To be successful in a business venture, having the right tools and know-how are important ingredients, especially when you're just starting out. Most starters do not have much financial leverage, so that resorting to cost-efficient tools that get the job done is the right way to go.
1. JetRadar.com
If your business mandates that you be constantly on the move, cheap airfare can definitely bring you to places you need to be. But along with this advantage is the rigor of having to go from one airline site to another to find the cheapest airfare promos. If you're busy as busy can be, website hopping is not an ideal way to spend your precious time.
JetRadar.com is a metasearch engine that specifically sifts through more than 700 airline databases and hundreds of flight sites for the cheapest airfare available, and makes the data easily accessible by the public in a single online address. This greatly reduces, if not totally eliminates, the search time for the best airfare deal that suits a deal hunter's needs.
2. Bitrix24.com
Let's face it. Although they still get the job done, MS Access and Excel are so '90s. Nowadays, cloud-based collaborative technology is the way to go, especially on the efficiency front. But cloud-based doesn't have to pricey, if you know what you're looking for and where to look.
Bitrix24.com is a transparent communications and collaboration platform that's free for small companies comprised of up to 12 members. Bitrix24 replaces all of your different work tools and combines them in a single web-based application - intranet, CRM for sales transactions, workforce management, planner, calendar, real-time streaming, file upload and sharing, and so many more. It can also be accessed on your mobile phone, making your virtual workplace on the go and right at your fingertips anytime you have a need for it. An upgrade to unlimited users is priced at $99 per month.
3. Comindware.com
Having software that automates work processes for a company in a concerted way ensures efficiency for a business. Automation limits human error and enhances the overall performance of the entire workforce, resulting in cost savings and better utilization of available resources.
Comindware Tracker is a breakthrough and innovative workflow process management and automation software that allows you to design, optimize and automate workflows, issue tracking and tasks administration. Built on the most sophisticated technology available today, like ElasticData and ConnectStep, Comindware Tracker, in combination with Comindware Task Management, allows you the flexibility of formalizing processes and altering them whenever the need arises. At the same time, it gives users the benefit of automatically generated next-step tasks, real-time monitoring of whatever tasks they are tracking, ensuring efficiency to the highest level. Comindware Tracker is yours to try for free, with discounts offered for multiple software license purchases.
4. PickyDomains.com
Having trouble finding a name for your website? Well, that's the new normal nowadays. Millions and millions of domains have already been registered that most of the good ones are already taken. If branding agencies are out of your league because of the cost of doing business with them, crowdsourcing is your next best bet.
PickyDomains.com, the first of its kind, is a crowdsourcing platform that's been in the business of providing relevant, catchy, unique and easy-to-pronounce names, domains and slogans to individuals and businesses since 2007. PickyDomains now has a total of more than 50,000 contributor namers from all over the world. To immediately start receiving suggestions from this diverse group of people, simply register with the site as a client and pay the required downpayment of $50 if it's a name or domain you need, or $75 for a slogan, and set out naming guidelines. If none of the recommendations you receive matches your needs, you can ask for your money back.