If you’ve started or are running a small business, you are likely to have a natural curiosity, ‘can-do’ attitude and willingness to try anything. But, with the daily demands of business come a few hurdles, including a lack of time. Trying new things gets harder.
Not to worry: Small business owners can look to other sources that have spent the time finding new solutions, trying them out and making recommendations. A list of must-have tools for small business was featured recently on forbes.com, and it’s a good one. Contributor Tanya Prive assembled the list with an eye toward tools all small business owners can (and should) be using to help reach their business potential. Read all the details here, but in the meantime, here’s a quick synopsis.
Google Analytics. As a small business owner, you’ve got to harness the power of numbers, quantifying things like your website traffic and the breakdown of your target audience. Google Analytics makes this not only possible but easy, with easy-to-understand charts and graphs.
EchoSign. EchoSign is an environmentally friendly and efficient solution to managing documents. Just upload and send; you can sign or initial if necessary, no problem. And the docs are always available to you.
DropBox. Especially for multi-taskers: Organize and save everything to your DropBox account and access it anywhere, from any Internet-connected gadgets.
Wix. Great for non-techies and techies alike. A great way to build websites and blogs but also to create and merge apps.
Odesk. You don’t need to hire full-time people. Odesk streamlines the time-consuming process of finding/hiring project managers, as well as tracking projects.
OmniFocus. This is a great tool that helps organize, integrate and manage everything you have to do.
MailChimp. An easy way to create and send professional-caliber email newsletters to your contacts.
Skype. Phone, video and chat capabilities keep you connected anytime, anywhere. You can also send documents instantly, even during a call.
GoDaddy. SuperBowl ad controversy notwithstanding, GoDaddy is an effective website server/hosting platform, with global support 24/7, every day of the year.
LinkedIn. This has revolutionized networking, enabling anyone to showcase their skills and experience and employers to instantly search for talent.
Slideshare. This platform enables you to expand your visibility exponentially by sharing presentations, or by showcasing products or ‘how-to’ videos.
Square. You’re no longer tethered to a physical location. Just plug this small device into your smartphone or tablet, and you can collect and process credit card payments anywhere.
Uber. When you need to dash across town, just request a car and the next Uber driver shows up, and everything is charged to your Uber account.
Haro. ‘Helping A Reporter Out’ gives small businesses access to things like media pitches and content queries that were once available only to the big boys.
Jira. A terrific tool that helps you manage and track the development process for new products.
HootSuite. An easy way to automatically schedule and manage content on all your social media outlets.
LastPass. Why didn’t we think of this?! This gives you a secure, single-sign-on option for virtually anything—it syncs up your various passwords behind the scenes so you don’t have to remember them.
WordPress. One of the first—and best—blog platforms, WordPress offers easy-to-use free and self-hosted versions.
Quora. You don’t need to spend time searching for information. Ask and/or answer questions, do informal polling or voice opinions on this forum.
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