Productivity and efficiency are at a premium in the life of a busy entrepreneur. Most juggle many things at once, making it easy to overlook a few tasks. In some cases, entrepreneurs are also forced to deal with repetitive tasks that can zap productivity. Sound familiar?
However, the advent of modern business technologies offers various solutions to entrepreneurs wanting to boost organizational skills. These tools make it easier to tick off certain things from your to-do list and focus on growing your business.
These are some of the must-have business tech tools that every go-getting professional needs:
1. Evernote
Evernote streamlines note taking to help busy entrepreneurs stay sane. When you’re a startup or a small team, there are always lots of tasks to handle and information coming in constantly. As such, note taking is an absolute must, and taking better notes can really boost productivity. Evernote claims to “capture and prioritize ideas, projects, and to-do lists, so nothing falls through the cracks.” It syncs across all of your devices, so you can access your notes and to-do lists everywhere, always. The app stores information on your behalf and makes it easy to retrieve that information. You can use it for storing personal or business items, helping you juggle all your commitments and manage that work-life balance (hopefully, you still have a semblance of one). There are paid and free versions to give you more flexibility.
2. Expensify
Preparing expense reports is one of the most challenging tasks that entrepreneurs have to deal with. This is especially true during tax season. Expensify is, therefore, a lifesaver for busy entrepreneurs, especially those who cannot afford to hire a tax accountant. It makes it easy to track down your expenses and income. Expensify offers a free trial period, so this quarter may be an excellent opportunity to test out how Expensify can benefit you.
3. Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the most popular tools used by entrepreneurs and all types of digital professionals. It is cloud storage and file synchronization, meaning you can use it to store all of your data and easily access your files using any of your devices. DropBox also helps you to share files with others and even work collaboratively on the documents stored in your DropBox cloud drive. It makes managing your files convenient and safe. You can use it to store your files and other important documents without the need for expensive and easy-to-lose memory storage devices, such as external hard drives and USB sticks. A free account can give you up to 2GB of storage space.
4. Hootsuite
This is an online social media management and scheduling tool relied on by bloggers and entrepreneurs. This platform enables you to keep track of all your social media accounts in one place. You can schedule posts for up to three social media platforms on free accounts. As social media mavens will tell you, there are optimal times for posting online in order to engage your users, making this application a game changer. Especially if you’re a nationwide or worldwide business, manually posting at the right times, across all of your social media platforms, can be a nuisance at best or, at worst, nearly impossible. Hootsuite is a great business technology tool for achieving better social media engagement and saving time.
5. MailChimp
The email marketing approach continues to be one of the most formidable ways to promote online businesses. If you are an entrepreneur, you need an email and marketing management system, and MailChimp is one of the most trusted. This tech tool offers robust reporting so you can get statistics and analytics on your email campaigns. You can also use it to test user engagement and make tweaks where necessary to boost conversions.
6. Sortd
This is a G Suite extension that is another must-have for busy entrepreneurs. It boasts an extensive array of features that help with time management. You can organize tasks in the form of check boxes that you can tick whenever you complete them. You can also use this extension to organize your emails, adding notes to emails reminding you to follow-up or create ancillary tasks.
7. Pomodoro Timer
The Pomodoro technique is recognized as one of the most successful ways to increase productivity. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Pomodoro timers are business tech tools that you can find as smart phone applications or websites that set your Pomodoro schedule – timing your intervals and reminding you to take breaks. By using a timer, you can accomplish a large number of tasks over a short period. It also helps to combat burnout.
8. Control4
Control4 is an automation system that is designed to manage daily work and save time. It enables you to handle the little maintenance issues involved in managing an office space. For example, you can use it to control the settings on your office lighting, security system, and thermostat. You can do all of these through the app for added convenience.
9. Trello
If you manage a team of professionals who work for your business, Trello is a handy tech tool to use. You can create numerous Trello boards to categorize project tasks and ideas. You can even use it to brainstorm ideas among the members of a team. It is a great tool for cataloging new ideas, prioritizing team tasks, and giving companywide visibility into the projects each team is working on.
10. Asana
Another excellent organizational business tech tool is Asana. You can use it to track, manage, and organize the workflow within your company. This is especially beneficial when you run a remote company, as you can check in on what each team member is working on. Each project can be designated with a due date to keep everyone apprised.
11. Buffer
Another excellent tech tool (that can be an alternative to Hootsuite) is Buffer. It is a must for entrepreneurs who want to maintain an active social media presence. As an entrepreneur, you don’t have the luxury to update your social media on a daily basis since it is too time-consuming. Buffer solves this problem by allowing you to schedule your social media posts in one place.
12. Time Doctor
Time Doctor is a great tool to have if you want to eliminate distractions on the web. It helps you stay focused with its time-block feature that warns you when you spend more time than necessary on distracting sites, such as Facebook. It can also provide you with handy information about your usage of time. It will enable you to identify how you allocate your time and how you can make improvements.
13. Skype
If you have team members that work remotely and communication is key, Skype is a must-have business tech tool. It is one of the most popular platforms for calling and chatting online. The video call and conference features make it easy to keep in touch with your team members, wherever they are. As long as you have Skype on your phone or computer, you can make phone and video calls from anywhere in the world.
14. Cushion
Cushion is a scheduling tool designed for busy freelancers. By creating a sort of calendar for projects, it helps you determine if you have time for new business opportunities, where you can slot in that additional contract, and also schedule some downtime. This tool is available for a free trial period and comes with a $6 monthly fee after the period ends.
15. Wunderlist
As an entrepreneur, you find yourself juggling your personal and professional tasks. No need to worry about that, because Wunderlist is a tool created for this purpose. You can create notes, reminders, and to-do lists on any device. It makes it easier to stay on top of your tasks and ensure that they are delivered on time.
16. Calendly
Do you have appointments and meetings that you cannot afford to miss? Calendly is the tool just for that! Busy entrepreneurs are going to get a lot of use out of Calendly because it helps you manage your schedule. It can also be synced with Outlook and Google’s calendar service so you won’t forget any of your professional commitments.
