up Kick, which is a new AI powered bookkeeping software, and it's 500 times more userfriendly than QuickBooks. When we signed up to evaluate it, we fell in love with it, and now we're running it alongside QuickBooks with the goal to actually
• 08:00 - 08:30 switch off of QuickBooks to kick by the end of the year. We just want to give it a little bit of time to get feature parody before we fully move over. So, we recommend Kick if you're a digital or service-based business or an entrepreneur that has many businesses and have interest in spending less time in your accounting software. Kick's aim is to get to the point of fully automating your bookkeeping. For example, we just connected our PayPal account, Stripe, and Mercury, and everything was just linked together. It recognized this transaction and this
• 08:30 - 09:00 were the same account, and it just worked. just worked. Okay, so let's do the same thing at QuickBooks Online. Let's go in. We'll connect our PayPal account. We'll connect our Stripe. There's no Stripe integrate. There's no Stripe integration. Oh, so you have to build it custom like we did. Put 50 60 hours into it to sync over all the fees and all the transactions just for them to not actually work. You have to build that custom. If you're using Stripe, do not use QuickBooks. But if you are a more traditional business or
• 09:00 - 09:30 have a ton of accounting experience and let's say that you run your business on an acrruel basis, then kick isn't quite there yet and you'll just want to stay on QuickBooks a bit longer. We will absolutely keep you posted on how this transition goes for us. And if you subscribe, I'm sure we'll talk about it more in a future video as that rolls out. And you can also just go to the website to read the full review to understand what limitations it has to see if maybe it could work for you. Finally, if you're outside of the US, we recommend Zero. In fact, our friend
• 09:30 - 10:00 George, who works on these videos, is based in the UK and uses Zero for his business. Zero, more like zero problems. Doesn't he look super happy? Next, you need a way to pay yourself and your team. And that's where payroll software comes into play. So if you don't have a team because you're a soloreneure, then you should probably register an S corporation and save loads of money on taxes, but then you need to pay yourself payroll. And to pay
• 10:00 - 10:30 yourself payroll, you need payroll software. And for payroll software, you need Gusto because Gusto does what it needs to do and you don't need to deal with it. And you you I know you you switch to an S corporation and then you're like, wait, but QuickBooks Online has payroll. Yeah, don't go that path because the all-in-one allure that exists, it's not worth it. They acquired some company that just handles their payroll. They don't really care. Use Gusto. It integrates with QuickBooks and it's beautiful. It just it just works. It just works. It's great. And I'm a happy man. I'm a happy man running my payroll and I don't even know when I'm
• 10:30 - 11:00 running my payroll. I'm going to be running my payroll until I'm really old and just walking like this and I don't even have to think about it. If you're looking to hire overseas, whether that's contractors or employees, then you just want to use Deal because they deal with all the tax compliance, the next tool is going to save you a couple hours per week in just reconciling your books and getting all of those expenses and receipts together. But the crazy part is so few businesses are actually using a tool like this. And it's free. Okay, I I can't even comprehend why this is still
• 11:00 - 11:30 a thing, but most businesses will get a traditional credit card and that gives you one credit card number that you go and you use on every single subscription, on every restaurant, on everything that you're buying. It's the same credit card, the same credit card number, but then what happens? That credit card gets stolen and then you have to update the credit card across sometimes 200 different places or all of your software just stops working. This actually happened to us twice in the past few years. And the best part is it silos it out so you know exactly where
• 11:30 - 12:00 it was stolen at what place. So we were able to see that it was a local restaurant that we were at and the charge was at Tik Tock shop. I don't use Tik Tok shop. I have never bought those blue sugar gushers from Tik Tok shop. I've seen them, but I would never buy them. Especially not of the company credit card. Wait, is that what they ordered? I don't know. It was like $8. We immediately just froze the card and went on with our life. But the point is, your card is going to get stolen. It is going
• 12:00 - 12:30 to happen. And that is when I just urge you to use this tool instead. Or you can just do it proactively because there's a load of other benefits like autorecyling of your books when you use a proper expense management solution. I know, but this just makes me want to gusher. We've used Expensify in the past. We've evaluated RAMP and Brex, but ultimately bill spend and expense has been the best one for our needs. They're the most friendly with small businesses and RAMP has a higher bank minimum. So that's where it just gets a little bit
• 12:30 - 13:00 difficult if you're a smaller business and don't have too much cash flow. But if you've raised money recently and you have millions in the bank, then definitely use RAMP over BRs. And if you're outside of the US, there are companies like Airwalks that offer the same expense management solution. Though they do specialize more in multicurrency support like accepting global payments. If you're in a different country and you want to accept USD and in our case when we pay say a contractor, please use something like Airwalks. It makes our job so much easier. And then you can use
• 13:00 - 13:30 their expense management feature to spend that money without having to change the currency. Okay. So, now that you have your foundations and your finances set up, let's talk about the software that will help your business run more smoothly in the day-to-day, starting with a tool that will help you manage your time and tasks. When it comes to project management, you've probably heard of tools like ClickUp or Monday or Asana. And while all of these tools are decent, they are all missing one critical feature. None of them
• 13:30 - 14:00 actually take into account your availability or your team's capacity to get work done. Yes, they help you plan your tasks, but they don't actually help you realistically execute them in the day-to-day. And that's why we use and continually recommend Motion because it's the only tool that has a calendar and task and project management together. What sets Motion apart is its ability to schedule tasks right on your calendar while factoring in your meetings and appointments. For example, if you have seven hours of tasks of
• 14:00 - 14:30 to-dos in your task management tool and then five hours of meetings, how are you supposed to get all of that done? You can't. Motion is the only project management tool that actually closes this gap. Now, if you want to fully understand the benefits of Motion, then watch this video because we just released it and it goes much deeper into all of its features. Now, this next tool is essential if you schedule a lot of meetings. You probably would have heard of Calendarly, but we have a better option for you. If you do end up using
• 14:30 - 15:00 Motion, which we just talked about, then as a heads up, they have a scheduler feature, but it's only good if you have minimal meetings. But if you're not using motion or you have more robust scheduling needs, then you want to use Cal. You're going to get the best free tier for individuals and it's much more flexible than Calendarly. So, for example, you can even take payments on the free plan. And if you have more complex scheduling needs, like you want to use workflows or routing forms, then Cal is also a better option there as well. Now that you have an easy way to
• 15:00 - 15:30 schedule meetings, let's shift gears into another essential part of business communication, which is email. Now, you probably use Gmail and that's fine. But if you want a better email experience, if you want to share the burden of email with your team, then what we recommend is checking out Superhum. And just a fair warning, once you try it, you probably will never be able to go back to normal email again. We've used it for 7 years now and counting, and most of our business owner friends use it with their team as well. What we like about
• 15:30 - 16:00 it is that it has a minimal interface. It's void of distractions, and then they have really cool features that actually help you answer your emails faster. They just recently launched Superhuman AI, which is one of the most innovative applications of using AI that we've seen. For example, they will automatically label and categorize the emails that come into your inbox and then it can even respond on your behalf. So, a practical example, say you have job applications and you want it to thank the candidate for applying and
• 16:00 - 16:30 then automatically forward the email on to your HR manager. It now can take on powerful workflows like that. And remember how I said you can share the burden of email with your team? Well, with Superhum, you can just appmentntion a team member underneath an email or even share drafts. It's one of those tools that you truly have to experience to understand. So, you can try it for free for 30 days, and we left that link in the description as well. On the other hand, if you're a bit more established and you deal with customer support tickets frequently and you want your
• 16:30 - 17:00 team to actually share an inbox rather than the emails just going to one person's inbox, then you want to consider something like Help Scout, which is a proper help desk. For the record, we actually use both Superhum and Help Scout in our business. Now that we've covered which tools you should use in your business, you need to know about one tool which is often costing teams hundreds of hours in lost productivity. Watch here to learn why we don't recommend Notion and what to use instead.