If you have a small business, it is likely that you already spend a significant amount of time online. But you may not be aware of some free tools that are available on your computer or mobile device that will make running your small business a lot easier. Let’s take a look at six of the free online tools that every small business owner needs.
Google Drive
If you are not currently using Google Drive as a place to share documents and store files, then you are definitely not using the Internet to its full potential. Not only does Google Drive have a full office suite, they offer extremely fast uploads and downloads of data and unlimited storage options. Plus, you can share with anyone whether they have a Google account or not and allow other users access to documents including editing.
Adwords Keyword Planner
The AdWords keyword planner has been around for a long time. It is a tool that allows you to see what people are searching for on the web. That makes it an extremely valuable resource for small business owners, because they can find out how to target their own customers online. Local search optimization and content marketing and web traffic in general are requires that you understand keywords and know which ones you are targeting.
Trello
While Google Drive is great for sharing things with other people and working on projects together, Trello is a much more robust option. It’s an entire project management platform that has a dizzying array of features that Google Drive just doesn’t provide. Trello can be used on a computer or from a mobile device.
LastPass
When you own a business, you absolutely have to be concerned with security. Hackers are everywhere and businesses that are unwary could lose data or have their financial information at risk. Choosing the right password is important, as is having a different password for different things around the web. But how do you keep track of all of those passwords? That’s exactly what LastPass does. This useful application keeps track of all your passwords for you so that you don’t have to, while maintaining security ensuring that no one has access to any of your passwords.
Adblock Plus & UBlock Origin
Whether you’re using your own computer to work, or you have an office packed with computers for employees, ads are annoying for everyone and they slow down productivity. Someone watching a YouTube video to learn how to perform a task for work could get interrupted by several minutes worth of advertising per video that they watch. This could mean a lot of wasted time for you. But if you installed the free browser add-ons Adblock Plus and UBlock Origin, you would not have to deal with ads at all. These are two of the most useful tools out there for business owners and anyone who uses a computer.
Financial Tools
Finally, there are lots of financial tools out there that you can use as well. For example, there is free bookkeeping software on the web that will allow you to track your business finances and make sure that you are spending wisely. If you have just started your business or you need to expand, you might need a loan calculator; that’s not even mentioning the payment gateways like PayPal and Square online. There is a huge assortment of financial tools available for business owners if you look for them. Some may require an upgrade to get the most out of them, but there are lots of great free ones as well.