Online Services for Small Businesses
Use the Web to Manage Operations and Administrative Tasks
May 7, 2009
Large companies have access to numerous tools that increase employees’ output and efficiency, but many of those tools come with large price tags. The following online services are catered to smaller companies, and they can help small business owners manage their demanding schedules:
Send and Receive Faxes Through E-mail
Small business owners can save time and money by consolidating the tools they use to communicate. eFax allows users to send and receive faxes from a desktop or laptop, which means a coffee shop, library or office building can be transformed into a home office. It costs $16.95 a month, but saves on paper, ink and fax machine maintenance.
Simplify Time and Project Management
Tracking and reporting time can be cumbersome for on-the-go small business owners. FunctionFox’s flagship application, TimeFox, allows users to manage timesheets, control costs and track estimates with a desktop project dashboard and stopwatch timer. It generates instant, professional reports for clients and sends e-mail reminders to keep you on track. TimeFox Classic costs $35 a month for one user, and $5 a month for each additional user.
Turn Your Computer into a Conference Room
GoToMeeting is a Web conferencing tool that allows users in multiple locations to meet online. All attendees can view applications running on the host’s computer in real time, which can be ideal for presentations, live product demonstrations and collaborative brainstorming sessions. The cost ranges from $39 to $49 a month.
Collaborate and Edit Documents in Real Time
When multiple people need to edit a single document, the revision process can be full of backtracking and re-editing. Google Docs is a free, Web-based program that eliminates the need for reviewing a document multiple times. It allows users to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations online while collaborating in real time with other users.
Communicate with Clients Around the World, Face-to-Face
The Internet has opened up the pool of potential clients and business partners to other states and other nations. Skype allows people around the world to communicate via webcams for free. It doesn’t waste cell phone minutes or require a long distance phone plan; users just need an Internet connection.
Limited funds and time shouldn’t be excuses for disorganization or faulty communications. Online services for small businesses can help owners manage operations and administrative tasks that keep the business running. Leveraging these tools can enhance professionalism, reach and productivity.
Small businesses owners and other workers with home offices can learn more about productivity in Productivity and the Home Office.
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