Discover which cost effective business tools can help increase your efficiency and productivity
Business tips by Wendy Allen, Director of Activate Events and Executive Committee Member for Highfields Chamber of Commerce.
There’s no doubt about it, running a successful business can be tough work. It requires constant attention to detail, an ability to multitask and manage your time efficiently and a whole lot more.
You are probably juggling a range of projects on the go every day. We all know there are a plethora of business tools, apps and software programs that propose to aid your efficiency and boost productivity and save you time!
But which will work for you and what are the best?
Often the only way to find out is give them a try and then you find that they weren’t as great as they professed to be or not really what you were looking for and you’ve wasted valuable time trying them out.
The following list of online tools (mostly free) is a collection of some of the best I’ve discovered for everyday tasks for small businesses. They are all products that I have personally used and found useful. They will make your life a little less crazy so you can get on with achieving your business goals.
These tools will help increase your efficiency and productivity without costing you loads in monthly fees. I have to say, I’m rather allergic to paying monthly subscriptions. While an app may only be $10/ month, those monthly subscriptions soon add up and can have a considerable impact on your cashflow.
1 Google calendar
I can’t live without my Google calendar. I use it every single day!! I schedule my meetings, work blocks, appointments, deadlines, personal special dates, family items and exercise, as well as blocking out uninterrupted spots for specific tasks. It’s great for adding reminders, tasks, events and goals. You can have a separate work and personal calendar, view them separately or together.
Synchronise between your laptop or desktop computer and your phone so you always have your calendar at your fingertips. Any changes made on one devise are automatically changed wherever you have the app.
The schedule view is really cool. I use it on my phone Google calendar app and it brings my calendar to life and is easy to see what’s ahead with images and maps.
Being in the cloud, if you lose your phone, you don’t lose your calendar and schedule!! It’s free and available on Android and iPhone.
2 Canva
Oh my gosh! This has to be the best tool to make awesome graphics if you are not a graphic designer! So many templates to choose from or make your own from scratch. It has excellent professional-grade graphics and heaps of images and templates to use and so much more.
There are templates for social media, flyers, banners, announcements etc – all set at the specific size for the application, so no more images that don’t fit what you’re trying to achieve! Canva allows you to make eye-catching visuals without design expertise.
A word of caution …. You can get lost for hours in Canva. It’s that good! If you haven’t used Canva you are definitely missing out.
I use Canva every week and often daily. In fact, I have upgraded to the pro-version after using the free version for a number of years and am very glad I have. Canva Pro has heaps and heaps of images and graphics (way more than the free version) and you can do cool things like remove the background from an image.
3 SendinblueÂ
This cloud-based marketing communication software is very cost effective for automated email marketing campaigns and newsletters. It’s similar to MailChimp but allows you unlimited contacts and a good number of emails per month for free!!
It’s great for all digital marketing needs and is easy to use, has a drag and drop editor, email automation features, is fully mobile compatible, has a template library and good analytics.
There are lots more features. If you are using MailChimp and are reaching your contact limit I would definitely suggest you check out Sendinblue.Â
4 TrelloÂ
Trello is a quick and easy to use visual work management tool and great for team collaboration. You can record ideas, plan and manage projects and develop work plans.
It is easy to customise you own boards (a project overview) or copy a template. Tasks and lists are added in a card. Tasks can be assigned with set date reminders and colour coded in categories and assigned people. Each card has a chat space so you and your team can add comments and questions.
Overall, it is a great way to keep the tasks for a project or work area in one space. I use it for my project tasks and to do list as well as with group collaborations and committees. Try it out.
5 Xero
There is lots of information about Xero on the internet but basically it is a great cloud-based accounting software for small businesses. It does all you need it to do as a small business and probably at lot more. It basically simplifies everyday business tasks, such as invoicing and paying bills, and makes doing your BAS super easy.
It’s not free but online bookkeeping software is something you will need to pay for, even if you are allergic to monthly subscriptions like me!! There is free trial version so you can give it a go before you commit to the monthly subscription.
6 Google analytics
Google Analytics helps you understand how your customers are using your website. See where they’re coming from and what they’re doing on your site and how long they are there and which pages on your site getting the most traffic.
It provides free tracking and so much data and statistics and insights into how visitors find and use your website, conversions etc. In fact, it is rather overwhelming but as you learn more about Google Analytics you come to understand the data better. Set it up from your google account.
7 Slack
Who finds is hard to navigate through the mountain of emails in your inbox to find information that someone sent you a while ago?
We get so many emails and then someone starts another conversation but the subject relates to the first email conversation and so it goes. It can be a mine field!
Well Slack is a great messaging app that connects everyone . You are able to send messages and attach various forms of information. Message people in a ‘channel’ which is basically a topic and all the replies to that message are in a thread so it is so easy to follow the conversation. Private conversations to people are easy as well with the direct messaging facility. It really is like email but so much better organised.
Slack is very flexible and allows you to share and store files and integrates with a range of apps including Google Drive, Google Calendar, Trello, Zoom, One Drive, Dropbox, Asana etc., so you don’t have to chop and change between programs. It’s free too.
8 LinkedIn
I refer to LinkedIn as the business people’s Facebook. It’s really a professional social networking platform and a way to build and engage with your professional network. It hosts something like 600 million professional profiles and therefore there is an unlimited supply of network connections for whatever industry sector you are in. You can message people direct from LinkedIn, seeks referrals and lots more.
LinkedIn is a great tool to build your professional brand online. Building a LinkedIn business page is also worthwhile and helps promote your business. Google loves LinkedIn so your profile on this platform helps you to rank in Google’s to get on the first page!
9 Google My Business
This is definitely a no-brainer for small businesses! It is often the first place customers go to source information about your business, so you need to keep GMB up to date. It has heaps of benefits including improving your SEO ranking.
GMB enables your business to be listed on Google Maps and local search results and drives business to your website. It allows you to list your business information, add posts (just like a FaceBook post), add products and events, list your opening hours and lots more. Great for customer reviews to help your profile too.
Every business should have Google My Business. If customers Google your business name and you’re not there, they will probably look for someone else!Â
10 Planoly
I love this tool! It’s a quick way to schedule your Instagram posts for the month and see how they look on your account’s grid and saves a heap of time. The free version is fine for most businesses – it allows you to add 30 images a month – enough for a post a day. The ‘discover’ section has stock images that you can access to suit your posts too if needed.
You can upload images directly from your computer, Canva, Google Drive or Dropbox, add your hashtags (you save them in Planoly – just copy and post on your posts), schedule your posts and see the ayout for 18 tiles. I thoroughly recommend you give Planoly a try!
The paid plans obviously gives you more tools such as unlimited image uploads and the ability to add videos along with more detailed analytics. Paid plans also allow you to post to Facebook and Twitter.
So that is my 10 amazing business tools I absolutely couldn’t live without! Give some of them a try, I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.
If you need a hand or some more advice on what other business tools people use the Highfields Chamber of Commerce can help support you and your business at any stage of your growth and provides you with opportunities to chat to businesses who are probably dealing with similar issues.Â
The Chamber runs business workshops, networking events and forums, all designed to assist and support local Highfields businesses. The monthly breakfast meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month (except for January). Come and join today!
