Digital tools….
We’re not going to lie, it’s not long ago that one of your entrepreneur friends asked you how you managed your business with pen and paper. But you’re fine with your printouts, your habits, your files and folders…
What if… rather than waiting for that famous Tuesday when your assistant presents you with the latest figures… you could simply display all your reports in 2 clicks? Take a look at your receivables, your most important customer of the month, or pull up a chart of your next 3 years, extrapolated from past years? This is what we call digitalization, the use of digital tools to speed up your processes, improve your vision and boost your productivity.
Rest assured, we’re far from replacing your assistant (I’d be the first to be saddened). It’s all about making day-to-day life easier, so that you and your team can make the most of all your skills.
What is digitization?
Let’s take it one step at a time. Before jumping in with both feet, breaking the bank and doing a bit of random consulting, let’s take the time to understand all the ins and outs.
According to our french national Larousse dictionary, digitization is the process of transforming a company’s services (financial, commercial) through increased use of information technology.
So there you have it…
From my point of view, digitization means implementing digital tools within your company. You really need to see this as an opportunity for development and enhancement.
Of course, “you’re used to operating in a certain way, it’s always worked, and after all, there’s no real gain in switching to digital tools? And besides, you don’t really like it.”
The potential of digital tools
But just imagine the possibilities with digital tools:
- Identify all customer receivables and due dates in less than a minute;
- Trace the entire history of communications, whatever they may be, with a particular contact, supplier or customer;
- Create an invoice in seconds, thanks to automatic integration of all information;
- Etc.
In fact, there are as many possibilities as there are actions within a company.
Digital tools will enable you to make many changes tomorrow:
- Reduce operational costs: save time, save money. By using digital tools such as automation tools, your teams will be more efficient.
- Boost creativity and innovation: reduce time spent on “boring” tasks, and concentrate on higher value-added tasks. Make time for strategy, creativity and innovation.
- Go faster, and therefore further: by improving processes and boosting your teams, catch your competitors off guard. Show your new capacity for innovation and adaptability to the needs of the future.
- Increase your resilience: thanks to your new digital tools, adapt quickly to new developments. Anticipate future problems and propose appropriate solutions.
Legislation
The only reason to start using digital tools. In fact, it’s similar for all companies in France and pretty straightforward: compliance with the french law.
- January 1, 2018: As of January 1, 2018, all VAT-registered professionals recording customer payments using cash register software or systems are required to use secure, certified hardware
- January 1, 2020: As of January 1, 2020,electronic invoicing has become mandatory for all companies working on public procurement contracts.
According to independent.io, in 2024, to put it simply, the use of invoicing software – and certified invoicing software at that – is mandatory if you :
- record payments on it
- are subject to VAT;
- invoice (solely or among others) private individuals through the sale of goods or the provision of BtoC services.
And that’s not even mentioning the laws whose implementation is still to come,
Case study: Implementing digital tools to improve your sales processes
Every company has its own specific needs. However, I’ve decided to approach digitalization through the implementation of several tools that can be adapted to a wide range of French SMEs. These digital tools offer sufficient customization and flexibility to adapt to your business and evolve with it.
Here are the 3 complementary tools I suggest you use to start digitizing your business:
- Evoliz : French invoicing and pre-accounting software with both NF 203 and NF 525 certifications.
- Hubspot : CRM (sales tool) for optimizing customer relations thanks to its sales and marketing departments.
- Zapier : automation software for linking other tools together.
There are many other possibilities and subjects to be addressed with digitalization. I’ve chosen to start with these 3 tools, because they can easily change the day-to-day running of your business. I’ll start from the premise that you have the clie
Why Evoliz as your first digital tool?
There are dozens of invoicing software programs out there: French or not, free or not… and it’s not always easy to find your way around. I’ve tested a number of tools in the course of my experiments:
- Henrri: a free French digital invoicing tool that I started out with. It’s very complete and really gets you started. It’s particularly well suited to freelancers.
- Facture.net: free French invoicing tool, I still use it daily for one of my companies.
- Tiime : French invoicing tool, free for invoicing but you can go further. Tiime is easy to use with its applications.
- Pennylane ( contact me for a one-month free trial): full-featured, French, pay-per-use management (and of course invoicing) tool, linked to accounting firms. My all-time favorite, I use it every day.
- Sellsy: management tool (and invoicing tool, of course), French, comprehensive, pay-as-you-go. A very powerful and customizable tool.
- etc.
Evoliz, the billing tool
And today, I’m highlighting Evoliz, simply because it’s my latest discovery. I’m in the middle of integrating the tool for one of my customers.
After re-evaluating a number of tools, I chose Evoliz because I was convinced by the team support it offers. You can ask for a presentation before creating your account. You can then test the tool for a month, calling on the teams via chat or for an appointment. Finally, you can request an appointment to pre-configure the tool according to your needs, to avoid wasting time setting it up.
Evoliz offers several types of subscription. The basic rate is €13.50 ex VAT (invoiced by the year).
Evoliz enables you to :
- Create quotes and invoices;
- Manage your company’s products/services with a high level of detail;
- Manage customers in great detail:
- Determine customer-specific VAT rates;
- Define payment terms for each customer;
- Create company-specific parameters;
- Create customized invoice and quotation templates (a little CSS/HTML knowledge can help);
- Generate pre-designed or self-created reports;
- Link to other digital tools.
What’s more, Evoliz can generate invoices in several languages and currencies. This is of particular interest to small businesses operating in an international context.
A second digital tool: Hubspot
Drum roll for the CRM of your entrepreneurial life! As with invoicing tools, there are many CRMs to suit your needs and constraints.
Without a doubt, in my humble opinion, Hubspot takes the prize for accessibility, while offering a vast array of complementary solutions. What’s more, the functionalities presented are available free of charge, and you can also subscribe to options depending on your company’s needs.
As a first step, it may be useful to tackle Hubspot from a business point of view:
- Create your customer and company database (suppliers too);
- Track all your exchanges and communications with the various players involved;
- Set up specific properties on your company files so you can track information specific to your company.
You can also go much further:
- plan your emailing campaigns via Hubspot ;
- set up an online appointment scheduling tool (which you can display in your e-mail signatures or on your website ;
- etc.
If you don’t want to multiply your digital tools, Hubspot can help you create quotes and invoices.
And our latest digital tool: Zapier
As you probably know if you use digital tools on a daily basis, they don’t necessarily communicate with each other.
Well, here’s some great news: there’s a tool to govern them all! Welcome to the wonderful world of Zapier.
Zapier is an automation tool that lets you work with triggers on the same tool, or trigger actions between different tools. For example: every time someone likes your post X, add them to your contacts. Or by imagining a link between several tools, every time you publish on your company blog, publish the information on your Google My Business page.
I’ll leave you to imagine the potential of this tool, but above all the time it saves: take shortcuts and avoid the need for someone on your team to enter the information.
If you’d like to discover 47 automations that could change your daily life, click here.
And what do we do with these 3 digital tools?
It’s true that you might be thinking, “I’m not revolutionizing your world yet. You already have an invoicing tool and even a CRM, so why change?
In a nutshell: simplification, automation, fewer errors or oversights.
Your accounting software can’t talk to your CRM at the moment – unless you already have automations in place, or it’s the same tool. So I suggest you enhance your CRM.
- You create a quote on Evoliz
- Zapier takes the creation into account
- Zapier transmits the information to Hubspot
- In your customer’s company dashboard, you now see the quote you’ve created.
Another start-up scenario
- You create a company on Hubspot
- Zapier detects the creation
- Zapier sends the information to Evoliz
- All the information entered in Hubspot is added to Evoliz, enabling you to create quotes and invoices for this customer.
It’s also possible to work on updating specific information, generating notifications, sending emails based on given information… The possibilities are many and varied, and can make a real contribution to your company.
If you wish, we can study and work on the tools you need today.
Conclusion: digital tools, let’s take the plunge
In conclusion, the digitalization of business processes is the lifeblood of your company and its development. It’s important to understand your company’s specific needs, study the solutions available and implement digital tools that deliver real added value.
By adopting digital tools such as Evoliz, Hubspot and Zapier, you can not only improve your operational efficiency and productivity, but also strengthen your ability to adapt to change and your resilience in the face of future challenges.
Digitization, moreover, offers tangible benefits in terms of reducing costs, stimulating innovation and ensuring regulatory compliance, making this transition an essential step.
Ultimately, going digital represents much more than a simple modernization of work tools, but rather a profound transformation opportunity to optimize performance and unleash your company’s growth potential.
