Looking to help your business succeed, but don't want to waste money on useless products?
How does free sound?
Getting the job done in the most efficient manner, doesn't always mean spending hundreds (or thousands) of dollars on software solutions. There are many free small business tools that are more powerful than some paid services.
Take advantage of these seven free tools and let us know if others should have been added to the list.
You have a wealth of access to business plan forms, contract samples or templates (like the business plan for startups template pictured below), financial templates, and much more. If you have a burning question, you can direct your questions to a local volunteer mentor through their website. They have places all across the United States and their aim is to help small business workers get the resources and answers they desperately need.
(SCORE's business plan template includes a blank Competitive Analysis form.)
This free tool allows you to hold webinars, hold conference calls and more. It also allows you to easily work with your employees, clients, or even business partners remotely. One of the greatest features of Free Conference Call is the free built in recorder which lets you save and replay your recording whenever you want to.
This tool helps you organize different projects into what Trello calls "boards." It helps you organize tasks in each board to show you what is being currently worked on, what you have done, and what you still need to do. You can even assign tasks to people on your team and everyone can keep track of who's doing what.
Doodle saves you the frustration that comes with trying to schedule and get a number of people to come together. What Doodle does is allow you to propose several times and dates so your participants are able to vote on their availability.
5. Hightail (Formerly Called YouSendIt.com)
This free tool helps you stop worrying about whether your file is too large to send via email. Say farewell to bounced emails. Rest assured that Hightail is secure, and you can easily send attachments and files up to 2 GB. Your recipient will have seven days to download the files.
Just like Trello, you can create task lists and group them under different projects. It has an easy user interface and cool drag-and-drop functionality. You can access your lists via your desktop or a mobile app, and they will all sync together. Another feature that might help motivate you is you get to accumulate Karma points for finishing tasks. They also have charts to track your daily productivity.
This awesome Gmail plugin allows you to implement an easy CRM system without leaving your email. All you have to do is put each contact into what they call "boxes" and you can schedule emails to send later, track emails to see if they've been viewed, and even send yourself reminders to follow up with potential and existing clients.
Ilan Nass is the head of marketing at Fueled, the leading iPhone app builder in New York City, renowned for its award winning mobile design and strategy.