Best Small Business Tools You Don't Want to Miss

CoSchedule offers an all-in-one AI marketing calendar to organize content, social media, and other marketing efforts. It provides various tools for different aspects of marketing, including: * **Calendars:** Social Calendar, Content Calendar, and Agency Calendar, designed to centralize tasks, projects, and campaigns for individuals, teams, and agencies. * **Generative AI:** Hire Mia, a collaborative AI editor, to boost marketing output. * **Content Optimization:** Headline Studio, an AI-powered headline writing tool, to create engaging and SEO-friendly headlines, captions, and titles. * **Marketing Education:** The Actionable Marketing Institute, a library of on-demand marketing courses. * **Tools:** A wide range of free AI writing tools, including idea generators for various content types (holidays, online stores, sales pitches, etc.), compliance generators (HIPAA, GDPR, etc.), and tools for analyzing headlines and optimizing social messages. CoSchedule aims to streamline the marketing process, helping teams and individuals stay organized and maximize their efforts. The platform's comprehensive suite of tools and AI capabilities are designed to improve efficiency and effectiveness in marketing. The platform also provides resources like customer stories, popular use cases, and a marketing blog to help users understand and utilize the tools effectively.

Harvest is a time-tracking software designed to help teams spend their time wisely. It offers a simple and user-friendly interface for tracking time across projects, generating reports, and automating invoicing and payments. Harvest's core features include: <em> <strong>Time Tracking:</strong> Effortless time tracking with one-click functionality, available across desktop (Mac and PC), mobile (iOS and Android), and web browsers. Includes subtle reminders to track time daily. </em> <strong>Invoicing & Payments:</strong> Seamless invoicing and payment processing. Generate and send invoices in two clicks, allowing clients to pay directly from the invoice. Automated follow-up and reminders are included. Integrates with Xero and QuickBooks. <em> <strong>Reporting:</strong> Generate instant reports across projects, providing insights into budgets, time spent on tasks and projects, team capacity, expenses, and more. Detailed reports allow for in-depth analysis. </em> <strong>Budget Monitoring:</strong> Set hourly or fixed-fee budgets for each project and track progress. Instant alerts are triggered when budgets are reached. * <strong>Cost Tracking:</strong> Track expenses for every client and project, including billable and non-billable hours, materials, supplies, travel costs, and more. Easily upload receipts and attach them to invoices. Harvest integrates with a wide range of popular project management and accounting tools, including Asana, Slack, Notion, Jira, GitHub, Basecamp, Xero, QuickBooks Online, Monday.com, and Linear. This seamless integration allows users to track time without switching between applications. Harvest is trusted by over 70,000 companies and has tracked over 2 billion hours. It's designed for teams of all sizes and industries, offering a user-friendly experience for efficient time management and project tracking.

Invoice Ninja is a comprehensive invoicing and expense management software designed for freelancers and small businesses. It offers a suite of tools to streamline the invoicing process, from creating and sending invoices and quotes to managing payments, expenses, vendors, and projects. Key features include automated bank and financial account connection and transaction syncing, allowing for automatic import of transactions from various sources like banks, credit cards, and PayPal. The platform also provides robust project and task management capabilities, enabling users to track billable work hours and easily generate invoices from completed projects. Invoice Ninja supports various payment gateways, allowing clients to pay invoices with a single click. The software offers customizable invoice templates, enabling businesses to maintain a consistent brand identity across all their invoices. Integrations with popular platforms like Zapier, Make, and Integrately allow for seamless automation of workflows and processes. Invoice Ninja provides a user-friendly interface, making it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise. The platform is available as a web application, desktop applications for macOS, Windows, and Linux, and mobile apps for iOS and Android. Invoice Ninja also offers self-hosting options, allowing users to install and manage the software on their own servers. The platform prioritizes security, employing advanced data protection and cybersecurity measures to safeguard user information and client data. It offers a free plan with limitations on the number of clients, and paid plans with additional features and unlimited clients. The software is designed to help businesses improve cash flow by automating invoice creation and payment collection, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks and improving efficiency.

Axon is a custom software development company specializing in full-cycle software development services of any complexity, creating turnkey solutions for small and medium businesses. They offer a range of services including software architecture, software product development, mobile development, UX/UI design, quality assurance, business analysis, dedicated teams, and extended teams. Their expertise extends to various industries such as real estate (property management systems, tenant engagement apps, ESG compliance), education, insurance, finance & banking, marketing & advertising, cryptocurrency, and agriculture. They also provide DevOps & Infrastructure, Cloud architecture, and IoT Application Development services. Axon's services include Identity & Access Management, a smart localization platform (Libraria), a product discovery workshop (Axactly), and clickable prototypes for customer management, data presentation, and ATS/CRM/ERP systems. They offer project estimation tools for software solutions, mobile apps, AWS costs, and project kick-off readiness checks. Axon emphasizes transparent and predictable project management, result-oriented processes, industry expertise, client recommendations, and flexible, scalable team structures. They are committed to data privacy and provide relationship-based and project-based cooperation models (staff augmentation, dedicated teams, fixed price, and time & material).

Smartsheet is a comprehensive work management platform designed to handle various use cases, from team projects and processes to large-scale enterprise portfolios. It's built to adapt to the needs of different organizations and scales. The platform offers features for automation, team collaboration, dashboarding and reporting, proofing, account administration, and integrations with other tools. Smartsheet allows for digital asset management, resource management, portfolio management, secure request management, intelligent workflows, and no-code work apps. It supports diverse industries, including government, construction, financial services, higher education, and nonprofits, as well as enterprise and small/medium businesses. Key use cases include project management, IT portfolio management, services delivery, marketing management, creative operations, business PMO, and enterprise PMO. Smartsheet also provides tools for event management, new product development, capital projects, and more. The platform facilitates real-time collaboration, allowing teams to share updates and stay connected, regardless of location. Automation capabilities simplify repetitive tasks, reducing errors and saving time. Smartsheet integrates with various applications, keeping work synchronized and teams informed. The platform prioritizes data security with industry-leading measures to protect sensitive information. The platform also leverages AI capabilities, such as AI-generated formulas, to speed up decision-making and unlock insights from data. Smartsheet's customer stories showcase its impact on various organizations, highlighting improvements like increased project management efficiency, cost savings, and streamlined processes. Examples include 30% more projects managed with the same number of project managers, $1M annual savings, 200 projects tracked, a 45% decrease in time for marketing lifecycle development, and significant time savings in customer invoice collection.

Wrike is a versatile and robust project management software designed for teams and organizations of all sizes. It streamlines workflows across various departments, including marketing, creative, product development, professional services, IT, operations, and HR. Wrike centralizes all work in one platform, providing 360° visibility into projects and tasks. This allows for improved alignment, eliminates wasted efforts through automation of routine tasks (approvals, request forms, etc.), and accelerates delivery of business outcomes. Wrike offers customizable dashboards and real-time analytics to support data-driven decisions and Agile leadership. The platform includes features like Gantt charts, Kanban boards, online proofing tools, custom item types, project resource planning, and custom views. Wrike is designed for seamless collaboration with internal teams and external clients, accelerating feedback and sign-off processes. It also provides a single source of truth for all work, improving visibility and alignment. The platform is highly configurable, allowing users to tailor workspaces, fields, statuses, and workflows to their specific needs and processes. Wrike is scalable, allowing for easy onboarding of new teams and adapting to rapid growth. It offers enterprise-grade security, including double encryption, role-based access control, user authentication, and multiple privacy verifications. 24/7 global support is available, along with a wealth of resources like guides, webinars, and templates. Wrike integrates with over 400 popular apps, including Slack, Microsoft, Google, Adobe, Salesforce, Zoom, Tableau, and MS Teams, and offers custom integrations for advanced users.

Basecamp is a project management platform designed to help small teams work faster and more efficiently. It offers a streamlined approach to project management, consolidating various tools like chat, file sharing, tasks, and scheduling into a single platform. Key features include a unique take on kanban with the Card Table, a comprehensive overview of multiple projects with Mission Control, and a single-page view for each project to keep everything organized and accessible. Basecamp also provides features like private conversations (pings), activity reports, notification controls, a timeline, exceptional customer service, and more. It helps teams consolidate billing, cut costs, and simplify onboarding by eliminating the need for multiple apps. Real-time chat is built into each project, and the Timesheet add-on allows for direct time tracking without spreadsheets. The Lineup feature provides a clear visual representation of project progress on a single timeline. Basecamp prioritizes a well-run company, with a focus on financial responsibility, uptime, and customer service. They offer a learning library, support for legacy products, and direct access to the CEO. Basecamp is used by various industries, including marketers, ad agencies, designers, client services firms, consultants, software developers, freelancers, PR agencies, contractors, schools, non-profits, and first responders. Basecamp's intuitive design and features are praised by numerous customers, who report increased collaboration, productivity, and efficiency. Features like Hill Charts provide a visual representation of project progress, and Message Boards centralize conversations. Docs & Files allow for organization and sharing of documents, files, and images. Basecamp also offers integrations with other services through "Doors" and a flexible scheduling system.

ClickUp is a comprehensive work platform designed to streamline communication and collaboration for teams of all sizes. It brings together tasks, projects, conversations, knowledge, and more into a single application, eliminating the need to switch between multiple apps. ClickUp offers a wide range of features, including AI-powered assistance, customizable views (list, board, Gantt, etc.), and the ability to automate workflows. It supports various team types, from PMOs to marketing teams, product teams, engineering teams, and agencies. ClickUp's flexibility allows teams to customize the platform to their specific needs, and it integrates with existing tools. The platform centralizes project-related communications, enabling better collaboration, enhanced visibility into project progress, and streamlined automation of business processes. Features include comments, documents, whiteboards, clips, views, dashboards, reports, goals, automations, forms, task templates, and custom fields. ClickUp is praised for its ability to improve productivity, reduce wasted time, and accelerate project delivery. It's described as a low-code platform that helps automate processes, increasing productivity by approximately 50% in some cases.

Asana is a work management platform that connects work to goals and automates workflows with AI assistance. It allows companies to operationalize goals by connecting work to company objectives, automating workflows across departments, and reporting on progress and addressing bottlenecks. Asana streamlines campaign management, enhances creative production, and manages events and editorial calendars for marketing teams. For operations, Asana tracks work, shows progress in real-time, standardizes and automates processes, and helps teams hit revenue goals. IT teams can prioritize and streamline requests, allocate resources effectively, automate and scale workflows, and manage employee onboarding and offboarding. Product teams can keep product development on track, centralize launch information, and tie product roadmaps to company strategy. Asana provides clarity and accountability by connecting strategic goals to teams, enabling real-time progress tracking, stakeholder updates, and company-wide progress monitoring. It amplifies impact with AI-powered workflows that handle busywork, ensuring data security and compliance with industry standards. Asana supports over 300+ integrations and is trusted by top companies globally. The platform is designed to scale with any company size, offering features for personal, starter, advanced, and enterprise plans. Asana is recognized as a leader in collaborative work management by top analyst firms like Gartner, Forrester, and IDC.

Trello is a collaborative work management tool that helps teams organize tasks, projects, and workflows. It allows teams to visualize their work using boards, lists, and cards, enabling better communication, task tracking, and progress visualization. Trello's flexibility allows teams to customize their workflows to fit their specific needs, whether it's managing marketing campaigns, product development roadmaps, engineering projects, design tasks, or general project management. It supports various team sizes, from individuals to large enterprises, and offers different pricing plans to accommodate different needs and budgets. Trello integrates with other tools and apps, allowing teams to connect their existing workflows and tools. Key features include task management, resource hubs, project management, meetings, onboarding, brainstorming, and more. Trello's visual interface and automation features streamline workflows, improve team communication, and help teams stay organized and on track. The platform offers various views, including Timeline and Calendar views, to provide a comprehensive overview of tasks and deadlines. Trello also provides templates, integrations, and automation tools to further enhance team productivity and efficiency. The platform is designed to be simple to use, allowing teams to quickly set up and customize workflows. Trello is trusted by millions of teams worldwide and is known for its ease of use and ability to simplify complex processes.

Teamwork.com is a platform designed for businesses and teams that handle client work. It combines powerful project management with streamlined operations, allowing businesses to manage client projects profitably and scale with confidence. The platform helps businesses stay on top of tasks, timelines, and billable minutes; efficiently plan projects; optimize capacity and balance workloads; and facilitate easy communication and collaboration. Key features include time tracking, resource management, pre-built templates for various project types (e.g., project plan, website project, client onboarding), integrations with existing tools, and detailed reporting on project, client, and business KPIs. Teamwork.com aims to solve common client operations challenges by providing a centralized system of record for all client assets, project timelines, communications, and financial reporting. The platform helps businesses balance team capacity, optimize recurring revenue from retainers, prioritize tasks, understand billable hours, and ultimately grow profit margins. It streamlines all aspects of client work operations, maximizing capacity and utilization through integrated time tracking and resource management, simplifying operations with templates and automation, and enabling business scaling through customizable processes and workflows. The platform is trusted by thousands of teams and businesses across various industries, including IT services, agencies, consulting services, and architecture & engineering. Teamwork.com offers various resources, including templates, a support center, a partner directory, and a learning academy, to help users get started and succeed.

Zoho offers a comprehensive suite of cloud-based business software applications. Their products span various business functions, including sales, marketing, commerce, service, finance, email and collaboration, human resources, legal, security, and IT management, and BI and analytics. Zoho One is a unified platform designed to connect various departments and improve organizational efficiency. The company emphasizes a customer-first approach, long-term commitment, and investment in research and development. Zoho's software is designed for businesses of all sizes, from startups to enterprises. They offer various products like CRM, helpdesk software, accounting platforms, email services, payroll processing, and more. The company also provides suites like CRM Plus, Marketing Plus, Service Plus, Finance Plus, People Plus, and Workplace, which integrate multiple applications for specific business needs. Zoho's products are known for their ease of use, scalability, and integration capabilities. They also have a marketplace for extensions and integrations with other business tools. Zoho's commitment to privacy is highlighted, with a focus on software license fees as their primary revenue source, rather than advertising.

GanttPRO is an online Gantt chart maker for project management. It allows users to plan and manage simple tasks and complex projects with professional Gantt chart software. The software provides an interactive Gantt chart to determine project duration and resource needs, using a work breakdown structure and dependencies to show the order of task completion. A critical path highlights tasks affecting the completion date. The online Gantt chart creator visualizes project plans of any complexity, showing tasks, timelines, statuses, dependencies, and other details. It's a collaborative tool, providing real-time visibility into project progress for all team members. GanttPRO facilitates easy sharing and presentation of project plans to stakeholders, allowing downloads and sharing of dynamic or static Gantt charts. Key features include workload management, board view (alternative to Gantt chart), collaboration tools, notifications, task relations (with auto-scheduling and critical path), export options (PDF, PNG, XLSX, XML), time logs, and reports. The customizable and scalable online project planner offers intuitive interface, workload management, multiple views (Gantt chart, Kanban board, list, portfolio), time management, progress tracking, up-to-date notifications, resource management, cost calculations, and client updates. Users can easily create Gantt charts online, add tasks, dates, resources, and share projects with teams. Free Gantt chart templates are available for various industries, including marketing, construction, event planning, software development, and web design. Customer testimonials highlight the tool's comprehensive features, intuitive interface, and ease of use for project management, collaboration, and tracking tasks, workload, and productivity.

Capsule CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) system designed for small businesses. It helps businesses win more deals, be more productive, and delight customers. Capsule centralizes all client interactions in one place, allowing teams to understand client status, plan engagements, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Key features include contact management, sales pipeline management, email marketing, sales analytics, project management, and workflow automation. The platform offers a streamlined approach to customer data management, tracking interactions, and providing valuable insights for informed decision-making. Capsule integrates seamlessly with existing tools, supporting over 70 integrations, including QuickBooks, Zapier, Slack, WhatsApp, Google Workspace, and more. It's known for its ease of use, zero onboarding fees, and rapid implementation, allowing businesses to quickly start using the platform and achieve a return on investment. Capsule's user-friendly interface, customization options, and affordability make it accessible to businesses of all sizes. The platform also provides valuable resources through a blog with tips and tricks, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) to address common CRM concerns.

monday.com is a work platform designed to streamline workflows and provide clear visibility across teams, enabling confident strategic decision-making. It's a single platform for managing various aspects of a business, from projects and tasks to marketing, design, CRM, software, IT, and operations. The platform offers tailored products for specific needs, such as sales processes, sprint management, and more. Key features include customizable products, drag-and-drop customization, seamless integration with other tools, automation and AI for repetitive tasks, real-time data visibility for informed decision-making, and a user-friendly design. monday.com is trusted by over 225,000 customers, from startups to enterprises, and has been recognized as a Leader in the 2024 Magic Quadrant™ for Adaptive Project Management and Reporting. The platform's core strength lies in its flexibility, speed, and scalability, powered by its in-house data engine (mondayDB). It also prioritizes data security with custom granular permissions and industry-leading compliance standards. monday.com offers white-glove services for rapid implementation, onboarding, and training, ensuring a smooth transition and quick value realization. The platform is designed for intuitive adoption across the organization, fostering team collaboration and real-time visibility into key metrics like OKRs.