Notion appears also in collaboration, but operationally, one of its great uses is as an internal wiki or operating manual. Companies document SOPs (standard operating procedures), how-to guides, vendor lists, etc., in Notion pages that are easily searchable and updatable. It means new employees or anyone needing to execute a process can find step-by-step instructions in one place. Maintaining a Notion-based ops manual significantly improves consistency and training in a small business.
“If This Then That,” a lightweight automation service (mostly consumer-facing) that can also assist small business operations in clever ways. IFTTT connects different apps based on simple triggers – for example, a shop owner could auto-log every new Shopify sale to a Google Sheet, or get a text if a specific important email arrives. It’s less business-focused than Zapier, but its simplicity and support for lots of web services and IoT devices can tie together miscellaneous pieces of operations with minimal effort (and it’s often free or low-cost).
Monday.com markets itself as a Work Operating System– a flexible platform for any operational workflow, from project tracking to task management to simple CRM. Its visual boards and 200+ templates allow teams to manage and collaborate on processes like content production schedules, sales pipelines, or inventory management. Monday’s strength is in its customization and easy automations (e.g., notify procurement when stock is low). Many small businesses adopt Monday to have a single source of truth for various operational data, instead of scattered Excel files.
A cloud ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platform that combines accounting, inventory, order management, CRM and more in one system. NetSuite is used by many mid-sized businesses to run core operations efficiently – from financials to supply chain – with real-time visibility. It’s highly scalable and can be customized for various industries (manufacturing, wholesale, software, etc.). Though an enterprise-grade tool, there are NetSuite implementations and packages sized for smaller growing businesses looking to replace disparate systems with an integrated suite.
SAP’s SMB-focused ERP solutions. Business One (for on-prem or partner-hosted, popular in wholesale/distribution) and Business ByDesign (cloud) offer broad functionality: financials, inventory, production, project management and more. They bring SAP’s deep industry expertise to smaller enterprises. Typically used by companies outgrowing basic accounting software, who need strong operations and supply chain capabilities with reliable support for multi-currency, multi-warehouse, etc.
An open-source all-in-one business suite covering ERP, CRM, e-commerce, POS, inventory, manufacturing, HR and more. Odoo’s apps can be used à la carte and are very affordable (or free self-hosted), making enterprise-style operations management accessible to small businesses. For example, a small manufacturer could use Odoo to manage raw materials, production orders, sales, and accounting in one system. Cloud hosting by Odoo is available for convenience.
Microsoft’s cloud ERP for SMB (formerly Navision). It covers operations including finance, inventory, sales, purchasing, and project management in a unified interface. Integrates naturally with Office 365 (Excel, Outlook) which many businesses already use. Ideal for businesses that have outgrown basic tools and want an ERP that’s modern and Microsoft-supported. Frequently chosen by companies with light manufacturing or complex inventory needs who are in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Zoho One is an all-in-one business software bundlefrom Zoho, including 40+ integrated apps (CRM, Books accounting, Inventory, Projects, People HR, Analytics, etc.). For a flat per-employee price, a small business can essentially run most of its operations on Zoho’s cloud. This offers a compelling value: rather than stitching together different tools, Zoho One provides a pre-integrated suite covering front-office to back-office. It’s especially attractive to startups and growing companies on a budget who still need a bit of everything.
A no-code automation tool that connects apps together, enabling automated workflows for everyday operations. With Zapier, a small business can, for example, automatically add form submissions to a Trello board, or sync new Shopify orders to an accounting sheet, without any coding. It supports 5,000+ apps. Essentially, Zapier acts as the glue between disparate SaaS tools, saving time and reducing manual data entry – critical for lean teams trying to streamline operations across multiple software.
A leading business intelligence and data visualization tool (now part of Salesforce). Tableau connects to various data sources (spreadsheets, databases, cloud services) and lets operations and analytics teams create interactive dashboards to monitor KPIs. Even a small business can use Tableau (or its free sibling Tableau Public) to visualize sales trends, operational efficiency metrics, or marketing funnels. It helps in making data-driven operational decisions by turning raw data into charts and graphs that highlight what’s going on.
Microsoft’s BI and data analysis platform, also targeted to business users. Power BI allows companies to aggregate data from Excel, databases, cloud apps etc., and build real-time dashboards. It’s included in many Office 365 plans, making it accessible to SMBs already using Microsoft. For operations, this means quick insights into anything measurable – e.g., tracking daily orders, support ticket volume, or production output in visual dashboards. Power BI’s integration with Excel is a bonus for those used to working in spreadsheets.
The leading electronic signature platform. DocuSign enables businesses to prepare, send, and obtain legally-binding signatures on documents digitally – speeding up agreements and eliminating paper. Operationally, nearly every department (sales contracts, vendor agreements, employee onboarding forms) benefits from e-signatures. For small businesses, using DocuSign means faster turnaround on contracts and a more professional, convenient experience for partners and clients signing documents remotely.
A widely-used customer support and helpdesk SaaS. From an operations standpoint, Zendesk helps businesses manage incoming customer inquiries across email, chat, and phone in one system, ensuring efficient and tracked responses. It provides a ticketing system, knowledge base, and performance metrics (e.g., response times). For an online business or any company with customer service as part of operations, Zendesk enables a high level of organization and better customer experience. (Many SMBs start with Zendesk Essentials for affordable support management.)
Freshdesk is a comparable customer support platform by Freshworks, often favored by SMBs for its generous free tier and ease. It converts customer emails or messages into tickets, offers canned responses, and has a gamified agent dashboard. Using Freshdesk, a small business can appear and operate like a much larger one in terms of support – nothing falls through the cracks and customers get timely responses. This improves operational reliability in customer-facing processes.
A no-code operational workflow platform that allows companies to build custom business applications (forms, databases, automation) without coding. Quickbase can be used to track project deliverables, manage facilities requests, or any number of niche workflows that don’t fit standard software. SMB operations managers often use Quickbase when they outgrow spreadsheets but can’t find an off-the-shelf tool for a specific process – they essentially create their own mini-ERP modules tailored to them.
