As an entrepreneur and startup founder, you must be intimately aware of the slew of variables that will facilitate or hinder your budding company’s growth. You are the driving force behind your brand-to-be; to gain the edge that you need to break through into the marketplace, it is necessary for you to possess a keen acumen as it relates to uplifting team management and communication processes, social media marketing tactics, potential security threats, resource budgeting, delegation and automation, and just about everything else your business requires. Granted that you have the right team, a clear vision, and the tenacity to birth something new into the world, the only thing missing is a powerful set of tools to help guide and propel your business in the right direction. As you are aware, there is an endless ocean of apps, platforms, services, software, tools, and engines clamoring for your startup dollars. Many of these aides can help you achieve your goals. Others, however, will be no more than a gamble that didn’t pay off; something you can’t afford on a shoestring budget. If you aim to dodge these dubious and dastardly platforms on your way to creating an empire, take notice.
Here are 3 powerful tools that can give startups a serious edge.
#1: Indusface
One thing that startups must understand in today’s day and age is that creating a culture of security for your organization is nothing short of critical.
Here are 3 powerful tools that can give startups a serious edge.#1: Indusface#2: Import.io#3: PayPal: Business in a Box
2016 was a record year for data breaches with over 1,093 recorded cyber-attacks; a 40% increase from 2015. As far as small businesses are concerned, a Ponemon Institute study revealed that 55% of the SMBs surveyed were victims of cyber hacks. Additionally, 50% reported a data breach that compromised customer and employee information. For any small business, this type of malicious attack can result in complete collapse. Not only does this type of incident send current users running into the arms of comparable services, it deters a significant portion of future prospects from ever considering your brand. And just like that, your company is ruined. That’s no exaggeration either; 60% of small businesses that get hacked are out of business within 6 months. It’s this type of danger that makes security so vital for start-ups. And to help keep your brand protected, Indusface provides a suite of tools to ensure you don’t end up on 2017’s list of hacked businesses. This platform provides web application scanning, mobile application scanning, web app firewalls, SSL certificates, and other application security features to ensure total safety.
#2: Import.io
One technological toolset that too few startups opt to leverage is web scraping tools. There is a wide array of ways to use web scraping tools, which is exactly why more startups should be leveraging them; their versatility. Web scaping, (aka data extraction, data mining, or screen scraping) is the process of collecting sizable sums of data from various websites. This information is then saved on spreadsheets or other types of databases for easy analyzation. For most startups, the name of the game is generating traffic and leads to pursue to help build the business. According to Hubspot, 65% of marketers identify this as their biggest challenge. By using web scraping tools, both issues can be addressed. The same can be done with various social media platforms to obtain a gauge of customer sentiment surrounding your competitor’s products or services. Doing both will enable your brand to identify your competition’s weaknesses so that you can capitalize and better serve your target market. In the traffic department, web scraping tools can amplify a startup’s SEO strategy significantly. Using such platforms, business owners can gain valuable insights into the keywords and tactics opponents are leveraging. By understanding this information, your brand can begin to compete for identical and similar phrases as a means of stealing traffic and SERP rankings.
#3: PayPal: Business in a Box
For most small businesses, using PayPal is a no-brainer. What many startup founders may not be aware of, however, is that PayPal recently launched a new service called Business in a Box. Business in a Box, which the company developed in tandem with WooCommerce and Xero, provides business owners with a suite of offerings to help streamline the process of operating an online business. In this package, PayPal includes various accounting tools, a digital storefront for merchants, online and offline payment processing support (naturally), and access to PayPal Working Capital – a means of applying for business loans and cash advances. It is worth noting that since the service launched in 2013, PayPal Working Capital has helped more than 115,000 businesses globally acquire over $3 billion in financing. Startups can also pick and choose the tools they want to use from this service, providing the type of flexibility that many growing businesses need. This type of offering can take a lot of pressure off new businesses that are having trouble procuring these sorts of tools from a slew of different vendors at affordable rates. By leveraging Business in a Box, startups can access a streamlined way of handling various aspects of their company. Powerful tools are a startup’s best friend. These types of platforms can provide a brand with critical operational elements like data and security that enable safety and scalability. These laser-focused and efficient tools could very well be just what your startup needs to gain an edge and achieve fast and furious success.
