Free Web Tools For Your Small Business
Free Web Tools For Your Small Business
We have researched, tested, and reviewed some free software and web tool alternatives that can save time and money for many small- to medium-sized businesses. From project management systems to accounting software, here are some top options to help you run your business smoothly while staying within your budget.
Most people are familiar with Gmail personal email accounts. There is also a business version of Gmail for the small business owner, which allows you 10 free user accounts before you have to begin paying for additional accounts. The business version of Gmail allows you to setup your email address using your website’s name (i.e. contact @choosewhat.com). You must verify that you own the website and have the website set up to “point” emails at Gmail, which is a fairly easy process. There is nothing you need to download in order to begin using Gmail for your small business. Gmail is very easy to use and intuitive, and your Google account also gives you access to several great apps, such as Google Documents, Calendars, and Groups.
WaveAccounting is excellent online accounting software for small businesses and has the ability to handle complex accounting entries if necessary. Wave Accounting is extremely user friendly and is designed for the small business owner who has little accounting knowledge. This tool is easy to understand and offers a very easy setup process. The Wave Accounting tool can import your bank and credit card transactions and supports almost 10,000 financial institutions, such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo. While this tool isn’t as feature-rich as Quickbooks, Wave Accounting can handle the needs of most businesses that have fewer than 10 employees and is a great free accounting option.
OrangeHRM is a free human resource solution that works great for small to medium-sized businesses. Downloading the software is very easy, and a setup wizard is provided, as well as video tutorials for those who need further assistance. Download options are available for Windows and Linux systems and should also work on Mac OS once you set the AMP stack properly. The interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate, which makes setting up your employee information very easy. It also gives you the option to import/export your data. This tool is feature-rich and offers features like time tracking, personal information management, benefit management, and customized reports. You can transfer information in and out using other applications. The only feature this tool lacks is the ability to do any payroll or accounting tasks.
IDrive Online Backup Software is another great, free tool that gives you up to 5 GB of free space to back up your data online. This software runs on Windows and Mac OS, and the download process is quick and easy. While they do not provide a setup wizard, IDrive has a very intuitive and easy-to-use interface. You have the option of setting up your backup on a timed schedule, continuous/automatic schedule, or manually selected schedule. Features provided include scheduled backups, a search function, a “timeline restore” to view and restore data from a certain timeline, mobile phone access, and secure file sharing, among many others. The tool is compatible with iPhones and Androids. The only down side is that if you need more space you will have to upgrade to the paid service, but each employee can download and set up his or her own online backup system with up to 5 GB of free online backup space per person.
OpenOffice.org version 3.3.0 is a great free alternative to Microsoft Office and runs on both Windows and Mac operating systems. The software comes with the whole Office-like package that includes a word processor, spreadsheets, presentations creator, and a drawing feature. Installation and setup is straightforward and painless and requires very little time. The interface is very similar to that of Microsoft Office, and it’s very easy to learn and manipulate. If you are looking for an option to save you some serious cash, OpenOffice Office Suite is a great tool to use.
TeamLab Project Management software provides an excellent project management solution for small businesses and is available for both Windows and Mac OS. This is an online solution with a quick and easy registration process. The tool is very intuitive and easy to manipulate: it is easy to import data, create projects, build teams, set milestones, and generate reports. With the Business Collaboration tool you can do a variety of tasks that include assigning tasks, tracking projects and generating reports. You can also create blog and forum posts and share photos, bookmarks etc. This tool provides you with up to 10 GB of storage space and limits you to a file upload size of 10 MB. You may have to delete some of your stored information to make room for new files if you don’t want to upgrade to the paid version, but this is an excellent, free project management system.
MailChimp offers a free, online email marketing software option that we recommend using for your small business or startup. The free plan is limited to 2,000 contacts and up to 12,000 emails per month, which is enough for any small business getting started with email marketing. Since the tool is online, you don’t need to download or install anything and only need to create an account on their website. You are able to import contacts from Excel, Salesforce, and Outlook as a CSV file. All the features you need are available, like an autoresponder, social media integration, A/B testing, and a spam checker. MailChimp integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and their reports integrate with Google Analytics to track readers’ traffic from your email campaign. MailChimp also offers a mobile application for smartphone users. They also provide a forum and FAQs for further help.
If you are a small business owner who needs to build a business website, then Yola is an excellent option for you. Yola’s
free website builder provides an extremely intuitive and easy-to-use interface, which makes setting up your website quick and easy. This builder comes with over 100 professionally designed website templates and lets you publish up to 5 websites using their excellent on-screen guidance and setup help. While the free version does not let you select your own domain name, you can host your website using a sub-domain of Yola. For example, instead of yourwebsite.com, you would have yourwebsite.yola.com. Yola provides 1 GB of total file storage and allows you to upload file sizes of up to
ClickBook Appointment Scheduler is a great scheduling tool for small business owners, especially dentists or doctors, therapists, hair stylists, and spa/beauty salon owners. ClickBook offers several great features, such as a customer database, Smart Scheduling, and repeat appointment functions. ClickBook runs on both Windows and Mac OS and does not require you to download any software. The setup process is very easy, and you are guided through the steps for filling out your company details, preferences, and services. ClickBook allows you to import your address books from AOL, Yahoo, Outlook, and Gmail, among other email services, and lets you send emails out to all of your clients or customers informing them of your new online booking services. The drawbacks to the free version are that you cannot automatically send appointment reminders to your customers and must do that manually, and that you can book only three months of customers at a time.
inDinero is a great, easy-to-use free online financial management software/tool designed to help small- to medium-sized businesses manage their finances. inDinero helps you manage the financial health of your small business through a combination of manual financial data entry and automatic data importing from your bank statements and credit cards. This tool works on both Window and Mac OS, is easy to download, and has an interface that is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Features of the tool include a dashboard showing incoming and outgoing monies, profits/losses, and your cash balance from the last few months. The budget tab allows you to view your budget and can be broken down by categories to allow you to see each individual transaction. Several other features provide you with a comprehensive overview of your business finances.
inDinero will instantly generate reports, eliminate data entry, and automatically categorize your transactions. The only con to this online business tool is that you are unable to create custom categories and you can only store 3 months worth of transactions. If you want more than 3 months of data stored, you have to record and store this data elsewhere or upgrade to the paid version.
https://indinero.com/
