10 Business Productivity Apps I Couldn’t Live Without

Ten years ago, I never would have had been able to start Tribeswell (at least not that easily). Between the cost of web hosting, development tools, and all the other software that a business needs to run smoothly, it could have easily cost $10,000+. Because of all the great cheap and free technology out there I was able to start my company for under $200. All I needed was a domain name, hosting package, cell phone, and Internet service (and I already had cell phone and Internet at my home where I operated the business for the first 2 years).

I’ve continued to rely on simple and cheap (or free) web apps for most of my business needs. Here’s my list of my top 10 productivity apps that I couldn’t live without.

Dropbox

Dropbox is absolutely the most convenient way to share files with your team and with yourself. You can upload files to Dropbox and then access them from the Internet or from any of your Dropbox-enabled devices (like phones or tablets). You can also share documents with members of your team, clients, or anyone else. There are a lot of pricing options as well from the 2 gigabyte free plan to large plans for groups.

YouSendIt

Ever wanted to send someone a file that was too large for email? YouSendIt is the answer. It allows you to upload a file, then the email address of the person you want to send it to and it sends them a link where they can download the file. Absolutely indispensable. Free and premium plans available.

Zendesk

Tribeswell RUNS on Zendesk. Zendesk is a hosted customer service app that allows us to track client requests and fix problems faster. We also use it to track sales processes, and manage larger projects (which it isn’t really designed to do, but it actually works awesome). Plans start at $10 per user per month. Totally worth it.

Google Docs

While our whole organization runs on Google Apps, I thought I would single Google Docs out, because we use it more than most of other features. Great for sharing and collaborating on documents, saving docs in the cloud, and backing up info so that it’s available anywhere. We use the free version.

Kashoo

This $10 per month hosted accounting software does almost everything you can do with Quickbooks and does it much better than Quickbooks online. It allows us to track expenses, prepare monthly financial reports, forecast revenues, and it’s available from any Internet-enabled device.

Gmail

I use Gmail more than any other app. In my opinion it is far better than any other email system on the planet. They keep adding awesome features that make it better and better. If I type in an email that I’ve attached a file and I forget to attach it, Gmail reminds me. If I send an email to one member of my team, it recommends other people that I might want to include. The search functionality is flawless. It allows me to send emails from all my email addresses. What else can I say. It’s awesome and it keeps getting awesomer all the time. Also free.

Free RSS Reader iPhone App

Without this app I would probably never have time to read the news. It’s a simple RSS feed reader for iOS devices. You enter the URL for the site you want to follow and it updates every time you load the app. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Mailchimp

This app would also be on my top 10 marketing apps list, but it also helps me communicate with clients more effectively. Whenever I need to communicate with all my clients at once I use Mailchimp… especially if it’s important. Mailchimp gives you data about who opened your email, so you know 100% if someone is missing important announcements. Free version handles up to 2000 contacts.

LinkedIn

Now we’re getting to the heavy hitters. I can’t even imagine how much time and energy LinkedIn has saved me over the years. LinkedIn basically means that you have to do very little if any work managing your business contacts, because each contact manages their own profile so you don’t have to. Sure there are robust CRM systems that can do more functions, but I don’t have that kind of time. LinkedIn frees my time for the work that really matters keeping me lean and efficient.

Facebook

Relationships are the life-blood of any business. In the history of the world, there has never been a more efficient relationship-building tool than Facebook. It takes all the friction out of relationships (screw you time and space, you’re not going to hinder my relationships). I still think most people don’t fully realize how much more efficient we can be at building relationships using Facebook.

What do you think? What apps could you not live without?