Getting a business up and running from the ground is no walk in the park. To ensure that you’re running your business most efficiently, you can use a variety of tools. These tools include cloud and web apps that help simplify daily tasks and even conduct specialized practices.
You can choose any type of app to help run the business but ensure that you’re selecting ones that are absolutely necessary for operations specific to yours. What options can you choose from? There is a wide range but here are the top 12 free apps and tools that help run a small business successfully:
1. Evernote
Evernote is the ultimate productivity tool that helps organize your day and tasks, just like a personal assistant would. With this tool, you can keep track of all tasks you are undertaking and manage them efficiently. Another feature of this free tool is creating to-do lists with reminders that help complete tasks on time.
Additionally, you can use Evernote to store important information in written form or other media like images of voice notes. Because of this feature, you can Evernote to brainstorm ideas anywhere, even when you’re on the move.
There are numerous ways to use this tool and most likely, you’ll find it useful on a daily basis, especially since small business owners can’t afford to hire a personal assistant. If you would like more benefits, this free tool also has premium subscription plans available.
2. Wave Financial
Wave Financial can help small businesses manage their finances much better with invoicing and recordkeeping. You can budget much more efficiently with this tool because it keeps track of all incoming and outgoing money in real-time.
To make your life simpler, you do not have to deal with number crunching, but instead, you’ll work with a simplified dashboard. This dashboard can help you get a snapshot view of all finances within is a certain period.
The software reviews state that since the dashboard comes with great visualizations, it can also be used on periodic financial reports. You can also manage payroll and other payments with Wave Financial, all in an automated manner.
Business owners can also create recurring invoices for long-standing clients that have signed a contract. The invoices can be customized to include a specific color scheme and company logo.
3. TripIt
TripIt is the perfect tool for small business owners that require travelling every now and then. With this tool, you can plan all details of the trip and have a travel itinerary all in one central place.
Business owners have the flexibility of booking wherever they would like to without worrying about limitations or restrictions of TripIt. You will get helpful reminders all in one place and this helps make travelling a whole lot easier and bearable.
Another great benefit of using this tool is managing your time efficiently. You will know exactly where to be at what time. By issuing reminders of when to leave for the airport or to check out, or when the next meeting is due, TripIt plays the role of a personal assistant. You can even get local restaurant suggestions if you’re not sure where to grab a bite.
4. Hubspot CRM
Hubspot CRM has been hailed as one of the most efficient tools for managing relationships with customers efficiently. By using Hubspot CRM, business owners can identify any inefficiency in the customer journey they have created.
The tool uses various data sources to offer data-driven business intelligence regarding managing relationships with customers.
You can get KPI metric performance results in a visualized dashboard and the efficacy of the sales pipeline. Business owners can generate periodical reports that should be used to spot the performance of their sales campaigns.
You can also track email marketing campaigns and see if they are fulfilling their purpose. All of the features of Hubspot CRM are completely free without any hidden fees that might arise as time goes on.
5. PandaDoc
PandaDoc helps small businesses manage their documents with greater efficiency and easier accessibility. This facilitates the high demand for reliable document management apps amongst small businesses.
There are several useful features that this app has like the quick and easy signing of documents using eSignatures. Another benefit is creating modernistic documents by simply using drag and drop functionalities.
You can create beautiful documents that contribute to positive sales tactics and promote professionalism. There are different types of documents that can be created and managed with PandaDoc including proposals, contracts, and stunning marketing content.
In all of these cases, your documents will be professionally presented with a modernistic touch by using the latest design elements available on this tool. There are other premium subscription plans you can buy if the need arises.
6. Slack
Slack is one of the leading communication apps that help small businesses manage their workforce. The greatest feature of this tool is that you can manage a remote workforce or even ad-hoc personnel such as graphic designers and so forth. A lot of businesses use the tool on a daily basis to manage team conversations and collaborate on projects.
Another feature that makes this tool perfect is its responsive design. You can use it on both mobile and desktop devices seamlessly. That allows working on the go. You get up to 5GB of storage when you’re using the free version, which is quite a lot of space.
Various media types can be shared on Slack including PDF files, documents, pictures, video, and audio recordings. Small business owners can create team chats consisting of their staff or freelancers.
7. Zapier
Zapier can help small businesses using a wide range of tools to manage them much more efficiently at a central location. You can get an automated workflow that unifies all communication to one platform.
For example, this tool can automatically copy an attachment from Gmail to Dropbox and notify you about this on Slack. Business owners can customize their workflows depending on the tools they are using.
You do not have to pay exorbitant prices to get an automation tool because Zapier can do this for free. The great news is you will have the option of upgrading at any time if you’re in need of a more advanced workflow.
You can integrate more than 2,000 apps to automate a custom workflow that works best for you. Some of the tools that can be integrated with Zapier include Google Suite, Gmail, Slack, Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and thousands of others.
8. Canva
Canva unlocks a whole new world of creativity where you can create stunning visual content such as posters, documents, infographics, and other designs.
The best part is you do not need extensive experience in graphic design. All you need to get yourself started on designing using Canva is inspiration, determination, and a computer.
There are no hidden costs but this tool is free forever. The way Canva has been designed, it makes designing very simple and user-friendly. That is why you can get a design done within a matter of minutes without any prior design experience. You can use available free templates or start a design from scratch of whatever kind as per your business requirements.
9. Buffer
Buffer can be used by busy small business owners that do not have the time to slow down and post on social media channels frequently. Sometimes things get so busy to the extent that business owners can’t take away time for their social media marketing strategy.
To ensure that you do not fall short in this crucial aspect of digital marketing, schedule posts. In this way, you can designate one day to create the content and scheduling it. Afterwards, the posts will be automatically posted.
Buffer does this for free across a variety of social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, amongst others. Buffer also offers analytical data for a successful marketing campaign.
10. Trello
Trello is the ultimate free tool that helps manage projects efficiently and give priority to important tasks. This tool is very flexible and allows you to do project management the way you’re expecting it to be. You can manage simple everyday tasks with this tool and share the schedule with other team members for collaboration. Additionally, Trello allows you to leverage reporting to track results by importing Trello to Excel.
This can help outline the goals of each day and allow team members to know what the other colleague is doing to avoid the repetition of tasks. This tool can also be scaled and used on high-end projects that need to be managed efficiently and seamlessly. Trello promotes working collaboratively as a team and prioritizing tasks.
11. Appointy
Appointy is the perfect tool for small businesses to automate their appointment scheduling and manage their business. This software can help you save time spent on back-and-forth emails and phone calls for scheduling appointments.
With smart inbuilt marketing tools and integrations with popular tools like Zoom, Facebook, Instagram, Reserve with Google, Stripe, and more, Appointy has all the features you’ll need to run your business smoothly and achieve growth.
You can automate their admin work and manage their staff schedules from a single platform with Appointy. You can send automated reminders to customers, set your own booking rules, track your sales and profits, store all customer details in the same place, and more!
With Appointy’s Android & iOS mobile app you can carry your business in your pocket and manage everything on the go! Of course, you can always use a service scheduling program or WordPress appointment plugin.
12. EzClocker
EzClocker is a highly rated time tracking and scheduling app for small businesses. Ideal for small teams who need a simple to use app that works within their budget. One of the reason’s ezClocker is highly rated on the AppStore is it’s a simple design where even a non-tech person can figure out how to use it.
For time tracking, employees can use ezClocker iOS or Android apps to clock in or out. The app also has support for GPS location where you can verify employees clocked in at the correct location.
If the employer wishes employees to use one device then ezClocker offers a kiosk app where all employees can sign in using a PIN number. Ideal if you have a group of employees working at one job location. ezClocker also has advanced settings where you can restrict employees from clocking in early, report overtime and labour job cost calculation.
The Bottom Line
You can get any of these 12 apps for free from their website and even the app store. These tools can help you communicate efficiently with employees, manage projects better, create financial records with ease, and even have access to travel itineraries in a centralized location. Additionally, you can use tools like Zapier to unify all the apps you’re using for your businesses and create a unified workflow.
Justin Osborne is a writer at law essay writing service, he loves to share his thoughts and opinions about education, writing and blogging with other people on different blogs and forums. Currently, he is working as a content marketer at bestessays.com.