Anyone who says their business "runs itself" probably owes a great debt of gratitude to a small army of software applications and Web services that tirelessly feeds the machine from behind the scenes. From creating and storing documents and staying on top of e-mail to keeping the books and getting teams working together, it takes a lot of code to run a business, or at least to run it well. But setting up your company isn't as easy as just fishing apps out of a barrel. You want the best you can get, and at a price that isn't through the roof.
With capability and frugality firmly in mind, we rounded up 25 of our favorite software tools and Web services that we deem the best for powering small and medium-size businesses. Of course, not every business needs every type of program or service, but if your small business could use some help in any of the categories below, our list will give you a pretty good shot at picking a winner.
Accounting Software
The flowchart-based accounting of QuickBooks is as close to a standard in financial management as the small-business world has, and it's arguably the easiest way for nonprofessionals to transfer their books from the filing cabinet to the computer, where they belong. Most actions, from cutting a check to billing a client, are just a click or two away from the start screen. ($200)
Backup and Recovery
You can (and should) regularly back up files to an external hard drive or NAS (network-attached storage) device in your office--but what if the whole place goes up in smoke? Hedge your bet with an online backup service like Mozy, which automatically archives whatever you'd like across the Internet, safe and sound. Just select what you want backed up, and Mozy does the rest, either in bulk while you sleep, or in real time, as files are changed. ($5 per month for unlimited service)
Blogging Tool
If your business still doesn't have a blog--one of the best ways around to provide up-to-date company and product news--you're only about three years behind the curve. Hey, it's not too late to catch up: WordPress installs in minutes (it even offers a free, hosted option on WordPress.com), and the platform is dazzlingly easy to use (the site's home page carries an ad for WordPress for Dummies, but we doubt you'll need to crack that volume). WordPress so simple, your team will be begging to contribute to the blog instead of whining that it's too laborious. (free)
Calendar
Mozilla's Thunderbird (our e-mail pick; see that category below) lacks a calendar, so most business users rely on the equally free Sunbird for scheduling. It's a very straightforward application, with day, week, and month views, and even a publishing feature to enable sending your calendar to a Web site, should you wish to make it public. Get the Lightning plug-in to integrate Sunbird directly with Thunderbird. (free)
Collaboration
With Vyew, anyone can host an Internet session that lets scattered colleagues work together on a project in real time. This Web conferencing platform gives you a very simple whiteboard where you can upload documents for discussion, share your desktop, or create designs from scratch. You don't even have to register to use Vyew, but if you do, you get access to VoIP and other audio services. (free for up to 20 live participants; additional services extra)
Collaboration/Office Suite
If your team members all have Google accounts (and why wouldn't they?), sharing files and collaborating on them simultaneously and in real-time is a snap with Google Docs. A word processor and spreadsheet are your only choices--no free-form whiteboarding here--but the service is free and easy as pie to operate. Upgrading to the Premier Edition brings extra space (a 25GB limit versus 7GB for free) and a conference-room scheduling system. (Standard Edition is free)
CRM
Comments
Great list! I use 99% of these myself for my freelance operations. If I might add one to the pile: TSheets. I use TSheets to track billable hours and to manage my own personal time. Their reporting features are great, and I recently found their app to go along with my shiny new iPhone. Great stuff.
http://www.tsheets.com
For a completely impartial review of your business tariff, speak to the Mobile Advice Bureau, they deal with only the top 5% of mobile phone dealers and the networks themselves to find the best deal for your requirements. You can also stipulate which networks you want to consider (so that you dont get sold anything you dont want). The advice is completely free and impartial and if they cant save you any money whilst using a reputable company then they wont send anyone to see you! Only available in the UK (not US sorry) their web address is www.mobileadvicebureau.co.uk
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You may also never forget to use a lead tracking software especially if you have leads to maintain. This is very important as you want to make sure that you don't get to lose one potential client or customer simply because you fail to make a follow-up or put a good amount of attention over their interest in what you're offering. With the kind of competition there is on the Internet (it's a dog-eat-dog world out there), you have to keep close watch over your leads. You can read more about what I'm talking about at Lead Tracking Info (http://www.leadtracking-info.com).
The list can be useful, but I think the author should have pointed to other options too. Just name some alternatives for each category. The thing is there're no best or worst tools, they are all imperfect. Each business finds the one that's best for it. Basecamp is a great tool, but it offers its own philosophy that might not suit some companies. Millions of business people use emails today, and email will remain the most popular communication tool. Basecamp does not leverage this fact, but tools like Wrike do.
Another online note-taking/wiki application you might wanna try out is Springnote (http://springnote.com/en). It’s a free hosted service with 2GB of file storage. On top of that, it comes with an easy wysiwyg editor - no need to know markup at all. Just like Confluence, it has search, tagging, page categorization/hierarchy, and file exporting. It’s already been covery by many famous media entities, like Lifehacker, ReadWriteWeb, and WebWorkerDaily. Definitely worth a look!
Don't forget www.tablists.com for online to do lists; and the best addin for Outlook 2007, OutlookTrackit, makes keeping track of emails you send to others a breeze.
If you'd like a tool for managing your projects, you can try this application inspired by David Allen's GTD:
http://www.Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version and iCal are available too.
Hope you like it.
That's a great list of useful tools - but be aware that for $5 a month you will only get the personal version of Mozy (MozyHome). This version specifically excludes backing up business data. MozyPro is the business version and is significantly more expensive.
Another option is to use Angel Backup for your online backup solution. Business data is permitted, it works out cheaper than MozyPro and comes highly recommended.
I think it's an interesting feature...,
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