There are many tools that budding entrepreneurs use on a daily basis, whether it’s an online PDF converter or the MS Office suite. However, many advanced tools are available to assist with marketing or HR functions too, allowing you to focus on your innovative product or service.
This article shares more details on digital solutions that you may find useful. Here’s a lowdown on the best tools for business we recommend.
1. BambooHR for HR Management
BambooHR allows you to manage benefits enrollment, track hours worked, and process payroll from a single platform. With this tool, payroll for you and your employees becomes simple and accurate, with no need for lengthy approval procedures or double data entry. It also offers tools to help you gather feedback, strengthen employee satisfaction, and support your team’s development. It boasts over 125 integrations, including Google and Slack. This makes it easy to use across multiple platforms within an organization, ensuring all employee-related information is accessible at different touch points.
The Core subscription provides a solid foundation for HR management, ideal for smaller HR teams needing to handle everyday tasks efficiently. With Core, you can manage employee records, track time off, and ensure compliance with ease, all while keeping your business running smoothly. The Pro subscription is a comprehensive HR solution that provides advanced features and flexibility. This plan is ideal for companies in a growth phase, looking to enhance their employee experience and support a larger workforce. Pro includes everything in the Core package, plus additional capabilities such as advanced reporting, performance management, and customizable workflows. You can request a free quote based on your company’s needs.
2. PDFSummarizer to effectively summarize lengthy texts
PDFSummarizer is a free tool that instantly creates AI summaries of your PDFs, even answering questions you may have. This AI summarizer helps you quickly grasp the essential points of lengthy content, saving you precious time that you can use to build your business. By providing a concise overview, it enables you to decide if a full read-through is worth your time – an indispensable tool for all small businesses. Summaries can also highlight key information for better understanding and assist in identifying relevant sections for deeper analysis, which is always useful.
3. Canva for Marketing Collateral
Canva is one of the best small business tools available to entrepreneurs. The app makes it simple to create wireframes, aiding in the distillation of complex project concepts. Pre-made templates facilitate generating information tailored to specific sizes. There are literally hundreds of different elements, icons, and visuals available. To enhance the overall appearance of imagery, you can apply frames and vignettes. Canva offers three pricing plans: Free, Pro, and Enterprise. The Free plan provides basic design tools and templates. The Pro plan adds advanced features like premium templates, unlimited folders, and team collaboration. The Enterprise plan offers tailored solutions for large organizations, including custom branding, dedicated support, and enhanced security. For the latest pricing, it’s recommended to check their website, as the prices vary globally.
4. PDFGuru.com for easy file format conversion
It’s one of the top PDF converter solutions and allows you to edit PDF files whenever needed. PDF Guru is a web application with a straightforward user interface. Unlike regular installed software, this makes it compatible with various operating systems. You can use their PDF reader and converter to create PDF files and modify them on Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iOS devices, or Android. All you need is a reliable internet connection and you’re good to go. In just a few clicks, you can convert your important files into PDF format or edit PDF documents easily.
5. MailChimp for Email Campaigns
You may design individualized email marketing campaigns with Mailchimp to assist you in achieving business objectives. Consistently rated as one of the top email marketing solutions, MailChimp is known for its user-friendly software, making it simple to create eye-catching automated email campaigns.
Mailchimp offers four pricing plans: Free, Essentials, Standard, and Premium. The Free plan includes basic email marketing tools. Essentials adds advanced templates and support. Standard offers automation features and detailed analytics. Premium provides extensive customization, advanced segmentation, and priority support, ideal for large businesses with complex marketing needs.
6. Google Analytics for Website Performance
Google Analytics provides numerous benefits for small businesses by offering a comprehensive view of customer engagement. This is one of the best business tools for small businesses available across the globe. It helps businesses understand how customers interact with their sites and apps, enabling better experiences and driving results. With customer-centric measurement, advanced reporting, and analysis, businesses can identify effective strategies and areas needing improvement. Integration with CRM systems and first-party data sources ensures a holistic view of customer behavior.
Google's machine learning capabilities deliver predictive insights, such as identifying users likely to purchase or churn, enhancing decision-making. Integration with Google Ads, Google Cloud, and Google Search Console optimizes marketing performance and ROI. Many key features of Google Analytics are available for free, so small businesses should take advantage of this.
7. Asana for Project Management
This is an essential tool for business project management, to ensure you’re delivering the best work to achieve the project’s targets. Asana transforms small business project management by streamlining communication and task tracking. With Asana, you know who is responsible for each task and its deadline, ensuring focused and actionable communication. This clarity reduces the need for status meetings and email chains, allowing more time for productive work.
Asana's file creation and sharing integrations, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box, facilitate seamless document management. Additionally, this tool centralizes task tracking, making it easy to monitor responsibilities and deadlines. For seamless communication, Asana integrates with Gmail and Slack, ensuring your team stays connected and informed.
Asana offers three pricing plans: Personal, Starter, and Advanced. Personal is ideal for individuals and small teams managing tasks. Starter suits growing teams, providing tools to track project progress and meet deadlines. Advanced is for companies that need to manage a portfolio of work and goals across multiple departments.
Conclusion
There’s a treasure trove of tools available to help small businesses thrive in a competitive environment. Different pricing options are available to suit various budgets, including some free tool versions. To determine what suits your business the best, it’s important to demo or try the tool yourself to evaluate its benefits.