Launching a new business is a combination of excitement and stress. You can reduce the stress of a business launch by ensuring that everything is in place long before you make your products or services available to your customers. In such a high-tech world, where there is a wide range of technologies, every entrepreneur should be using these to optimize their business success. Whatever kind of business you’re launching, here are the technology basics that you need to have set up before launch day. Get these factors right and you’ll have a solid foundation that will only improve your chances of business success and growth.

High-Speed Internet

You’re going to need to be online if you want your customers to find you. Not only will you have to have a digital presence, but you also need to be able to use the internet quickly. If you have a slow dial-up connection, then you will miss out on high-value resources like VoIP or online data storage and backup. If the core of your business is eCommerce, then that high-speed internet connection is going to be even more vital. Do your research to find out the best internet provider in your area and check their business packages for the fastest speeds.

Online Security

Once your business is online, it will be vulnerable to cybercriminals. You need to have at least a hardware firewall and a software firewall in place as soon as you can. Make sure that you have anti-virus software installed and that it is updated regularly or when prompted. Learn as much as you can about how to protect your business online so that your customers are protected against information theft.

Your Website

Having a high-performance website is more important than ever. Even eCommerce brands that only sell on established platforms like Amazon or eBay (News - Alert) should have a dedicated website for customers to visit. There are lots of ways to get yourself a website these days, no matter what kind of features you’re looking for. The hardest method is to learn to code and build your own. Then there are website building platforms that take you through the process. However, the easiest option is to buy a website. Take some time to look through a detailed and informative guide, which is perfect for beginners keen to learn how to buy a website. With advice on what you can buy, why it is the right choice, and the wide range of benefits, you’ll quickly know everything there is to know about going down this path and how it can come to benefit you in time to come.

Email

Communication is key to businesses, and emails remain one of the most useful tools at your disposal. Make sure that you have a dedicated email address that includes your business name. Avoid having a Google (News - Alert), Hotmail, or Yahoo email address as this simply looks unprofessional. Your website host should be able to let you create a website address that’s much more appealing. The real power of emails is for email marketing, which is still one of the best marketing methods when it comes to ROI. Look at tools like MailChimp to get the maximum value from your email campaigns.

Website Monitoring Tools

There’s not much value to having a website all set up but to then ignore how it’s performing. The more that you understand the most important metrics for your business goals and then monitor them, the more you can gauge what’s working and what’s not. When you can see how website visitors are using your site, you can start to make adjustments that will help you boost sales. One of the most useful website monitoring tools is Google Analytics. This gives you access to a vast amount of data that will help you make improvements to your web pages and make it much easier to spot where mistakes are being made.

Accounting Software

If you’re launching a new business without a lot of cash, then paying for an accountancy firm to manage your money is usually well outside of your budget. Fortunately, you don’t have to do all of those complicated accounts by hand or by yourself. There is a massive range of software options available that will only mean some simple data entry. Once you input the data, all of the analysis is automatically generated. If you want to avoid problems with the IRS or you want a better visualization of your cash flow performance, then accounting software is vital. Have a look through the best accounting software options to identify which one suits your purposes and has the features that you need.

SEO Tools

Digital marketing is going to be one of the most important steps to get right for your business to be a success. That means that you’re going to need to learn a little about the basics of digital marketing, such as:

• Off-Page and on-site SEO
• Content
• Social media
• Emails
• PPC (pay-per-click)

These are the basics of digital marketing, although there’s always more to learn and explore. At the heart of all digital marketing is your brand’s keywords. You’ll need to have a firm understanding of those keywords and ensure that they are effectively used. There are platforms and tools like Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush that can help you not only identify your keywords but also give you a real-time analysis of how well you’re using those keywords.

These basics will put you in a good position that will only boost your potential to grow. Make sure that you have all of these in place, and your new business launch will be much more likely to be a success.