As a small business owner, you’ve probably asked yourself more than once whether there’s a more efficient, more productive way to get through your daily tasks.
Often the issue isn’t one of intent, but of having the right tools for the job.
Making small businesses more efficient is one of our passions. So this week, we are sharing some of the productivity tools we use on a daily basis.
Cloud-based, intuitive and cost-effective, they make light work of time-consuming tasks such as design, document control and organization.
Take a look and see how they can change the way you work.
Office 365
For today’s small business owners, doing business on the go is the norm. Office 365 is Microsoft’s powerhouse suite of programs, but in the cloud – meaning that you can access your email, documents, spreadsheets and presentations anywhere you go.
Unlike its desktop-only based predecessors, Office 365 integrates essentials such as calendars, emails and contacts so that these automatically update and sync across your devices. That means no more manually adjusting meeting times, phone numbers or role titles. Office 365 also lets employees work collaboratively on a document, with updates shared in real-time with anyone working on that project. This ensures you’re always working with the most up-to-date version of a document, and prevents unwieldy back-and-forth emailing.
Perhaps the biggest plus of Office 365 is that it does away with the complexities associated with software licensing. Previously, companies had to purchase separate licenses for each employee or each computer. This became a challenge to manage as staff changed or companies grew. With Office 365 you simply pay a scalable monthly fee that covers all of your licenses – and all of your employees.
And because it’s cloud-based, you’re always working with the latest version. That means no more frustrations around converting slightly different file formats or ensuring that your employees are working with the same copy of the software.
Evernote
We’re not the first to sing Evernote’s praises. And little wonder. This powerful little gem lets you organize just about anything at work and beyond.
Possibly the most powerful feature of Evernote is its ability to integrate with just about any program and document type. This allows it to become a central repository for your notes, plans and brainstorming sessions. It also has an impressive search engine that makes it a breeze to look for any image or file you’ve uploaded to it – it’s so powerful, in fact, that it can even read hand-written text.
The reason these features are so key is that when you start using Evernote, you’ll start using it for everything. Record meetings while typing notes, and enjoy more flexible, comprehensive note-taking. Clip and annotate articles from the web instead of just saving a link. Create multiple “notebooks” of notes with a easy-to-use folder hierarchy, and connect them all together with the note-linking functionality. Upload business cards, receipts, serial numbers and anything else you’d ordinarily put away in a filing box.
Like all good cloud-based programs, Evernote automatically syncs your files, giving you access to all of your information across any device you’re signed in on. And best of all, it lets you easily share information with other users – even if they’re not Evernote users.
Need more ideas? Michael Hyatt has several posts on how he uses the program – start with this one for Evernote inspiration.
Dropbox
Do away with print-outs, flash drives and external storage. Dropbox helps you store everything you need in one centralized place so that you can access the information you need from any device – and from anywhere.
Dropbox allows for easy, secure sharing that’s supported by strong encryption to keep your data safe. You can create folders for projects and tasks, sharing them – or even just particular documents within them – with the staff or clients who need access to them. Instead of uploading and emailing documents, all you have to do is share a link. You can also
Documents can be amended within Dropbox, with users also able to add comments or review previous versions. The service also conveniently syncs across all of your devices, restores “deleted” files, and can be set to back up your files as you’re working.
Dropbox also integrates with Office 365, meaning that any Word, Excel or Powerpoint File you’re working on can be set to automatically sync and save. That means no more lost work, and no more time wasted on manual backups.
Canva
Great design makes a powerful impact, but it has traditionally come with a powerful price tag.
Specialist design software can cost thousands, and requires experienced designers at the helm. At least, it used to.
Canva is a cloud-based design tool that lets you create stylish documents and designs without any design knowledge at all.
Canva offers thousands of print- and web-optimized templates for social media posts, business documents, ebooks and infographics, marketing materials, events and more. You can use these as-is, or refine them with your own dimensions, fonts and color palettes, ensuring an on-brand result every time. The finished designs can be uploaded online, printed in-house, or printed externally with Canva’s integrated printing option.
Working with Canva involves almost no learning curve. Simply drag and drop images on to one of Canva’s template designs, adding pre-formatted text, buttons and graphic elements as needed. You can upload your own images, utilize their extensive library of free graphics or choose from their stock photography for $1 per image or element.
Using the Canva for Work option, your team can collaborate on and share templates that can become the basis for your company stationery and documentation – saving time and money.
Be productive, not busy
When you’re more productive, you’re more successful. Productivity tools like those listed above can turn time-consuming, repeat tasks into something you no longer have to worry about. That means that you can spend less effort on the little things, and more on the things that help build your business.
Ready for help?
Sometimes, even the best productivity tools can’t save the day – if you don’t have time to use them (or learn to use them), they probably aren’t going to help. If that sounds like you, maybe it’s time we chat about how a virtual assistant can give you back the time you’re missing!
