How to Start Your Business: Part Eight (Get the Right Small Business Tools)
This step could have been taken a before we talked about social media, but it’s one of those chicken-or-the-egg situations. Regardless, the time has come to get some great tools.
From project management to accounting, billing, and invoicing to storage and backup, we’re going to go through some helpful tools for your small business.
Project Management
Podio
Who it’s for: Small business owners who need help with managing tasks, customers, and sharing files.
The Perks: Choose only the tools that you really need (see below) for your company. This solution works really nicely for mid- to larger-sized companies, as you’ll be able to manage leads, recruiting, and more.
The Pitfalls: While you an track sales, this is really best used as a Project Management/Process Management tool, and that’s about it.
Pricing: Podio is free for up to 5 employees. From there, it starts at $7.20/month.
Basecamp
Who it’s for: Small to mid-sized businesses that need a lot of space for projects, customer databases, and more.
The Perks: Depending on your price break, you’ll be able to scale your Basecamp platform to the size you need it to be. It’s clean, easy to use, and also allows your clients to log in to have archivable conversations.
The Pitfalls: It does Project Management, and PM only; so if you need tracking tools or invoicing, keep on moving!
Pricing: Free and limited use to start, then goes to $99/month
Accounting, Invoicing, and Billing
FreshBooks
Who it’s for: Small to mid-sized businesses.
The Perks: Use everywhere: from your computer’s desktop to your mobile device. Track your time easily and efficiently and invoice clients directly.
The Pitfalls: From what I can tell, this is straight accounting software, with little to no Project Management opportunities.
Pricing: From $4.50/month to custom monthly pricing, you can choose the option that’s right for you!
- Lite ($4.50/month): For professionals with basic needs
- Plus ($7.50/month): For owners looking for more automation and insights
- Premium ($15/month): For growing businesses that want to empower employees
- Custom (custom pricing): For businesses with more complex needs
Paymo
Who it’s for: Small business owners who need help with invoicing, project management, time tracking, and more.
The Perks: This software seemingly has everything:
- Create clients and projects
- Create milestones and tasks and assign to different users
- Track time
- Share files
- Create estimates and invoices
The Pitfalls: Paymo is seemingly a one-stop shop for all the things a small company would need, other than the ability to receive money. You’ll need to do this separately; whether you want to use a service like Authorize.net or PayPal. However, Paymo does sync with many of these services, so you can easily give your customers the ability to pay you online.
Pricing: Try before you buy with a free trial.
- Small office: $9.95/user/month: For growing teams & departments
- $15.79/user/month: Designed for large teams
Payment Processing & Merchant Services
Now that you have the invoicing service that best suits you, you’ll need to hook it up to a way that customers can pay you (unless you’d rather just receive checks in the mail!)
Authorize.net
Who it’s for: Businesses of all shapes and sizes.
The Perks: Accept all major credit card payments with a customized gateway from your website.
Pricing: Get the specifics by going here.
Additional Payment Processing Options
- Stripe
- PayPal (and Websites Payment Pro and Payflow Pro)
Step 9, check. Next up: pull the trigger!