It is not that big of a secret that running a startup has its share of both pros and cons. While the perks of being an entrepreneur include immense satisfaction of having no one to answer to, they are always perfectly counterbalanced with a number of responsibilities which make this occupation nothing short of frustrating. One of them is, of course, deciding upon the tools one business should use to quickly stand on its feet and start the race for the hearts and souls of its customers. If you find yourself in such situation here is the short list that should make your choice much easier.
Project-Management Tools
No matter what niche your business may belong to, it will, at some point, require careful projecting, planning, and organization, so it can be said that project-management tools present necessary foundation for achieving any kind of specific goal. Fortunately, they are also widely available, and range from streamlined note-taking tools (Microsoft’s OneNote), to more robust and hybrid (project/task) offerings like Asana. We will still have to point out Basecamp’s self-titled tool which features time-table, to-do lists, messaging system, file sharing, and all the other features necessary for your project to go smooth.
Publishing Tools
It is nearly impossible to have a serious conversation about publishing the content without mentioning the “Big Three” of free content-management platforms, which are Joomla, Drupal, and, of course, WordPress. Although all of them are very capable, and can help you to put on the web whatever you may think of, we will still have to opt for WordPress, if only for the fact that it is the most popular, and therefore the best supported (it features the astonishing number of more than 31.000 plug-ins) platform out of three.
Payment Getaways
Essentially, these applications authorize credit-card payments and facilitate the transfer of funds between a payment portal and a bank. If your business features any kind of ecommerce, you will also have to choose your preferable ecommerce payment getaway. Solutions are plentiful, and the question whether you are going to choose Alternative Payments, Flagship Merchant Services, Payment Depot, or some other option boils down to your business’ agenda and capabilities.
Employee Communication Tools
The business world undergoes constant, and indeed, a very rapid change. In order for your employees to be able to keep up the pace with everything happening in the industry, and timely execute their daily tasks, you will have to allow them fast and smooth communication. If your company is rooted in the Microsoft’s ecosystem you will undoubtedly want to achieve that through Skype, which is now deeply integrated into Windows 10 (both desktop and mobile). If you are not too keen on depending solely on this Redmond offering, you can replace some, or all of its functionalities with Google Hangouts, Webex, Viber, and Voca.
Cloud Storage Tools
As with communication tools, the choice of your preferable cloud storage service will largely depend on the ecosystem your business is rooted in, so there is nothing wrong in opting for Google Drive, iCloud Drive, or One Drive, if your affinities lay with Google, Apple, and Microsoft, respectively. If you want to venture a little bit out of the box, you will probably end up using Dropbox, which is one of the most popular alternatives to the previously mentioned storages, while SugarSync (focuses on ease of use), and CertainSafe (one of the most secure alternatives) will satisfy some of your more specific needs.
As much as building the house is not possible without the proper tools, neither is building a successful startup. Finding all of them will, of course, depend of the niche your business belongs to, but we are sure that the tools we mentioned above will help you in dealing with tasks all of the modern companies face on daily basis.