If you have experience in entrepreneurship, you know that 24 hours in a day simply aren’t enough to complete all of your work. There is always that additional task you forgot, or that detail you omitted while preparing the tomorrow’s presentation. When you are your own boss, you are solely responsible for all the successes and failures of your business, a burden which can be daunting as much as it can be rewarding. And let’s face the truth, sometimes one person is not enough to cope and keep track of everything that needs to be done in one day.
People who found their success have a quick solution to the above mentioned problem — they just hire an assistant. But if you are just starting out in your own business or going through a rough patch, then it’s time that you consider using productivity tools.
Here is a list of 5 different productivity tools I really think could help any entrepreneur from any industry and company size.
Slack
There are probably millions of different messengers in the world. The chat app market is so saturated that it’s hard to imagine any new entrant coming in and winning against the stiff competition. However Slack is a perfect example of that. The secret of their success basically lies in great user experience. They invested a lot of resources to create a seamless communication platform for the office. Not to mention that it’s already a favourite among many. It can even help in reducing the amount of office emails sent each day to our Inbox.
For an entrepreneur Slack is important as it is really the best way to keep communication with your team on point and track projects simultaneously. In case you are a one man company, don’t worry, you can still use Slack to your advantage. Many companies (depending from company type and industry) are actually even adding customers to their slack chats to keep conversation with them. Brilliant.
PDF to PowerPoint
Most entrepreneurs today dream of getting funded by some big venture funds and have the name of their business all over tech news. However, before that, your investors will still have to hear about your great idea and you will have to show them some hard figures to convince them. However, as we all know, preparing a presentation while also running a business is very time and energy consuming. This is why PDF to PowerPoint is another tool I’ve decided to include in this list. When you are doing market research, you will come across various statistical reports in PDF format. Instead of manually copy pasting all information to your presentation slides, use this free PDF to PowerPoint converter tool to convert the whole PDF into an editable .pptx file, and work faster from there. You will literally save yourself hours, as it does not only convert text, but images also.
Google Drive
It really is impossible to create any fair list of productivity tools without mentioning Google’s amazing repertoire of excellent free online solutions. Google Docs are the perfect alternative to MS Office, not to say a much more convenient solution as everything is stored in the cloud rather than on your computer. Teams can easily share documents, presentations, images and much more through Google’s cloud solutions. Apart from that, Google Keyword Planner is another great way to help your business evaluate market niches, gaps and monitor competition based on customer searches.
MailChimp
MailChimp is not only a service that lets you send mass email marketing campaigns, it also helps you follow statistics, create newsletters, and delight your customers each step of their buying cycle. Another admirable thing about MailChimp is that they really understand their customer, and go a long way to create the best experience for you. You can go to their website and depending on the number of subscribers you have, they tailor a product especially for your type of business. Their free version allows you to have 2000 subscribers and send 12000 emails a month.
Labeley
As most of the productivity tools mentioned above are a good fit for tech startups, I’ve decided to add this tool to help the non tech businesses as well. Are you one of those small businesses that create organic soaps, their own beer labels or something of that crafty sort? Labeley is the perfect easy-to-use free web tool for you to create labels for your brand within minutes. With their already made templates, you can create your own personalized label from scratch, or even upload your own work and use Labeley for the final touches. Labeley can transform an ordinary person into a talented artist. Let your creativity shine!
BONUS Productivity Tip
Want another quick tip how you and your team could be more productive? Get plants! Office plants not only serve as a great ornament for your corporate space, but also help purify the air and improve concentration. People enjoy nature, so why wouldn’t you bring a piece of nature to them?