The 8 forms every small business needs

Are you starting or running a small business? If so, you’re not alone. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, 99.9 percent of U.S. businesses qualified as small businesses.

If you’re looking for a way to run your company more efficiently and effectively, online small business forms can help. By putting the right forms to use, you can generate leads, collect orders, run surveys, track employee and customer feedback, and find the people you need to grow your business. Best of all, templates of the forms you need to do this work are available online — often for free.

How small business forms can help your business grow

Small business forms allow you to collect information and organize it easily. Automating these processes frees up your time and energy to focus on meeting customers’ needs and growing your business. 

To help your business grow, here are our top eight types of small business forms to use, along with Jotform templates for each.

1. Lead generation forms

Encourage potential new customers to connect with your company. Tools like Jotform’s email signup form template make it easy for customers to add themselves to mailing lists and seek more information. Use the call back form template to track interactions with potential and existing customers.

2. Project proposals forms

Need someone to complete a specialized project for you? A free project proposal template can help you gather and sort information from prospective vendors and contractors. If you offer services like consulting, Jotform’s consulting proposal template can help you get to know prospective clients and their needs in an organized way.

3. Order, appointment, and registration forms

Convert prospects into paying customers easily with one of Jotform’s product order form templates. Help them sign up for your services with appointment request templates and enroll them in your offerings with a variety of registration form options. Add your company’s brand assets and voice to offer a consistent experience for every visitor.

4. Customer feedback forms

Customers love to feel heard — and hearing what they have to say can help you improve your offerings and expand your business. Customer service and feedback form templates help you ensure you’re collecting relevant information from your customers so you and your team can put it to use.

5. Employee and contractor feedback forms

Getting feedback from customers helps you improve your offerings. Getting feedback from those who help your business run, like your employees and contractors, helps ensure you’re building a strong internal culture that supports customer satisfaction and ongoing success.

Use an employee feedback form template to gather this information. You can also use free Jotform templates to support your workers, with forms like training applications for professional development.

6. Regulatory compliance forms

Complying with regulations may call for obtaining and maintaining large amounts of information, whether you’re tracking accident reports or vaccination records. Online small business forms can make this work easier by helping you gather and sort information quickly.

7. Job applications and exit interview forms

Whether you’re seeking new employees or saying goodbye to departing ones, customizable online small business forms can help you build a complete picture of your hiring process. Tailor job application forms to roles so you gather relevant information and don’t have to sift through information you don’t need. Exit interview forms can help HR teams gather information from departing workers.

8. Employee leave and other HR forms

Need a more organized way to manage employee vacation or leave requests? Small business forms like leave request templates can help you gather all the information you require the first time. Your employees can focus on their work, and you can process their requests more efficiently. 

How to build your business with online small business forms: A quick-start guide

Many small businesses handle tasks like lead generation, reporting, and HR duties “on the fly” at first. Over time, however, improvised processes don’t keep up with the business’s needs.

By implementing online small business forms early on, you can standardize many business processes. These processes will scale as your business grows, without adding extra costs.

When you put Jotform’s small business forms to work, you can

• Integrate with software you may already use, like Google Drive and WordPress
• Save money and resources by eliminating paper forms
• Reach more customers and help your employees get work done with digital form access
• Deploy A/B testing and segmented marketing campaigns through custom forms
• Easily align customizable forms to your brand

Small business forms offer a host of customization opportunities for little to no up-front cost — making them ideal for any small business.

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash