7 Useful Online Tools to Help Startups and SMEs

Introduction

Startup and SME can be difficult to manage on your own, often requiring constant attention to ensure all tasks are completed correctly and efficiently. Thus, choosing the appropriate tools could help your business operate more efficiently and support your business management growth. However, it can be difficult to find the perfect tools for your needs when you’re limited on time and resources.

With the understanding of the advancements in cloud computing and networking, and the demand for perfect online tools for startups and SMEs to be used in their business operations, we will recommend 7 online tools that could be useful to startup and SME to grow their businesses.

What you will learn:

1. Online Tools To Help Startips and SMEs

    1.1 Asana

    1.2 Zoom

    1.3 Hubspot

    1.4 Canva

    1.5 Xero and Dropbox

    1.6 WordPress

    1.7 Google Workspace

2. Key takeaways

Online Tools To Help Startups and SMEs

1. Asana for Project Management

The first tool we recommend is Asana, which is a project management software. Having a cohesive team can be difficult for startup because everyone is still trying to figure out their roles. Asana makes it easy to stay organized and on top of everything. Simply build a project, allow each job and task, and set deadlines. It is a simple tool to start using, and may quickly become an essential and powerful resource for your company. The shared chat feature allows you to oversee team communication as the leader. In addition, you can view your project’s progress via a calendar, and monitor the budget among other features. Asana offers free plan, as well as premium plans, charging at a minimum of HKD86 per user each month.

2. Zoom for Client Meetings

Zoom has become popular after the outbreak of the pandemic when we were unable to meet in person due to lockdowns. It enables you to stay in touch with home working staff and even your clients. Zoom is free for video meetings below 40 minutes. You have to pay a fee to keep the meeting going if it exceeds that time limit. 

The premium license costs HKD 117 per month per license, and it allows you to conduct meetings without limitations, back up recordings to the cloud, and even live stream webinars on Facebook and YouTube. These skills will be extremely beneficial if your business plans to become a thought leader in your industry by regularly releasing new video content.

3. Hubspot for CRM

HubSpot is a comprehensive marketing platform that offers businesses and individuals tools to help with all aspects of marketing. In other words, it boosts the efficiency of your company’s marketing and sales. For example, with HubSpot, businesses can monitor and improve their blogging, SEO, social media presence, email campaigns, landing pages and web analytics all from one platform. 

Hubspot offers the following free tools for startups and SMEs to try and test whether Hubspot is helpful and beneficial for their businesses.

For each aspect of services, Hubspot offers starter, professional and enterprise subscriptions to allow businesses to choose according to their needs. For more details, visit Hubspot.

4. Canva for Graphic Design

With the prevalence of digital media, it’s more important than ever to have an online presence that is both powerful and appealing. The images, icons, social media campaigns, banners and more you use for your brand all communicate far more than you may think. All of these factors play a role in how people perceive your brand. 

Canva is the perfect tool for your marketing needs if you are striving to look professional and eye-catching. It is a fantastic graphic design platform that makes it easier, faster, and better to create visual content. You can design elements like social media profile headers, banners, logos, infographics, advertisements, blog visuals, and more.

5. Xero and Dropbox for Online Workspace

Cloud-based services are revolutionizing the way we work, by providing virtual workspaces that complement the traditional office setting. By transitioning their internal work infrastructure to the cloud, businesses can enjoy increased flexibility in how they operate. 

Cloud-based technologies let users store, access, deliver, and process data across a variety of connected devices. Cloud-based tools for startups and SMEs like Xero and Dropbox are user-friendly platforms and have been used by small businesses to expand their business operations without having to invest a large amount of money in IT infrastructure. 

Xero helps you run your company’s finances more efficiently. This is especially useful for small firms that have limited capital and budget. The cloud can do everything from helping you balance your books to creating detailed financial reports and even invoicing customers. This enhances flexibility and facilitates the process when working with their accountants. Visit https://www.xero.com/ to explore more features of the Xero website!

Dropbox allows businesses to share and collaborate on files. It is a cloud-based storage service that keeps your personal files safe and readily available. Users may save their documents online to a folder and distribute access to not only other team members but also clients. Because they are always releasing new features, they have become one of the most popular cloud storage systems on the market.

6. WordPress for Content Management

WordPress has maintained its reputation as one of the best website-building tools available, powering around 39.5% of websites on the Internet. This platform is a content management system that is simple to utilize. WordPress is a great platform for individuals to start their own businesses. There is a plentiful number of highly adaptable plugins available on the system to create your own business website. Your employees will be able to work on your fully functional business website in no time thanks to the simple user interface.

7. Google Workspace for Productivity

Google Workspace aggregates all of Google’s productivity tools in one central repository. Tools like google calendar, drive, docs, slides, keep, forms, sites currents Gmail meet and sheets are organized into a single area for your business’ convenience. It enables effective and efficient collaboration by improving team management, even if your coworkers are in different places.

With Google, team communication is facilitated, and your work is automatically saved. Multiple members can make changes to documents at the same time. When you use Google to manage business email, you have total control over who can read what, since all data is kept safe and secure. It’s simple to keep everything inside your company’s ecosystem. There is a free trial for a business account for the first two weeks. There will be a minimum monthly cost of HKD 47 per user.

Key takeaways

Business management is costly enough, you need to be very selective about the software tools you decide are essential for your business management. If you’re looking to relieve your burden, consider using these affordable tools that will help improve productivity. 

Take advantage of these productivity tools to integrate them into your company processes. Don’t hesitate to contact FastLane if you require assistance with the adoption of the tools in your business.