In any start-up two resources are most critical- People and Money. And unfortunately, all start-up have little of these two resources. Software applications are a resource available in abundance which can help achieve increased efficiency and help in better utilization of the limited resources.
Even at SoftwareSuggest.com, the contribution of various web applications which helped us in our startup cannot be over emphasized. Here we give you an insight into those five applications which assisted us in our journey to the start-up of our company:
1. Outlook (the web app) – The first task we had to complete after purchasing our domain SoftwareSuggest.com was to set up the email ID. We had two options:
a) To buy the google app and spend Rs 1000 per email ID per annum
b) To use the not-so-user friendly client provided by our domain provider (and curse ourselves for not spending on google apps).
Well, we went for a third option instead and in stepped the outlook web app. Outlook gives 50 business ID free for any domain. Interestingly, not many know about this beautiful free app.
2. Asana– A week into SoftwareSuggest and we realized needed a collaboration tool. We tried Trello, Basecamp & infinite different apps. Most of these tools had one of the following – were paid, had limited features for free usage, projects were limited to one or two or users were limited to 5. We, however, found an end to all our problems with Asana. Benefits- Asana is free for 15 users, one can make unlimited projects all features are activated even in the trial version and thus is perfect for a small team.
3. Apptivo– We soon needed a tool for client management, a CRM solution. Some of the tools we tried allow limited contact, others did not sync with email. We tried 3-4 different CRM and zeroed in on Apptivo. Benefits (for us) – It had unlimited web form integration, email client is perfectly synced, google app sync & the user experience (except the speed) is awesome.
Though we started using Apptivo for CRM, we now are using it for lead management & recruitment.
4. Sendy– Mass e-mailers are an evil necessity. Our first try was with Mail Chimp and Mad Mimi. Both allowed limited contacts in the basic plans & we did not want to spend on the enterprise plans as we had to save cost. Sendy was our answer. It has no limitation on the number of contacts and 10000 email costs just $1. Compare it with Madmimi which costs $42 per month or a Mail Chimp, which is $ 75 for the same number of contacts.
5. Tumblr– This is quite a popular option as a blogging option. But, we use tumblr for everything possible. It is our internal notice board & dairy. All major events are recorded here. Event thoughts and ideas go on Tumblr. It gives us motivation when we are down and helps us assess our progress.
We tried a few. There must be much other better Application. Do post it as a comment.
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The article is written by Ankit Dudhwewala, Co-founder at SoftwareSuggest.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ .