Running your own company can be challenging, but it can be manageable with these 10 free business productivity tools for small businesses. Of all the areas business owners and employees want to improve on, productivity is probably the most predominant.
Currently, there are 28 million small businesses in the United States, and they contribute 54% of the country’s sales! They also provide 55% of all the jobs in the U.S. Not only that, big businesses have cut off 4 million jobs since 1990 while small businesses have added 8 million new jobs.
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Thus, it is important to empower small businesses to thrive especially their employees. In case you need ideas here are 11 Quick And Easy Team Building Activities for Small Groups. Going back, we need these small to medium-sized companies now more than ever. And to help them succeed we have to empower them to increase their productivity! Thus, we have compiled and curated the 10 of the best free productivity tools from Inc., Lifehack, Forbes, and PC Mag. Let’s explore free business productivity tools for small businesses, one by one!
10. GoToMeeting
Attending meetings is part of a business owner’s life. GoToMeeting is all about increasing efficiency through online meetings. With 3 million worldwide monthly users and 56 million meetings held in a year, this app is making meetings easier and more economical. Now you don’t have travel around to meet with different people. You can conduct multiple GoToMeeting sessions online in HD with crystal clear audio and shared screens.
9. Square
Square makes it easy for businesses to accept credit card payments anywhere! With e-commerce taking business transactions on a global scale, this app helps small businesses be competitive by providing a scalable credit card payment option. It’s a powerful POS software that’s easy to use and designed for mobile. Think of it as counter on-the-go. Square even organizes inventory, digital receipts, and sales reports for useful analytics.
8. Hootsuite
Manage your social media accounts with Hootsuite! This one-stop app allows you to update your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn accounts all in one place! It lets you schedule posts, track engagement, and more! According to app firm Clutch, Hootsuite is one of the two top apps for businesses managing their social media accounts. Being active in social media is a must but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming and this tool ensures it.
7. EasilyDo
Automation is one of the keys to productivity. This is what EasilyDo does for you. From automating Facebook greetings to sending text messages to important people, this app will take care of time consuming but necessary tasks for you. It “easily” gives you an overview of your day and the tasks that you need to do. It even goes through your contacts and alerts you of duplicates and outdated ones.
6. Asana
Asana is an app designed for workplace management. It helps you track your team’s work and progress. It holds team members accountable by showing who did what. The app removes the need for multiple emails as projects are consolidated in one place. Asana can now be integrated with other apps making collaboration more seamless. Known as a digital dashboard for projects, this app is living up to its creators’ vision of making organizations work faster. Asana is founded by Justin Rosenstein and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz.
5. Expensify
Keeping track of your expenses is a necessity for any business. Expensify can help you do that by providing intelligent automation that handles your expenses real time. It also has a one-click expense report that allows you to see an overview of your finances. It can also be merged with other apps like Quick Books, Oracle, Xero, Netsuite, and more. You can take photos of receipts and Expensify scans the image and fills in the details to generate an instant report! For all its practical purposes, this is really one of the best free business productivity tools for small businesses.
4. Trello
Up next in our list of free business productivity tools for small businesses is Trello, that is a fun and creative way of organizing and managing project and tasks. Color-coded and laid out in cards, this app lets you see your project pipeline, product updates, meeting deadlines, and more. Collaboration can be done directly with commenting and attachment features. Trello can also be integrated with other platforms and can be used on the web and on mobile devices. Its creative layout can inspire your team to work more productively, too!
3. Slack
Communicate with everyone in one place with Slack that ranks third in our list of free business productivity tools for small businesses! Known as the “Team Communication for the 21st century,” this app allows you to make messaging or chat channels with different teams in your company. You can make a channel for your projects, managers, or other groups. It also has private channels for confidential or sensitive conversations. You can send direct messages to individuals, too. Slack works on desktop and mobile as well.
2. Google Drive
File sharing is vital to your business. You need to be able to access important files while on the go especially for urgent matters. Google Drive is no doubt your best cloud storage app. It also provides editing features plus an entire office suite (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms). It is a great app for collaboration especially if you’re overseeing multiple teams. Google Drive allows you to do real-time edits and commenting which makes working faster and easier.
1. Evernote
Evernote is probably the best productivity app right now. Whether you’re in a meeting or simply coming up with business ideas, this app is the best home for your valuable insights. It saves and organizes pictures, files, and information, while syncing them in the cloud for easy access. Evernote has a great search functionality as well. It has a desktop, web, and mobile app. Evernote really helps you “Remember Everything” and a whole lot more!
These 10 free business productivity tools for small businesses can help you run your company with increased efficiency. From tracking your finances to overseeing various projects and communicating effectively, each app is designed to help small businesses succeed. Have you downloaded some of these tools? Try these free apps now and see how it can impact your business!
