A daunting yet rewarding task is to run a small business. Many questions cross the minds of the management, especially when it comes to spending on resources and optimal use of technology. A proper awareness coupled with the right tool does the trick. This increases the productivity as much as possible. These days, there are many free, freemium and premium tools readily available to easen the load on day-to-day activities. They come with ample features to bring out the best in their employees and effectively utilize the given time.
Top 10 Productivity Tools for Small Business
1) Evernote
This can be termed as a crossover between a note taking application and Microsoft Word alongside adding a tinge of Google Docs. Work chats and notes can be shared with other colleagues who team up with you on a job. Web pages can be clipped for future reference. You can sync your notes with other devices and can also work offline. The premium edition integrates many other features such as document and business card scanner etc. There is also a referral policy that helps you do upgrade to premium policy by referring others.
2) Tripit
This one is a boon for frequent travelers as it aids in creating a master travel itinerary. It’s an easy way to get real-time flight alerts collate all your travel plans to a single platform. This is a travel app that keeps up with you.
3) Asana
It is a web based SaaS designed for teams to track their work and improve team collaboration. The main focus of this software is to enable the users to manage projects without using email.
4) Basecamp
The most effective project management tool that offers a variety of customer service options such as to-do lists, text documents with wiki layouts, file sharing, tracking timelines and messaging. This also acts as a collaborative tool wherein you can share your work with other colleagues and top management.
5) Agile CRM
An All-in-one CRM that integrates Sales enablement with Marketing Automation. It has all you need to grow your business – sales enablement, contact management, marketing automation, sales gamification, telephony – calls and SMS, 2 way emails, form builders, email newsletters, social media, and integrations, and so much more! Agile CRM also comes with many plugins so as the businesses can seamlessly integrate other tools and view everything on a single platform.
6) Hootsuite
The most popular platform for managing social media for brand management. A cool dashboard feature gives the user interface to the system, and this supports all the major social network integrations.
The system’s user interface takes the form of a dashboard, and supports social network integrations for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, MySpace, WordPress etc.
7) TweetDeck
A social media dashboard application for real-time tracking, organizing, and engaging Twitter accounts on web and mobile devices. This tool’s interface is organized into columns – tweets, messages, notifications, lists and DMs can be seen on one screen and enables the user to do everything from a single dashboard.
8) QuickBooks
This accounting software package is an integration tool that helps you manage your finances, all at one place, and speed through everyday tasks like invoicing, book-keeping and billing. It offers on-premises and cloud-based accounting applications for bill payments and payroll functions.
9) DocuSign
A solution for all that never ending paperwork involved in a business. This is a digital option to create contracts, mail it to vendors or partners, and get a digital signature from them. These digitally signed documents can be used for contractual agreements, MOUs, tax forms, legal documents and many more.
10) Trello
Post-it notes have always been a cool way to take notes and communicate with others. Trello takes that forward into the internet world with a board of virtual post-it notes, allowing you to a perfect transition from content creation and management to distribution in an easy-to-use platform. Trello makes it easy to track the project flow.
Small and medium businesses can use these cost-effective tools and make them more productive. Some of them are free to use and few have a free trial period. Most of them follow a freemium model of business. It’s time for SMBs to embrace them and make the most of them.
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