The best productivity apps for small businesses include project management services, invoicing/billing solutions and traditional office suites. Project management services assist teams in tracking a project’s workflow and resource usage, thus reducing the need for team meetings. They also make it easier to determine who is responsible for each part of a project. Invoicing/billing solutions are particularly beneficial since many small business owners lack in-house expertise in accounting. Offices suites traditionally include word processors, spreadsheets and presentation tools, but the best ones allow more than one person to work on the same document simultaneously.
Project Management Services
Teamwork Projects
Teamwork Projects is an online project management service that’s affordable and easy to use. It’s best suited for project managers with small teams and projects. The basic service level of Teamwork Projects is available at no charge, allowing you to try it out before you pay for higher service levels.
RescueTime
RescueTime is a free time-tracking tool that reports productivity factors such as breaks, apps used and websites visited. This data helps you achieve insights into your work habits, which is essential for improving productivity. RescueTime also helps you quantify your productivity goals by blocking or limiting your use of apps and websites when you’re supposed to be working.
Invoicing/Billing Solutions
OfficeTime
OfficeTime records billable hours which it uses to generate invoices and reports. It’s primarily useful for small business owners who need to track billable hours, especially freelancers and lawyers. OfficeTime is available for a one-time fee of $47 for Mac and Windows operating systems. An iOS version is also available as an in-app purchase.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is an online service that tracks and manages invoices as well as expenses and time spent on a project. It’s especially useful for small businesses such as sole proprietorships that don’t require double-entry bookkeeping. FreshBooks offers a free 30-day trial and service levels that start at $9.95 per month.
Office Suites
Google Drive
Google Drive may be best known as a file-syncing service, but it also provides the functions of an office suite with components such as Google Docs, Forms, Slides and Sheets. This wide range of business software provides Google Drive with the potential to dramatically improve the productivity of a small business. Google Drive also allows team members to collaborate offline.
Todoist
Todoist is a collaborative app that synchronizes the work of many people working on different devices. It keeps track of tasks as they’re completed and generates a report showing the progress of each project. Todoist is particularly useful for making and sharing to-do lists between team members. This app costs a flat rate of $29 per year.
Summary
CSCI has been improving the productivity of small businesses in the San Diego area for over 30 years. You can choose from our pre-configured plans, but we can also design a custom plan to meet your company’s specific needs. Contact us today to see how we can make you more productive.
