Sarah Jacobson 
Taking your business digital doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Sure, everyone’s talking about digital transformation, but let’s cut through the noise and focus on what really works. Everyone has seen businesses waste thousands on fancy tech they never ended up using.
The Tools That Actually Matter
Look, you don’t need twenty different software subscriptions. Start with the basics: QuickBooks for your money (because the tax office doesn’t care about your digital transformation journey), and something like HubSpot’s free CRM to keep track of your customers. For team chat, Slack works great. It’s like WhatsApp for work, minus the cat videos from your aunt. If you need software that has a lot of use cases, you should check out the Zoho application, with more than 40 built-in Apps.
If you’re selling stuff, just get Shopify. Is it perfect? Nope. But it works, and when something breaks, there’s always someone you can call. Plus, it plays nicely with Facebook and Instagram shops, which you’ll probably want to set up eventually.
Getting Your Customers On Board
Your website needs to work on phones – period. My neighbor Dave runs a plumbing business, and 80% of his bookings come from people on their phones, usually while they’re standing next to a leaking toilet. Make it dead simple to contact you, book your services, or buy your products.
And please, for the love of all things digital, stop hiding your phone number six clicks deep on your website. Put your contact info everywhere – you’re running a business, not a speakeasy. If you run a service business, get yourself set up with online booking. People want to book their massage at midnight and don’t want to call you about it.
Keeping Everything Safe
You don’t need military-grade security, but you do need the basics:
- Use a password manager and proper passwords – your dog’s name followed by 123 isn’t fooling anyone
- Back up your stuff to the cloud – a broken laptop shouldn’t mean lost customer data
- Keep your software updated – those annoying update notifications actually matter
Making It Work In Real Life
Start with your team. Find your office tech guru (there’s always one) and get them to help others. Write down your digital processes in normal human language. “Click the blue button on the top right” works better than “navigate to the hierarchical menu structure.”
Train people in small groups. Running a full-staff training session typically ends up with half the room on their phones and the other half completely lost. Do a test run with a few people first, fix the obvious problems, and then roll it out to everyone else.
Know If It’s Working
Pick a few numbers that actually matter to your business and track those. If you’re a café, maybe it’s how many online orders you get. Track how many people book classes through your app versus calling in if you’re a gym. Don’t get caught up counting Facebook likes – they don’t pay the bills and use innovative solutions instead.
Check in with your team every few weeks. Ask them what’s making their job easier and what’s just creating extra work. Be ready to admit when something isn’t working – sometimes, the old way of doing things works better.
Remember, going digital isn’t about having the coolest tech. It’s about making your business run better. Start small, keep it simple, and focus on changes that actually help your bottom line. The best digital tool is the one your team uses, not the one with the fanciest features.
Keep what works, ditch what doesn’t, and always ask yourself if a new tool is solving a real problem or just creating busy work.
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