No matter what type of business you have, the software you use to run it impacts your entire experience. If you’re struggling with security or productivity issues or just aren’t sure what to try next, we can provide some insight into which tools we think will help your situation.
If you run some sort of business today, you definitely need software to help you do your work more efficiently. Of course, there are some basic services that are absolutely free to use…
Join.me by LogMeIn
Gone are the days of conference calls. Well, maybe not gone but definitely changed. Solutions like LogMeIn’s join.me conferencing tool lets you present to multiple employees or clients from the comfort of your home or office chair, saving you long trips.
SBA.gov
Taking a look at the U.S. Small Business Administration’s website can really make a difference so you can learn more about writing up business plans, how to finance your business, insights and tips for entrepreneurs, and so much more. Whether you’re just starting out or have been running a business for years, SBA is a valuable source of information.
Best Inventory Management Software – Inflow
As the name suggests, Inflow primarily serves the needs of inventory managers who wish to get by with a quick response tool that can store and retrieve warehousing related information on the go. Having said that, we believe that Inflow is an ideal addition to medium and small business owners who are, or have been, on the lookout for inventory tracking solutions.
Inventory management is also deemed as an “art” because of the several complications involved as the business expands. If you are a small startup owner who has a handful of product batches stored up in your warehouse, you might be relying on committing things to your memory. It is a good habit, but what if the product demands spikes and you have to deal with only a handful of resources and tons of inventory management hassles that are bound to hit the sales anytime soon.
Inflow functions as a desktop installer application, but it does have a backup system for easy information retrieval in case the computer hard drive suffers storage loss or vice versa.
Key Features
- Ability to manage individual inventory items through RFID tracking
- Complete integration with different bar code styles
- Inventory optimization according to sales and demand charts
- Order management, entry, exit, and delivery reports for customized client experience
- Sales vs. break-even point analysis
- Single customer purchase history, and order tracking. Inflow can also be used for monitoring multiple customers for the same inventory sales
Pricing Plans
- Since it is a desktop application, Inflow is offered at a one-time price of $399 per license.
- The premium edition scales up to $799 for medium to large-sized businesses.
Shift
Shift is the desktop app for streamlining your accounts, apps, and workflows. Tired of switching between accounts, and logging in and out? Shift is a logical & beautiful solution for managing everything better. Toggle between multiple Gmail, Outlook & Office 365 accounts without the hassle. Integrates with over 500 apps, including 1CRM! Making your work day that much easier!1CRM-Shift Integration
Asana
Asana is a work-management app that changes the way people collaborate. You can use it as a simple to-do list, or as workflow-management tool, or as project management software. How you choose to implement Asana is up to you. The app lets you and your colleagues track work that needs to get done, see what everyone on the team is assigned to do, view the status of projects or ongoing work at a glance, and communicate with one another. All the information about the work itself is in one place.
Basecamp
Basecamp is the gold standard for managing projects, working with clients, coordinating with contractors, and communicating with your team. Using Basecamp means you don’t need Slack, Asana, Trello, Jira, Dropbox, Email, or some other messy jumble of products. Simplify and centralize around Basecamp instead. It’s time to change lanes, pass the slow traffic, and join all the companies that have switched to Basecamp, the more coherent way to work.
Things
If you’re new to Things, this is the basic workflow:
1. Collect Your Thoughts
Get things off your mind quickly with Things’ action extension – it lets you create to-dos from other apps. Or just talk to Siri on any device (“Remind me to…”) and import from Reminders.
2. Get Organized
Create a project for each of your goals, then add the steps to reach them. For clarity, add structure with headings. Then group your projects by areas of responsibility, such as “Family”, “Work”, or “Health”. Review these regularly to stay on top of things.
3. Plan Your Time
See your calendar events alongside your to-dos and plan your time effectively. Create repeating to-dos for things you do every few days, weeks, or months – Things will remind you on the right day.
4. Make the Most of Your Day
Every morning, grab a coffee and prepare your list for “Today”: review previously planned to-dos and make quick decisions on what to tackle. Pick some more steps from your projects and then get going. The Today list is the only place you’ll need to look for the rest of the day.
5. Customize Your Workflow
Use tags to categorize your to-dos or add context. For example, tag places like “Office” or “Home”, or tag all your “Errands”, or everything you’re working on with “Kate”. You can easily find everything you’ve tagged via filtering or search.
SCORE
SCORE, a non-profit, has been around for 50+ years and is an amazing resource for helping small businesses get off the ground. It offers free learning opportunities online, in-person mentoring, and more.
Hubspot CRM
A free CRM solution that promises to stay free forever and offers automation features that help track customer interactions. You can also create and follow sales-related tasks and get a good overview of your sales funnel at any given time.
IFTTT
“If this then that” is a simple but flexible automation system that integrates hundreds of apps and services to create automated processes for things. For example, you can create an IFTTT so that leads from your website turn into contacts in HubSpot.
Zapier
Similar to IFTTT, Zapier is a more business-oriented automation tool that integrates with significantly more apps and services than IFTTT. So before selecting one or the other, you should ensure it communicates flawlessly with the tools and services you currently use.
MixMax
Keeping track of emails is time-consuming and often annoying. MixMax is a browser plugin that helps you track correspondence, schedule emails, and use sequences and reminders. Unfortunately, the free version is limited to 100 tracked emails and 10 scheduled emails per month, so if you communicate a lot over email, you might have to get the paid version.
MailChimp
Email communication with clients and partners is often based on regular newsletters, and few solutions do it better than MailChimp. With a WYSIWYG template editor and tracking of open and click rates, this tool is a must for any business managing a newsletter. The service is free for up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails.
Another cool feature worth mentioning is integration with the automation platforms we mentioned earlier which lets you get creative with how you maximize the effectiveness of your email marketing efforts.
Google Analytics
Google shows up on our list once again because its capabilities are great and free. Google Analytics shows you how and from where your customers are coming from on your website. This allows you to enhance your marketing strategy to generate more leads.
Canva
Hiring a professional graphic designer is a costly expense and one you might not be able to afford straight away. With Canva, you have pre-formatted templates for EVERYTHING. Including social media banners, marketing flyers, events, documents (presentations, letters, reports, etc.), and so much more. Canva is super easy to use and the results are stunning!
Slack
One of the new players on the communication market, Slack helps unify all of your messages and files into a single, good looking location. One of the great things is the unification of notifications, all requests, errors, and tasks exist in Slack providing everyone with a clear view of what’s going on in everybody’s world. And of course when it comes to driving adoption of communication platforms, mobile is a must. Slack does not disappoint here, as it has complete synchronization across mobile, web and desktop.
Skype
This one is a no brainer. Screen sharing, chat, and phone calls make this a must for small businesses, especially those with remote workers. A Skype mobile app makes it an even better option to make sure you’re in constant communication with your employees or coworkers.1CRM-Skype Integration
RingCentral
Dial calls from 1CRM in a single click
Call your leads and customers from within 1CRM simply by clicking on a phone number anywhere in the system.
Screen pop-ups for Incoming calls
Receive screen pop-ups for incoming calls to know who is calling you. With contextual access to the contacts’ history and detailed information from these pop-ups, you can be more prepared to take the call and ensure quality interactions.
Automatic call logging
Automatically log incoming and outgoing calls to client history with call time, date, duration and your notes.1CRM-RingCentral Integration
GoToMeeting
This for those large presentation meetings. I’ve used everything from ClearSlide to Join.Me to Webex, but I have always been a little particular to GoToMeeting. However, everyone has their own preference here, but it’s important to at least have one of these solutions ready for those moments you have to host presentation style meetings that are too intense for Skype to handle.1CRM-GoToMeeting Integration
Conclusion
Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, which is why it’s so important to have the right software to protect your operations. I’ll be diving into some of the most recommended software for small businesses that can give you pretty solid protection against hackers, data loss, and even theft.