Business Tools is an app that was created to help the users of smartphones save time when writing business letters, preparing presentations, or looking up contacts. This free app gives you access to over 400 templates, over 5,000 images, and lets you easily collaborate with other users
Business Tools is a suite of software, services and devices that businesses and individuals can use to be more productive and connected than ever before. Business Tools includes:
Task Management Tools
Task management tools are an easy, cost-efficient way for small business owners to save time and money. Any tool that allows you to track a task digitally, rather than manually, is a great boon to busy business owners who want to save time communicating and tracking their own work and the work of their employees.
Online task management tools like Asana and Trello can help you stay on top of your to-do lists, project progress, and calendars. You can set automatic reminders and updates so that you don’t have to spend time checking every single little thing by hand. These also serve as collaborative tools so everyone on your team knows what’s been done, what’s outstanding, and who has been assigned to the task.
Social Media Scheduling Tools
Small business owners know the vital importance of using social media to connect with their prospective clients and customers. Unfortunately, getting on social media too often can be a time drain. Who hasn’t gone to a social media site or app “for just a minute”, only to snap out of it an hour later, way down the social media rabbit hole?
Social media scheduling tools such as Buffer and HootSuite allow you to schedule posts to go out on the desired dates and times, without setting foot on the actual social media sites themselves, avoiding that distraction. You can also write up a week’s or month’s posts in advance, all at once, and then use these scheduling systems to pump out your promotions right when you want them so you can grow your business without spending too much time on social media.
Obtaining e-Signatures
When you need e-signatures on contracts and agreements, HelloSign or DocuSign can help out. Upload your document, note where signatures are needed, add the right email address, and the system will send it for you! It will even ping the person with reminders the document hasn’t been signed within a certain period. No more hassling people for signatures or hoping the post office is still open so you can get a contract out in a hurry.
Document Collaboration
When you need to collaborate with others, file-sharing systems such as Google Drive and Dropbox are a must. These digital tools ensure that everyone is working from the same version of the same document. It also prevents everyone’s inbox from getting clogged with multiple versions of the same document.
You can work in real-time with each other or go in at your leisure to see what work people have added. You could use it internally with your own team or you could even use these sorts of tools with clients and vendors to keep track of what everyone wants and needs.
Communication Tools
Communication is at the heart of business. And whether you’re conversing with employees, customers, or other external parties (suppliers, contractors), you should be able to get your message across in the most hassle-free manner possible.
Internal and external communications are made easier with VoIP (voice over IP) technology. Which allows you to have your phone line on an Internet Protocol network.
The benefits of using this form of communication are extensive, but features include an ability to make calls to (and from) anywhere in the world at the same exact cost, the functionality to set up whole-team conferences, inexpensive hardware, and software (sound card, microphone, etc.), flexible infrastructure and mid-call data transfer.
Switching to a more fault-tolerant, cost-effective communication platform like VoIP is a no-brainer.
Accounting Tools
If there’s one business tool that’s a little more essential than the others on this list, it concerns accounting. After all, if your figures aren’t right, you won’t have a business for much longer. What could be more important than ensuring the numbers add up?
From Sage Accounting to FreshBooks, digital accounting solutions help businesses large and small track expenditure, sort out tax, run reports, handle payroll, invoice customers, and put checkmarks next to all key financial management processes. That way, most of your accounting will be simplified.
They also provide insights into your businesses’ financials, cash flow forecasting, etc. Many of them offer integrations with other major CRM and customer service apps to give you better functionality.
There is no shortage of such small business tools. And in many cases, you can use bookkeeping software on a selection of devices – computers, iPads, and even smartphones. The net result is quicker data entry, time saved thanks to report automation (profit and loss, forecasting, etc.), and a reduction in human error.
Handily, many account management software can be integrated with other systems such as online banking and e-filing.
If you’re determinedly crunching numbers without the use of accounting software, you are missing out on valuable insights and cost savings. Just be sure to choose your package carefully to ensure it’s got the features you need.
Hiring Software
Recruiting staff can be a costly process, particularly for small business owners. Think about the expenditure of time and money initiating background, reference, and credit checks, not to mention degree verifications.
Using a recruitment consultancy takes much of the legwork away, but it’s expensive in its own right, and turnover of staff can be high.
CHAT TOOLS FOR BUSINESS
What are chat tools?
Team chat tools are known to be a simple way to improve communication among team members. They are faster and easier than emails and phone calls. Teams can directly message each other and even have group chats. Asking simple questions, getting fast replies or bouncing off ideas become more convenient than ever. Some of the team chat tools are also known for their file-sharing capabilities and unlimited message history.
Examples of chat tools:
Slack is one of the most popular team chat tools. It claims to replace email inside your company. And it also helps teams keep conversations organized. They call themselves “the smart alternative to email”.
Chanty is another team chat tool, mostly known for being a simpler and easier tool than Slack.
There are other chat tools, such as Fleep, Hipchat, etc.
You should use chat tools when:
Instant messaging chat apps may kill productivity, so they are supposed to work best for small- to medium-sized businesses. Some of these chat apps are also expensive for the limited set of tools they offer, so choose the one that doesn’t burn a hole in your pocket.
PROOFING & REVIEW TOOLS
What are proofing and review tools?
Proofing and review tools help you manage the review and feedback process. When you are tired of searching for not-so-specific feedback on files in the long email threads, that’s when proofing and review tools come to the rescue.
Examples of proofing tools:
Filestage makes content review and proofing for teams easier. You can review videos, images, and documents all in one place.
You should use proofing and review tool when:
Proofing tools work the best for small- to medium-sized businesses, basically when proofing and review are around let’s say one project, and the only tasks to fulfil are around proofing, review and feedback. There are all-in-one tools that we’ll discuss later in this article with capabilities of proofing files and documents in addition to projects, reports, time tracking, etc.
ALL-IN-ONE BUSINESS TOOLS: PROJECT, TEAM AND TASK MANAGEMENTs SOFTWARE
What are the all-in-one project, team and task management software?
So, I evidently saved the best for the last. The all-in-one project, team and task management software are the ones that let you do all of the above and a lot more. Mostly known as project management software, these tools offer task management, file management, proofing and review, chat, planning, scheduling, time tracking and even reporting, all under one roof. They replace multiple tools like Slack for chat, Toggl for time tracking, Google Drive for files and maybe Basecamp for projects, with one tool. You don’t only save money as you don’t spend it on multiple tools, you also save your team the time it takes to switch among them.
Examples of project, team and task management software:
ProofHub is a project and team collaboration software that puts every tool that you and your team need at one place.
You should use an all-in-one project management software when:
When you have all kinds of teams: development, design, support, marketing, content, under one roof, it’s better that you put all of them in addition to multiple tools under one roof. These kinds of software save you the headache of having to select among multiple tools and manage all of them.
Conclusion
With several hundred thousand Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs in the US, Canada and around the world who use Business Tools everyday to start and grow their companies, we knew we had to build a product that was smart, nice-looking and would help all of our customers run their business better.