Boost Your Business Productivity with These Essential Tools
From Solo-Founders to Small Teams, These Tools will Streamline Business Tasks, Project Management, and Issue Tracking
Productivity is a key aspect of running a successful startup, and there are a variety of tools available to help founders and early stage startups stay organized and manage their time effectively.
Some popular productivity tools include project management platforms like Trello, Asana and multiple other platforms we have covered below, which allow teams to collaborate and stay on top of tasks and deadlines. Other options include calendar and scheduling apps like Google Calendar and Calendly, which make it easy to schedule meetings and appointments, as well as time tracking and invoicing software like Toggl and Freshbooks, which help businesses stay on top of their finances. Additionally, communication and collaboration tools like Slack and Zoom are essential for keeping teams connected and productive, no matter where they are located.
Opinion - "I've been using this tool for managing various tasks such as development, marketing, content, and business tasks, but I find it to be too cumbersome. I've tried using tags and separating boards, but it still lacks the ability to have subtasks and a project view."
Opinion - "I am hesitant to switch to Jira or Linear because they seem to only be beneficial for development tasks. As a solo founder, I would prefer to keep all my tasks in one tool to avoid having multiple tools and experiencing tool fatigue."
Opinion - "We switched from using Trello to ClickUp for our task tracking and it has been a positive change for us. The document repository feature in ClickUp is a huge plus for our team. However, we do sometimes find ourselves falling off the platform due to the fast pace of our work, which can lead to extra time spent updating it. We've also found that using ClickUp in conjunction with Notion is the best solution for us."
Custom Build
Opinion - “I am working on a project for one of my clients to create a simple, multi-user workflow management system using MS-Excel as the front-end and MySQL for data storage and sharing. The key feature of this system is the ability to create templates for different workflows and add sub-tasks to them. For example, if you want to create a Purchase workflow, you can include tasks such as inviting quotations, comparing and approving quotations, raising purchase orders, receiving items, and making payments. Each task can have its own specific fields, default assignee, sequence, and average effort, as well as status updates. When creating a new workflow, you can provide basic information like the item name and due date, and all the tasks will be added to the database and assigned to the appropriate persons. The tasks will appear on the dashboard of the assigned persons as soon as the previous task is completed. Management can keep track of the overall status of the tasks based on the number of tasks completed. Once version 1.0 is finished, I can set up the system for us to test and improve as necessary”
Opinion
“It is working fine so far. Cheap, and lightweight.”
Opinion - "I am really impressed with the range of features this app offers, including options for managing teams, tasks, and sub-tasks, as well as options for grouping and prioritizing tasks. I've also found the reminder and board/list view features to be really helpful. Overall, I am really happy with my purchase of the paid version and feel like it's been a great tool for helping me keep track of both my long-term and short-term plans and action items."
Best Opinion across all the tools
“I have a lot of experience using various task and project management tools, such as Asana, Basecamp, Bitrix, Clickup, Excel and Google Sheets, GoodDay, Monday.com, Quire, Trello, Wrike, and Zoho Project Management. After trying out so many options, I've realized that no single tool is perfect for every type of work. Right now, we're using Google Business Standard, which includes the task feature in Google Chat for internal communication. This works well for small teams of around 10-15 people, especially since we have a lot of quick sprints. However, for larger projects with a duration of 40-48 weeks, tools like Clickup, Bitrix, or Asana are better suited. The downside of these tools is that they can get overwhelming after a few weeks. In my experience, a key factor in the success of a project management tool is having a designated "Project Custodian" who can maintain the tool and ensure that everyone on the team is using it properly. In deciding which tool to use, I would consider factors such as team size, whether you have a Project Custodian, and the complexity of the project.”
Ultimately, the key to using these tools effectively is to find the ones that work best for your team and your specific needs. By taking the time to find the right tools and implement them in a way that makes sense for your business, you can help ensure that your startup is able to run as efficiently and effectively as possible.
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