GUEST BLOG: Budget-friendly online tools for start-ups

By Cathy Habas, freelance writer and content marketer at SEO Service Crew

There are a myriad number of economic, efficient, and powerful online tools that can make any start-up prosper.

Money makes the world go round, and a sizable lump of cash certainly makes life easier for entrepreneurs and start-ups. It’s what allows you to create mock-ups, prototypes, killer advertising campaigns and cutting-edge websites, all of which are needed to get your business up and running.

But even though you can seek out grants, loans or backing from investors to make your wildest dreams come true, you’ll probably still have to work within a budget.

Naturally, you’ll want a lot of your money to go into product development and promotion. However, there are somewhat mundane, everyday things that have to be taken care of as well. How will you communicate with your team? Where will you store your files?

Thankfully, there are nifty online tools and apps that are perfect for start-ups and entrepreneurs bound by budgets.

Here are some common office tasks you can simplify with online tools or apps:

Manage your phone line and voicemail

Right now your business may consist of you and about three other visionaries, but you can appear as a much larger, booming business (the ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ approach). The secret? Having a telephone number and a sophisticated routing service.

These virtual phone services act like your personal secretary. In fact, some will even convert your voicemails into emails, making it very easy to review and prioritise them. You can also create menu options that will ring different employee’s cell phones. How great is that! You can use the resources you already have, but in a more efficient way.

Send faxes the easy way

If you think a virtual answering service is cool, you’ll love virtual faxing. The frequency in which you need to use a fax machine is often too low to warrant having your own. You’d have to pay for the machine, find a place in your office to put it, and pay for another phone line.

Thankfully, there are nifty online tools and apps that are perfect for start-ups and entrepreneurs bound by budgets

And yet, when you do need to use a fax machine, not having one in your office means you need to go find the nearest faxing service. That begs the question: which method is worth the hassle?

The answer: neither! With virtual faxing services, all you have to do is send an email, but the recipient will receive the file to their fax machine. It doesn’t get simpler than that.

Store files on the cloud, not in the cabinet

File cabinets used to be an office staple, but they are becoming a rarer sight. That’s all due to cloud-based file storage systems. By keeping everything on the cloud, you can access files from any device, which is incredibly convenient.

However, the benefit doesn’t end there. You’ll also save a ton of money forgoing the use of file cabinets. Think about it: those cabinets aren’t cheap, and neither are the file folders, labels, reams of paper, and cartridges of ink. Nowadays, your clients can even sign documents online, so there is very little reason to have a physical copy of any paperwork lying around.

Host online meetings

Many start-ups don’t have a physical office, and/or their employees live all over the world. Productive meetings can still take place, however, with the help of some useful programs.

You can give presentations, record the meeting, share screens, take real-time polls, and open the floor to one speaker at a time with audio controls. Participants don’t even have to be online, but can instead call into the meeting.

The specific features available depend on which program you use, and there are free meeting tools that provide the basic necessities.

Many start-ups don’t have a physical office, and/or their employees live all over the world. Productive meetings can still take place, however, with the help of some useful programs

Brainstorm remotely with virtual whiteboards

Take your online meetings a step further by using virtual whiteboards. Nothing beats scribbling ideas on the board rapid-fire and building on each other’s musings and ideas. With virtual whiteboards, you can see other user’s movements in real time. There’s no need to switch back and forth to share screens or to email copy after copy of updated files. A whiteboard tool will save you time, and frankly, it’s fun.