Bento For Business

The Top 5 FREE Tools That Help You Run Your Small Business

The Top 5 FREE Tools That Help You Organize Your Small BusinessAs a small business owner you’re probably always on the lookout for clever ways to streamline your processes and give you more time, and there are definitely many, many different options out there. Unfortunately, many also come with a hefty price tag!

That’s why we’ve decided to round up the five best organization tools for small businesses that are completely free:

  1. Asana – For Project Management

Hack Asana as an amazing tool for information management, although its primary strength is as a great platform for project and information collaboration.  Asana lets you collate your business tasks into separate ‘projects’, which you can then assign to team members, upload documents and send messages. It’s perfect for keeping projects and tasks all in one place, without the messyness of emails going back and forth. Ideal if you have remote staff or people based in different locations, it’s free for up to 15 users, with a paid option available for increased functionality and more user options.

  1. Slack – For Internal Communication

Say goodbye to email, say hello to Slack!  With the tagline ‘Be less busy’, Slack lets you communicate with your team in real-time, wherever they are, and it certainly frees up some of that ‘busy time’ that takes its toll on productivity. It offers private group chats, direct messaging and file sharing, and the free option gives you unlimited users and the ability to search across up to 10,000 messages.

  1. Wix – For Free Websites

For small businesses with limited budgets, Wix is ideal for getting that first important website up and running. When you start, you get a blank canvas with a great deal of flexibility and features to create your own site exactly how you want it. The free basic version offers everything you need when you’re starting out, and it’s easy to upgrade to Premium if you want a custom domain name, ecommerce capabilities, analytics and more.

  1. Google Apps – For All-round Organization

With products that are familiar to most people including Gmail, Google Docs (a free alternative to Microsoft Office with a Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Presentation tool), a calendar, Hangouts and more, Google’s free apps for business are great for a consistent and streamlined business experience. You can access them across a variety of devices, and they make online collaboration even easier!

  1. JumpLead – For Turning Visitors to Customers

Use JumpLead to email customers or prospects with “drip” email campaigns, and as a lightweight CRM.  JumpLead is a fantastic marketing automation tool that makes your inbound marketing super easy and helps you to stay in touch with current clients. With features such as email templates & autoresponders, simple landing page creation, and marketing analytics, the only difference between the free and paid versions is the concurrent chats or reselling features.

BONUS #1: Spotify – Free Music For Creating a Fun Office Atmosphere

Organization is so important for small business productivity, but having an office that’s enjoyable to work in is an added bonus. Use Spotify to let your team create their own music playlists and set the mood for a fun office atmosphere.  

BONUS #2: Bento for Business – Free Employee Expense Card to Keep More of Your Money

Cash flow is the #1 item that keeps business owners up at night, and is made up of expense management and visibility.  Bento offers business owners a free prepaid card that you can use to control employee spending.  Give employees a Bento card, set spending limits, and turn cards on/off with a single click.  Receive real-time alerts for purchases and declines, so you know what is being spent where.  Simply put, get peace of mind and make your money go further with Bento.