Best Tools to Keep Your Small Business Organized

About the author: Lamar Watson, CFP®, is a Fee-Only Financial Advisor in the Washington, D.C. area, that works with clients virtually across the country. Lamar's work with his clients focuses on budgeting, employee benefits, paying down debt, buying their first home, and investing. Lamar is the Founder of Dream Financial Planning, a virtual financial planning firm specifically designed to help young professionals and minorities take control of their finances and fulfill their dreams. Feel free to schedule a complimentary consultation to learn how we use the The DREAM Financial Planning Process ™ to help our clients achieve their goals. 

Staying organized and having a strategic plan and system in place to help you execute your goals is the secret to success as a small business owner. With so many tech tools to choose from today, choosing the right tools to keep your business organized and thriving can be overwhelming. To help you keep your business in order, we’re sharing our top five favorite tools to help your business run smoothly. 

1. Trello 

Trello has often been underrated considering how essential it can be to help keep a small business organized. What’s great about Trello is it allows you to stay on top of your daily tasks while also communicating with your entire team. If you are looking for a tool that allows you to easily monitor the work of your employees, collaborate, remain organized and prioritize projects, Trello is a great tool to add your business’s tech stack. 

Trello’s free version is sufficient for businesses that don’t need advanced customizations or support options, but if you anticipate housing files over 10MB then you may want to consider Trello’s business class plan for $9.99 per month.

2. Evernote 

Are you someone who feverishly jots down notes and to-dos on Post-it Notes that get lost or become overwhelming? Evernote to the rescue! Evernote is a web and mobile app which allows you to take notes, organize your lists and tasks, and archive information on the go. From personal notes to big picture plans for your business you can take note of it all in Evernote and even share them with your team. 

Evernote’s free basic plan is great for taking notes, staying organized and sharing. If you’re looking for note integrations and AI-suggested content, you may want to upgrade to their premium plan for $7.99 per month.

3. Zoom

Any small business needs a tool to schedule and host virtual meetings. Enter: Zoom. Zoom is an online tool that allows you to hold video conferences on the web. Amongst its other benefits, Zoom allows you to record your meetings which is a great feature if you need to share recordings with non-attendees. 

Zoom offers a free basic plan for unlimited personal meetings with a 40-minute time limit. If you’re looking for a meeting option with no duration limit and the ability to host over 100 participants their business plan is $19.99 per month per host.

4. Slack 

Slack is a real-time messaging app that brings all your team’s communication together in one place. Gone are the days of having to keep up with tons of email threads from team members. With Slack, you can simplify your business communication and streamline you work while ensuring everyone on your team is on the same page. Slack allows you to set up private one-on-one messages or channels with multiple team members for instant communication. 

If you run a small business, Slack’s free plan should suffice, but if you’re looking for more large-scale collaboration and access to message history their standard plan starts at $6.67 per month per active user.

5. Calendly 

Want to make it easy for partners or clients to schedule meetings with you all while keeping your own schedule organized? Calendly eliminates the old school way of scheduling meetings with back and forth emails and allows others to see exactly when you are available for a meeting in real-time. Balancing multiple calendars? Calendly has got you covered. Calendly can sync with up to six of your calendars to automatically check availability and help you connect with your contacts, prospects and clients.

Calendly’s basic plan is free and allows one calendar per user to schedule unlimited events but only one event type. If your business needs multiple event types and further customization Calendly’s premium plan starts at $8 per user per month.

It is nearly impossible for any small business to flourish without the use of organizational tools. Running a small business comes with many challenges and often means balancing many things at once. Don’t make your lack of organization be another thing to juggle. Instead, integrate these five easy to use tech tools to simplify your life and help your business run smoothly and in an organized manner. We promise you will thank us later!

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