17 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
17 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Must-have tools for small business (A quick read)

by Bharathipriya
12 replies
Hi,

Here's a quick post that compiles must-have tools to improve small business productivity. Share the tools that you use, if missed.

Task management:

By using a task management tool, you can see a visualized roadmap of your team's tasks, set up a deadline and get things done as required.



Tools that I recommend: Trello, Asana & Zoho Projects.

Help desk management:

By using a proper help desk management tool, you can get all your customer queries resolved on time and improve customer experience.



Tools that I recommend: ServiceDesk Plus & Zoho Desk

Outsourcing:

For a small business, cost can be saved through outsourcing any work, instead of hiring a full-time resource to stick with the budget.



Tools that I recommend: Upwork & Fiverr

Word processing & copywriting

Good website copy is essential for your business reputation and brand visibility.



Tools that I recommend: Grammarly, Hemingway editor & Zoho Docs

Social media automation

Keeping yourself engaged in social media and responding to customer's questions is a vital part of business management.



Tools that I recommend: Buffer, Hootsuite & Zoho Social

Graphic designing:

When your designer is busy, you may need to get things done all by yourselves. In such cases, these tools can help you much better.



Tools that I recommend : Canva & Sketch

Analytics:

Without analytics, you can't derive the path that your business is leading to and measure every course of action.



Tools that I recommend: Google Analytics, Crazy egg & Zoho Pagesense

Email marketing

Email marketing is proven to the best method to reach your prospects or customers.



Tools that I recommend: Mailchimp & Zoho Campaigns

Finance

You get to understand the importance of having all your financials in order when the tax season is around.



Tools that I recommend: Quickbooks & Zoho Books

Free images

You don't need to create images all on your own for your website. There are tools that can provide you with the tons of free stock images.



Tools that I recommend: Dreamstime & Unsplash

Do share the tools that you use to improve your business productivity. Happy reading!
#business #musthave #quick #read #small #tools
  • Profile picture of the author Bharathipriya
    Adding one more toolset here.

    Fonts

    It's required to add custom fonts to your website that suits your business type. A perfect font for your business sticks to the reader's mind and helps in brand visibility.



    Tools that I recommend: Google Fonts, Type Kit & DaFont.
    Signature
    >> The beginners guide to IT help desk software <<
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11369193].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    After a year and a half with Asana, we've ditched it in favor of Teamwork.

    Teamwork can turn task lists into gantt charts automatically. It has an internal chat feature that let us get rid of Slack, too.

    We use ActiveCampaign not only as an autoresponder but CRM as well. Nice to have that built-in email integration...not present in many CRMs.

    One point I stress when these kinds of threads come up:

    It's not just about the tool. It's about how you will use the tool. We got six months into using Asana and realized the workflows we'd created just weren't doing what we wanted them to. So we replaced them with new ones. And that was quite a bit of work. The tool stayed the same. How we used it changed. You will have to figure this out yourself, for every app. It's not just plug and play and the same for every user.
    Signature
    >> How To Grow Your Online Business [FREE Training Video, No Opt-In, from 10+ Year Vet]

    >> For Agency Founders: The Fast Shortcut To Selling SEO, Leadgen, Webdesign & Other Services
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11369272].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Bharathipriya
    It's not just about the tool. It's about how you will use the tool. We got six months into using Asana and realized the workflows we'd created just weren't doing what we wanted them to. So we replaced them with new ones. And that was quite a bit of work. The tool stayed the same. How we used it changed. You will have to figure this out yourself, for every app. It's not just plug and play and the same for every user.
    Jason Kanigan, Thanks for sharing the tools that you use. Agree with your thoughts. Until we implement and try any tool in our own work environment, we can't decide whether the tool is certainly useful to our business. Demands differ and so the implementation and usage. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
    Signature
    >> The beginners guide to IT help desk software <<
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11369287].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Adelsten
    [DELETED]
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11373633].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Zoho is so cool. Enjoy it for storing stuff virtually while using my Chromebook.
    Signature
    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11373664].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author ashwinsd
    For email marketing other than most popular Aweber and getresponse, I would recommend ConvertKit, simple with good features.
    Signature
    Revenue Sharing World
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11373781].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nvw112
    For those in eCommerce, I've found Google Trends to always be helpful.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11374948].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author reneet
    Very inclusive and practical. Thank you.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11455905].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author reneet
      just think of a CRM tool can be added to the list. Zdoo. It is open source.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11455906].message }}

Trending Topics