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Digital tools are software or online systems that help you run your business. You can use them to manage tasks, talk with your team, track sales, store files and more.

Businesses who use digital tools tend to respond quickly to change. They often manage risks better and are more likely to keep their business running during tough times.

Using digital tools makes it easier to grow your business, even with a small team. It can help your business:

  • build resilience to economic shocks
  • support innovation and growth
  • compete with larger businesses.

Digital tools can offer even more benefits for your business. For example:

  • streamline your processes by using accounting software to send invoices automatically
  • connect with your staff by using a team chat app to share updates
  • quickly boost your online customer service by adding a chatbot to your website to answer common questions
  • work faster by using templates to create documents in less time
  • reduce errors by using inventory software to track stock levels accurately
  • protect customer information by use 2-factor authentication to secure accounts.

Things to do before you start using digital tools

The digital tools you choose should support your business goals. Common goals include:

  • increase your revenue
  • increase your profit
  • make better use of your assets
  • improve your business processes
  • offer a new product or service to your customers
  • speed up tasks
  • allow staff to connect and communicate better
  • improve the skills of your staff.

Find out how to set business goals. 

A digital strategy is a plan that helps your business use digital tools to meet its goals. It works alongside your business plan to guide how you connect with customers, promote your products or services and improve how your business runs. It helps you:

  • choose the right digital tools
  • solve your customer’s and business’s problems using digital tools
  • plan how you'll protect your business and customer data
  • track what's working so you can improve over time.

Learn how to develop a digital strategy.

You don’t need to buy something expensive. There are low-cost tools that can improve your processes and save you time. Make sure you explore your options.

Make a list of your must-have and optional features before you research the tools available. This helps you focus on what matters.

Work out the total cost of ownership for each tool you’re considering. This is the upfront cost plus running costs over the tool’s life span.

To help you save money and keep to your digital budget:

  • review what you already use and cancel subscriptions for tools you don't need
  • check for duplicate tools as you might be paying for tools that do the same thing
  • choose tools based on what you need, not what you might use later
  • look for open-source software or free plans that meet your needs
  • bundle multiple tools into one subscription as this can be cheaper than buying separate tools
  • contact the tool’s sales team and ask for a discount
  • test or trial digital tools before buying
  • pay annually as it often costs less than monthly plans – only do this if you’re sure the tool is right for your business long-term.

Once you’ve got your digital tools, it’s important to regularly monitor your usage and check if they’re still helping you save time or money. If not, consider switching or cancelling.

Before you start using digital tools and applications, you need to protect your business from cyber threats.

To keep your business safe:

  • install a good antivirus solution
  • install updates to programs and operating systems as soon as possible to fix security issues
  • ensure your wi-fi connection is encrypted and not open for anyone to connect to
  • change your router login and password from the factory defaults
  • use a company virtual private network (VPN) ⁠when you conduct work activities outside your office network
  • lock your devices when you leave them alone
  • look out for suspicious email messages and malicious file attachments or links.

Read more about how to protect your business from cyber threats. 

Introducing new digital tools and software has a better chance of success if you bring your staff along on the journey.

  • Involve staff in decisions about digital tools(where possible).
  • Explain to your staff how the new tools will help their work and benefit them.
  • Train staff to use the digital tools before they need to use them.
  • Ease staff into the change – people respond better to small changes over time.

Find out how to manage the change with your employees.

Get help from the Digital Solutions program

The Digital Solutions program helps support eligible small businesses to harness opportunities and grow in the digital economy. It covers topics like:

  • digital marketing
  • social media
  • websites and selling online
  • business software
  • cybersecurity.

Digital tools to run your business

Using digital tools to run your business can help you:

  • work faster
  • cut down on paperwork
  • keep information safe
  • find new ways to grow.

Accounting systems store all your financial details. They reduce the amount of paperwork you need to complete, saving you time and effort.

Benefits may include:

  • real-time visibility over your full financial position
  • less paperwork for your business
  • more efficient processes.

If you have employees, you’ll need to have Single Touch Payroll (STP) enabled software. This lets you report your tax and superannuation payroll information to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) each time you pay your employees.

A customer relationship management (CRM) system records contacts between you and your customers.

Some CRMs have flexible cost structures such as pay-as-you-go or tiered pricing for cloud-based systems.

Using a CRM can help you build and keep stronger customer relationships. It lets you:

  • manage all your contacts through one platform
  • have a single view of a customer’s history, needs and preferences
  • share access so all staff can see and update customer contacts
  • learn from customer feedback to improve sales and keep customers coming back
  • uncover customer behaviour patterns across different groups or locations.

An inventory management system lets you manage your inventory more efficiently. It tracks your inventory’s movement and monitors your stock levels in one place. It can also help you:

  • create reports and forecasts
  • reduce stock write-offs
  • lower storage costs
  • process returns more easily
  • manage shipping and logistics
  • connect with other online systems in your business
  • make sure orders, payments and product tracking work across your organisation.

A job management system tracks and manages jobs and ongoing tasks from one platform. It focuses on workflow efficiency and day-to-day business operations.

You can use it to:

  • tracks jobs or work orders from start to finish
  • reduce paperwork
  • connect with your other systems to streamline accounting
  • see the full picture of a job or task, including quoting, invoicing, scheduling, and time tracking.

A learning management system (LMS) is software that helps you manage and deliver online training or educational content. It lets you:

  • create training, update and expand courses (essential for staying compliant)
  • keep your training content in one place
  • give employees flexible, direct access to learning materials
  • track an employee’s progress and performance.

A practice management system helps health professionals run healthcare practices.

You can use it: 

  • create and manage patient appointments
  • schedule administration tasks
  • organise patient records
  • capture data to make more informed decisions for better patient outcomes.

Rostering software helps you to manage your employee information, such as:

  • rostering
  • timesheets
  • payslips
  • payment summaries

Look for rostering software that integrates with your accounting systems for a more seamless process.

Rostering software helps you:

  • save time on payroll
  • see the hours your employees are working
  • improve communication with employees
  • keep accurate time and wages records to meet your obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009.

Time management software tracks how long tasks take, who completed them, and how that time affects your costs or billing. It can help you:

  • track time spent on each project or client
  • create accurate invoices based on time worked
  • get clear reports on how you and your staff use your time
  • work out which projects and clients are most profitable
  • set reminders so people remember to record their time.

Digital tools to market your business

Marketing tools help you promote your business online and connect with customers more effectively.

Use digital tools to streamline your marketing. They can help you:

  • keep your customers coming back
  • share updates and news with your customers
  • understand what your customers like to buy
  • send personalised messages that match your customers’ interests.

Email marketing systems send and manage email campaigns. They can help you stay in touch with your customers and grow your business.

Use these systems to:

  • schedule and send emails
  • target messages to specific groups or customer types
  • manager subscriber lists
  • measure how well your email campaigns are working.

In Australia, there are laws about sending electronic commercial messages. Find out the rules when promoting your business by email.

Marketing software automates marketing tasks across multiple digital channels. It helps you promote your business through:

  • email campaigns
  • social media
  • websites
  • text messages

This software can help you:

  • keep all your marketing information in one place
  • automate repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-ups or reminders
  • send marketing messages through multiple channels all at once
  • create a personalised experience for your customers, like sending them a message on their birthday.

A social media management system helps you run all your social media accounts from one place. It makes it easier to plan your social media posts and stay consistent when talking to your followers.

You can use it to:

  • schedule posts ahead of time
  • reply to comments and direct messages
  • see how your posts are performing.

Learn more about how social media can support your business.

Online team collaboration tools

Digital tools make it easier to connect and work with your team, no matter where they are. You can use online collaboration software to:

  • work with staff in different locations
  • keep clear records
  • see what’s happening across projects
  • cut down on emails and meetings
  • improve teamwork and communication
  • save time by keeping everything in one place.

These tools help your team stay organised, work better together and get more done.

Video conferencing software gives you an alternative to in-person meetings. Presenters can share their screen or slides to show visual information.

Video calls are more engaging than voice-only calls. They can help people feel more connected and part of a team.

Team messaging platforms let staff send and receive messages instantly. They make it easy to ask questions, share information and stay in touch throughout the day.

Project and task management tools help you and your team stay organised, meet deadlines and work together more effectively. They make it easier to stay on track and get things done.

You can use them to plan your projects from start to finish, including:

  • assigning tasks
  • setting deadlines
  • managing workloads across the team
  • monitoring progress and remaining work.

Cloud-based storage lets you store files online instead of on a server in your office.

Unlike managing your own server, cloud-based storage doesn’t need ICT support, office space or regular hardware upgrades. You also don’t need to maintain backup systems to protect your files.

A cloud-based system can:

  • reduce your need for office hardware
  • lower your storage costs over time
  • help you manage different versions of your documents
  • let you access files from anywhere.

Cloud-based storage makes it easier to scale as your business grows, which can be especially useful for small and medium businesses.

Many cloud-based storage platforms have built-in collaboration tools. This lets more than one person work on a document at the same time and you can see changes as they happen. This can help teams work faster and avoid mix-ups about which version is the latest one.

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