Ashley Fraser
When you're starting a new business, keeping control of operating costs is crucial. Until you starting generating revenue, every dollar you spend is a dollar that may not seen for a while.
So how do you run your business well without spending a lot of money? One area worth exploring is online tools for communications, marketing, invoicing, accounting and project management.
Here's a list that provides bang for the buck:
Skype: While Skype is well known for offering free phone calls between its users anywhere around the world, it also offers inexpensive call-as-you-go and monthly subscription packages. For example, unlimited calling within North America to regular and mobile phones is just over $3 a month.
Google Docs : For anyone unwilling to buy Microsoft Office, Google offers free word processing, spreadsheet and presentation services. Another option is Google Apps, which offers a suite of services for $50 per user a year.
Freshbooks : One of Canada's leading "Web 2.0" companies, Freshbooks offers free and premium invoicing services. This makes it a user-friendly tool for small business owners, particularly contractors and freelancers.
Xero: Billing itself as the world's easiest accounting system, Xero offers service starting at $19 a month. The service includes unlimited users, automatic backups and unlimited customer support.
Google Analytics : A free service that provides detailed information about Web site traffic, as well as tools to analyze the data.
Basecamp: For small companies looking for a user-friendly project management tool, Basecamp is an attractive option. The Basic package allows for 15 projects, five gigabytes of storage and unlimited users.
Wordpress: The world's leading blog publishing tool, Wordpress is free, open-source software for blogs and Web sites.
Special to the Globe and Mail
Mark Evans is a principal with ME Consulting, a content and social media strategic and tactical consultancy that creates and delivers 'stories' for companies looking to capture the attention of customers, bloggers, the media, business partners, employees and investors. Mark has worked with three start-ups – Blanketware, b5Media and PlanetEye – so he understands how they operate and what they need to do to be successful. He was a technology reporter for more than a decade with The Globe and Mail, Bloomberg News and the Financial Post. Mark is also one of the co-organizers of the mesh, meshUniversity and meshmarketing conferences .