10 Terrific Tools for Small Businesses

When you are running your own business, you can use all of the help you can get. Sometimes, this help comes in the form of amazing tools that you can find online, many of which are quite inexpensive to use (and even free in some cases). Here are our top 10 picks.

1. Wave

Here you will find all kinds of applications for financing for small businesses that have nine employees or fewer. Many services, including accounting, invoicing, and receipts, are free, and payroll application fees start at $9 per month.

2. Cabertel

This is one of the better cloud service providers, and you can get a great package for a relatively low rate. This is the ideal provider for startups, non-profit organizations, and entrepreneurs who are operating small businesses. You can lower your business phone bills by as much as 60 percent, and you will have Smartphone app solutions as well as fully managed US support.

3. SupplierComplete

It can be difficult to find the best cloud services for your small business, because there are too many great deals out there, and so many different providers. Get the information you need to make the best decision at Supplier Complete, where you can compare prices, read reviews and articles, and a whole lot more.

4. Slack

This internal messaging app offers real-time messaging, file sharing, and more. You can get a free account for up to five integrations and 10K message searchable archive. There are also paid plans that start at $6.67 per user, per month.

5. Sococo

This tool gives you the advantages of having an actual office, without needing to pay for an office and the rest of the overhead that goes with it. You will be able to see who is working, as well as text, audio, and video chat with colleagues, and make conference calls from anywhere. There is a free starter plan, and then you can check out the various subscription rates from there.

6. Insightly

This is a customer relationship management system that is perfect for small businesses. With it, you can manage organizations, contacts, vendors, suppliers, partners, etc. You can see all of the information on your contacts, and use project management features such as creating tasks and automated reminders. Insightly is free for up to three users, and costs $7 per month for more users.

7. Desk.com

This tool provides you with all of the customer support your small business needs. You will have the tools you need to help your customers as quickly as possible, make it easy for them to troubleshoot problems with their own cases, and more. Plans start at just $30 per month.

8. Enloop

Creating a business plan is not the easiest thing in the world to do, and this tool can help you with that. You will be able to create a business plan that looks professional, and even includes a three-year financial forecast report. You will get a free business plan score that will help you tweak your plan to make it the best it can possibly be. The first business plan is free, and then subscription rates for extra business plans and more features are quite affordable.

9. Pablo

You need to create marketing items, but not everyone is great at graphic design. This tool can really help you with that. You will be able to have amazing images for your social media campaigns that are created from your text. It only takes 30 seconds to get these images, and it is so easy that even an adult can do it (children seem to have more computer skills these days).

10. Expensify

Here is a tool that will help make creating expense reports a whole lot easier. You can simply the process via smart scanning of receipts, track expenses, and enjoy one-click reimbursement options. There is a free basic plan, and a 30-day free trial of the team and corporate plans.

Featured photo credit: markus spiske via flickr.com

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