When navigating the complex world of finance technology for your small business, it’s crucial to hear from those at the helm. We’ve gathered fifteen insights, from choosing scalable financial solutions to valuing mobile accessibility in FinTech, shared by CEOs, Founders, and a COO, to guide you in making savvy decisions.
- Choose Scalable Financial Solutions
- Strategize FinTech Investments Wisely
- Prioritize Security in FinTech Choices
- Follow Accountant-Recommended Tech
- Select FinTech with Strong Integration
- Opt for User-Friendly Finance Tech
- Assess the Financial Impact
- Check Your Systems for Specific Needs
- Keep Finance Solutions Simple
- Choose Compliance-Centric FinTech
- Balance Services, Support, and Pricing
- Prefer Low-Code Financial Solutions
- Integrate FinTech with Existing Platforms
- Trust Industry-Standard Financial Tech
- Value Mobile Accessibility in FinTech
Choose Scalable Financial Solutions
Stick to easy-to-use and scalable solutions because one day, your small business might grow in complexity, and you’ll need to train staff on the solutions you select now.
For example, with your accounting software, make sure it’s easy to import data from different financial institutions. Tracking income and expenses for your business might be pretty straightforward today, but when you manage larger staff volumes and multiple departments, the task becomes considerably more challenging.
Scott Sidders
Co-Founder and CEO, Scott & Yanling Media Inc.
Strategize FinTech Investments Wisely
Always choose FinTech solutions that scale with your business. Investing in new tech can hit the wallet hard, so be strategic about your choices. Look at what’s happening at business events related to your industry for insights into what to purchase.
Ask yourself: What tech are similar companies using? Are they running into problems or finding out that some tech is about to be outdated? There’s always the chance that any fintech you buy might become outdated quicker than you’d like. If that happens, you’re stuck with costly gear you might need to ditch, repurpose, or offload.
One way to dodge this is by renting the latest hardware and staying up-to-date with advanced tech. But remember, renting isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution and has its own set of downsides.
Thomas Franklin
CEO and Co-Founder, Bitinvestor
Prioritize Security in FinTech Choices
The most important factor when selecting technology solutions for our startup is security. As we work in the Fintech industry, we know how important this is for any customer. You can accept fewer features or a clunkier design when choosing your favorite tech, but security should always be paramount.
Lori Shao
Founder and CEO, Finli
Follow Accountant-Recommended Tech
Go with what your accountant and other CPAs tell you. We use QBO because every small business accountant in the US is familiar with QBO and its functionality. Similarly, with payroll, since we are a bit more tech-focused, we use Rippling because our accountants are comfortable with its reporting structure.
Brandon Pindulic
President, Spacebar Ventures
Select FinTech with Strong Integration
It’s important to consider integrations when you select FinTech apps. You’ll often be in a situation where you need to transfer information from one app to another, and if there’s an integration available, you can often do this by just pressing a button. Otherwise, you might have to manually enter all the data from your records into the second app, which could take a while if you have to enter lots of transactions.
Eric Novinson
Founder, This Is Accounting Automation
Opt for User-Friendly Finance Tech
One crucial factor to consider when selecting finance technology solutions for your small business is the ease of use. It’s essential that the software or technology you choose is user-friendly and doesn’t require a steep learning curve to operate effectively. Your small business might not have the resources to invest in extensive training.
A tip for other small business owners would be to look for solutions that offer a free trial or demo. This gives you the opportunity to test out the software’s functionalities and see if it aligns with your business needs before making a financial commitment.
The goal is to streamline your financial processes, not complicate them. So, choose a solution that simplifies tasks like invoicing, tax preparation, payroll, and financial reporting, freeing up more time for you to focus on growing your business.
Michael Dion
Chief Finance Nerd, F9 Finance
Assess Financial Impact of Tech
Does the solution save 5x to 10x on my current labor cost for the task, or does the tool help me cover the cost by a factor of 3x or more? Some tools are meant to reduce costs; some are meant to increase revenues, so adjust your mental model accordingly.
Derek Capo
COO, Starquix.com
Check Your Systems for Specific Needs
Picking the right finance tech is key for small businesses. It must fit with our current systems to avoid errors and delays. My advice? Check your systems. Find what needs work. This guides you to the right tech. For example, if you handle many transactions, get tech that automates data entry.
Security is also vital. Look for data encryption and multi-factor authentication. Protecting financial information is a must for us and our clients.
In short, for small business owners, assess your needs, focus on integration and security, and pick scalable finance tech. This streamlines finances and aids your business growth.
Rick Young
Founder and COO, Promotional Product Inc.
Keep Finance Solutions Simple
KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid. I’ve witnessed many small businesses sign up for complex software but never got to properly train their team and implement it. When looking into any tool or software for your business, make sure that it is simple, intuitive, and easy to implement.
Isaac Gross
Amazon PPC Management CEO and Founder, IG PPC
Choose Compliance-Centric FinTech
We prioritize regulatory compliance when selecting financial technology solutions. Choose solutions that not only meet current industry standards but also demonstrate adaptability to changing healthcare regulations.
A finance platform, for example, should seamlessly integrate compliance checks for healthcare billing codes or privacy standards such as HIPAA. This ensures not only financial efficiency but also regulatory risk mitigation, which is critical in the healthcare sector. Prioritizing compliance-centric finance technology protects our operations, protects patient confidentiality, and builds trust in our commitment to both innovation and regulatory compliance.
Jason Tebeau
President and CEO, Da Vinci Medical
Balance Services, Support, and Pricing
When comparing services and customer support to pricing, the FinTech solution you choose should provide the services you need. You might need several services for your small business and choose a FinTech that can provide them. Because of neo-niching, you may find a different FinTech for every service if you want to. However, it is usually better to choose a company that can simultaneously give you the most services.
On the other hand, terrible customer service is another big reason people avoid certain companies. Before you choose a FinTech company, ensure that they have enough excellent reviews online. Also, find out how long it usually takes them to respond to any service request.
Price is vital when selecting the services you are getting, but it’s not the only thing you should consider. Don’t just look at the number; also think about how open the company is about its prices. Does it require a minimum payment amount? Does it charge a one-time fee to exchange money?
Lyle Solomon
Principal Attorney, Oak View Law Group
Prefer Low-Code Financial Solutions
One key factor to prioritize, especially for businesses with limited technical resources, is the availability of low-code or no-code solutions. This ensures that you can efficiently manage financial processes without extensive technical expertise.
In my experience, I opted for Stripe as the payment provider for my business because of its robust low- and no-code functionalities. This allowed me to effortlessly handle payment requests and invoicing, crucial aspects for any small business.
Additionally, it’s essential to align the chosen solution with your specific business needs. Consider whether you require features like a credit card reader or support for specific payment methods. Tailoring the technology to address your unique requirements ensures a seamless integration into your business operations.
Maksym Lushpenko
CEO and Co-Founder, Brokee
Integrate FinTech with Existing Platforms
We review so many tools for clients that I’ve learned firsthand how daunting and confusing the options can be. One key factor I consider is how integrated a solution is with other platforms we use, especially our CRM.
We’re a small team, but we need to be seamlessly syncing between systems so that we can avoid manually moving data; this is a reason why we chose an accounting platform that links contacts and sales directly with our HubSpot CRM.
Open API capabilities are also important for a customizable stack. Complex solutions that require heavy training don’t work for stretched small business owners. I need key insights accessible at a glance to make smart decisions. A bonus is if there are built-in KPI dashboards that surface trends. My advice is to prepare to be flexible; reevaluating solutions as your business evolves is crucial.
Robert Brandl
Founder and CEO, Email Tool Tester
Trust Industry-Standard Financial Tech
Over the last 20+ years of running my small business, and working with clients and partners in similar situations, finding the right tech stack for our financial operations has been a make-or-break area for financial success. I have tried the most innovative solutions, the most affordable solutions, and even some of the most expensive ones. At the end of the day, I’m rarely disappointed when I can base my tech stack on industry-standard solutions that offer at least 80% of the features I need.
Industry-standard solutions, e.g., ubiquitous software that owns at least a quarter of the market share in their sector, are generally easier to adopt and faster to implement. They also tend to offer better and higher-quality integrations with other software (e.g., sales or marketing systems), making day-to-day use easier. When it comes to training, if you’re using one of the industry standards, it’s also far easier to find and hire someone who already knows that solution.
Maryann Pfeiffer
Principal and Founder, 108 Degrees Digital Marketing
Value Mobile Accessibility in Fintech
Mobile accessibility is often overlooked when selecting finance technology solutions for small businesses. Having the ability to access financial information on the go can provide convenience and flexibility for business owners.
For example, with a mobile-accessible finance solution, an entrepreneur attending a networking event can quickly check sales figures, review invoices, or even process payments directly from their smartphone. This empowers business owners to stay on top of their finances, make informed decisions, and effectively manage their operations, even when they are away from the office.
Considering mobile accessibility as a factor ensures that your finance technology solution aligns with the demands of a modern and dynamic business environment.
Roy Lau
Co-Founder, 28 Mortgage
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Featured Image Credit: Photo by Nappy; Pexels
