If you’re a business owner, you must have faced the issue of wasting your precious time on menial tasks like scheduling interviews, conducting manual accounting, sending hundreds of emails to generate leads, and spending countless hours on video creation. All this, while getting slow results. No worries; automation tools and business process software are here to help! By reading this guide you’ll have a good knowledge of all major business software with a free plan that you can utilize as a small business or a start-up.
In the digital age of business, business tools have become a necessity for users and to cope with the unusually high speed of working, decision-makers of businesses have to keep up the pace. But how do you do speedy work without losing the quality of work? This article lists exactly that; leveraging business software (with a free plan) to support small-business owners to scale their businesses.
What Is A Business Software & What Are Its Types?
Software designed to conduct business is known as business software. This type of software is typically aimed at assisting a business to achieve specific objectives by leveraging the underlying principles that the software is built upon.
Business software is a collection of computer programs and applications that assist in managing and optimizing various business processes. They are designed to cater to specific organizational needs and vary in type. Examples of these types include
- Web Development & Design Software is essential for businesses that need to create and maintain a website. It includes tools for designing, coding, and testing websites and can help businesses create functional & visually appealing websites.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) software, helps businesses manage customer interactions and relationships.
- Accounting software, which helps manage financial transactions, payroll, and taxes
- Inventory management software, which enables tracking and monitoring of stock levels.
- Customer Support Software helps businesses manage customer inquiries and support tickets. It includes features such as ticket management, knowledge base management, and chat support, and can help businesses improve their customer service.
- Design Software is essential for businesses that need to create graphics, logos, and other visual assets. It includes tools for image editing, graphic design, and layout creation.
- Project Management Software, which helps organizations plan, execute and monitor projects.
- HR Management Software, which enables businesses to automate hiring, and employee training and even allows them to remotely track their employees.
- Social Media Marketing Software, which helps businesses manage and automate social media marketing campaigns across multiple platforms.
- Video Editing Software, which is necessary for creating and editing video content for marketing purposes. It allows for trimming, cutting, and combining video clips, adding effects, and enhancing audio, resulting in professional-looking video content.
- Email Marketing Tool, which helps businesses create, send and track email campaigns to their subscribers.
- Automation Software, helps businesses find and acquire new leads for their sales funnel. It includes tools for prospecting, lead capture, and lead nurturing.
Why Go With A Business Software With A Free Plan?
As a small business owner, you might want to consider using business software with a free plan. Why? Well, it can help you out in several ways. Firstly, automating routine tasks, it can free up time for more important work. Secondly, real-time data can help you make better decisions. Thirdly, by allowing real-time collaboration and data sharing, it can improve teamwork and communication. And lastly, but most importantly, it can reduce upfront costs associated with manual labor and errors. So why not give it a try? It could be a game-changer for your business!
Also, by having access to real-time data, your business can make better-informed decisions that have the potential to boost profits and reduce expenses, which is a win-win situation.
Finally, by streamlining processes and automating routine tasks, using business software can help reduce upfront costs associated with manual labor and errors, which is always a plus. Overall, using business software with a free plan can bring many benefits to your company and make a significant impact on your bottom line.
Let’s discuss what free business software can be leveraged for which business process to grow your business!
Top Ten Business Software With A Free Plan To Leverage Today!
1. Wix (Web Development & Design Software)
Wix is a website development & design software that allows users many versatile features and flexibility to create a highly-customized website. Their free plan is good enough for any business owner who is looking for a basic website that is functional and appears professional.
Wix’s free plan includes;
- a drag-and-drop editor, templates, up to 500MB of storage,
- unlimited bandwidth,
- mobile optimization,
- apps, integrations,
- and Wix branding.
It’s a great option for those who want to create a professional-looking website without spending any money.
Today, businesses seeking to establish a robust online presence will find Wix an indispensable tool. By providing a user-friendly interface, Wix enables businesses to build bespoke websites that are both search engine optimized and customer-centric.
What’s more, Wix guarantees that websites will appear equally attractive on desktop and mobile devices through its responsive design feature.
2. Hubspot (CRM Software)
For businesses seeking to captivate, interact, and satisfy their customers, HubSpot is a software that provides a cloud-based solution for marketing, sales, and customer service.
Hubspot’s platform is inclusive of customer relationship management (CRM), marketing automation, sales automation, and customer service features, and it caters to companies of any magnitude.
Hubspot’s free version for CRM purposes includes many basic and necessary solutions for small-business owners. They are:
- Contact, lead, and deal management
- Task management and email tracking
- Live chat and forms
- Basic reporting features
3. Profitbooks (Accounting & Invoicing Software)
Read more about the several accounting software to aid your business in our article here.
ProfitBooks has emerged as a great substitute for Wave accounting in recent times. It serves as the ideal option for individuals who are not adept at managing business finances. ProfitBooks’ free plan is full of exciting and valuable features.
ProfitBooks offers a comfortable experience for its users through its range of features such as expense tracking, inventory management, invoice creation, and more, making it simple and fast to use. This software is capable of smoothly handling any business process, simplifying the purchase workflow, tracking the manufacturing process, and allowing for inventory tracking.
Profitbooks stand out due to their invoicing feature and effective accounting solutions. Their unique focus on the “Sales” aspect of the business has resulted in software that can be referred to as Sales Accounting software. This is what sets Profitbooks apart from other accounting software.
Here are some of the major invoicing features that they flaunt:
- Unlimited invoices
- Managing Unlimited contacts
- Tracking your payables & receivables
- Collecting online payments
- Sending invoices in multiple currencies
- Tracking business expenses
- Managing taxes
- Inviting staff and accountants
- Exporting data to accounting softwares
- Getting in-depth financial reports
Moreover, with Profitbooks, you can customize your invoice as per your branding. If you’re interested in knowing more about invoicing software in general, read our guide here and make a better-informed decision.
Learn more about their invoicing process here:
ProfitBooks offer free mobile apps on both iOS and Android platforms.
You can signup by clicking here.
4. Odoo (Inventory Management Software)
The Community edition of Odoo, a business management software with open-source code, offers fundamental features like accounting, inventory, sales management, and project management at no cost. This edition can be conveniently downloaded and installed on a local server or used online without any charge.
By providing a single, modular, and cost-effective solution, both the Odoo apps and the tens of thousands of Community apps offer ample assistance in meeting all of your business requirements. The technology collaboration struggles are now a thing of the past, thanks to the comprehensive integration of Odoo apps, which enables full automation of your business processes and generates savings and advantages.
The primary solutions that Odoo has to offer in their free plan include:
- Unlimited products, locations, and users
- Barcode scanning and printing
- Real-time inventory management
- Multi-warehouse management
- Automated stock adjustments and transfers
- Reporting and analysis tools
Looking at the endless benefits enjoyed, as a business owner looking to scale your business, you need to start your Odoo Free Trial now!
5. Freshworks (Customer Servicing Software)
Freshworks is a cloud-based software for customer service. It enhances customer support and engagement by offering features like helpdesk ticketing, knowledge base management, and customer feedback tracking.
With a team of over 5,000 members in more than 30 nations, Freshworks is dedicated to a single objective of assisting individuals in achieving success.
The reason why Freshworks stands out is because of its wide range of solutions that come under its free plan;
- Team collaboration
- Basic reporting
- Mobile app
- Email, phone, and social media channels
- Help widget and knowledge base
- Basic automation and AI-powered suggestions
Start your FreshWorks free trial now, and explore the range of products they have to offer.
6. Canva (Design Software)
The freest software of them all, Canva offers highly versatile graphic designing tools and features that rarely any design software allows for free. From stock images to video content, Canva is good to design anything!
Providing a broad range of features and tools for designing professional-looking graphics and designs, Canva is a highly rated-design software. It is user-friendly due to its intuitive user interface, extensive library of templates and design elements, and drag-and-drop functionality, which makes it equally accessible to novices and experts. Users can access thousands of templates, photos, and graphics and create designs for various purposes such as social media, marketing materials, and presentations for free under Canva’s free plan.
7. ClickUp (Project Management Software)
ClickUp project management software’s free plan provides access to fundamental features, such as task management, project templates, and software tool integrations, making it a great alternative for small teams or individuals who require a cost-free project management solution.
ClickUp enables you to effortlessly plan your project with stunning views and follow it through from initiation to completion. ClickUp offers over 10 customizable views to manage your resources, such as List, Box, Gantt, Board, and Calendar views. Moreover, you can even establish your workflow using any of the views ClickUp provides.
By adding comments to any task or document, you can collaborate and achieve complete alignment on your project. You can assign comments with action items, engage in real-time chat, share attachments, and receive notifications that consolidate everything in one place, ensuring that you never miss a beat.
Check out their pricing model here and see whether the free plan is the right fit for you.
8. Bamboo HR (Human Resource Management Software)
If you’d like to read in detail about the several free HR software that you can use to automate your human resource processes, then read our article on the best HR software to leverage.
The “Essentials” plan, which is BambooHR’s free option, is intended for small businesses and is a cloud-based HR management software. The plan provides core HR functions, including employee profiles, onboarding, time-off tracking, and reporting, for a maximum of 10 employees.
BambooHR stands out from its competitors due to its user-friendly interface, customizable workflows, and range of features that cater to the unique needs of small to medium-sized businesses. It offers seamless integration with other HR tools and services, and its focus on employee self-service and engagement sets it apart from traditional HR management software.
Get end-to-end Human Resource solutions for small and medium-sized businesses in one platform. Best for businesses working remotely, Bamboo HR’s free plan can be registered here.
9. Buffer (Social Media Marketing Software)
By employing Buffer, businesses can schedule, publish, and evaluate social media content on various platforms. The software provides functions such as content curation, team collaboration, and analytics to help businesses boost their social media presence and involvement.
By offering affordable and intuitive marketing tools to ambitious individuals and teams, Buffer, a values-driven company, enables the organic growth of your audience.
With its growing popularity, Buffer is used by 140,000+ people to build their brand on social media monthly!
Here are some of the major features of Buffer you can enjoy under the free plan:
- Manage up to three social media accounts
- Schedule up to ten posts per profile
- Basic post analytics and insights
- Browser extensions for easy content curation
- Integration with other apps and platforms
10. Blender (Video Editing Software)
With its advanced features and tools, Blender enables users to edit and create videos freely and at no cost. The software is open-source and contains features such as video cutting, filtering, and encoding, which have made it a go-to choice for content creators and video editors.
Small and medium-sized businesses find Blender to be an excellent software for video editing due to its user-friendly interface and robust functionalities. The fact that it’s free and open-source makes it a cost-effective alternative without sacrificing professional-level editing capabilities.
By incorporating advanced tools such as 3D animation, simulation, and rendering, Blender becomes an effective tool to craft compelling videos that can capture and engage audiences while elevating brand messaging.
Businesses that seek to create polished and exceptional video content in a highly competitive market can leverage Blender’s adaptability and customization options to make their content stand out.
You will have to download the application for it to work, but as Blender is an open-source project, there’s a lot of value to gain from it.
11. Mailchimp (Email Marketing Software)
Look for the free and other Mailchimp plans here and select the best one for your business.
Small to medium-sized businesses frequently choose Mailchimp due to its user-friendly interface, advanced capabilities, and effortless integration with other business tools. It is a cloud-based platform for email marketing that facilitates the creation and distribution of email campaigns, newsletters, and automated messages.
The Mailchimp free trial offers various features to assist businesses in expanding their audience and communicating with their clients. These features include email marketing campaigns, audience management, customizable templates, automation workflows, analytics, and A/B testing.
12. Zapier (Business Process Automation Software)
Users can integrate up to five different apps and automate up to 100 tasks per month with Zapier’s free plan for automation software, which provides basic automation features.
Businesses can benefit greatly from Zapier, which is a top-notch software that eliminates the need for technical expertise when automating workflows and integrating apps. By using Zapier, users can streamline their operations and automate time-consuming tasks that would otherwise be tedious.
Although it has limited features, it is an excellent entry point for small businesses or individuals who want to experiment with business process automation.
Furthermore, its user-friendly nature and drag-and-drop interface enable users to create customized workflows without difficulty.
Register here, to start your free version today!
Summing Up: Choosing The Right Business Software
When selecting management software for your business, there are numerous factors to consider. These include the size of your business, its needs, the tasks that need to be automated, and the processes involved.
Most importantly, by using free business processing software, companies can cut costs and enhance their operational efficiency. The software can automate routine tasks, minimize manual labor, and reduce the risk of errors. As a result, businesses can improve their productivity, save time and money, and make informed decisions based on real-time data.
By adopting these strategies, companies can attain better efficiency and profitability over time. We hope you gained value and that this article helps you make a much better-informed decision to better function your business processes.
No business is a real business unless the finances are managed properly. And to manage your finances as a start-up or a small business, you need affordable and effective accounting and invoicing software. Find out how ProfitBooks can solve this problem without having you spend any money! Create your account for free today.
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