Top 7 free applications that can help your business grow

Starting your own business has never been easier. Due to technological advancements and the internet, one can readily start a business with just a few steps and clicks on their computers. Some can even cater to clients abroad without setting foot in another country. For those who are into e-commerce, dropshipping has allowed business owners to sell products worth thousands of dollars without actually needing to handle the products. Doing business nowadays has a lot of possibilities. 

However, no matter how easy it is to start your business, managing it is another story. A lot of small business owners tend to do everything on their own. From management, marketing and sales, social media, customer service, product sourcing, networking, and accounting tasks they only get very little help or even none at all. Most postpone hiring someone until the company gets bigger. 

Here are the top 7 free applications that can help your business grow: 

1. Google Suite - It is an all-in-one package that allows you to connect, store, and create. Google Suite allows you to communicate with your partners and clients via email or through video conferencing using Google Hangouts. 

It also provides access to files online through cloud storage and it has its own file-syncing service that allows users to work offline. 

Google Suite also comes with a full range of essential business software similar to Microsoft Office allowing you to create correspondence, sheets, presentations, and even online forms. 

It starts with a free 15 GB storage plan. 

2. Evernote - This is one of the most popular productivity tools where it allows users to capture, organize and share notes easily. It enables users to organize tasks and keep important information and notes all in one place. 

More than just a note-taking app, it also allows users to add links, checklists, tables, attachments, audio recordings, and handwritten notes. The best part is it has a search function, making it really easy to look for the information that you need including the handwriting in images. 

The basic plan allows you to 60MB of new uploads every month for free. 

3. MailChimp - Email marketing is an important digital marketing strategy and is known to generate the best return on investment among other digital marketing campaigns. It allows businesses to directly communicate to their audience through their inbox -- to build trust, nurture relationships and to call for action. 

MailChimp is the largest marketing automation platform that allows businesses to send emails in bulk reaching out to a large audience all at once. 

It features email marketing automation that can be readily customized according to customer behavior and preference. This creates room for business owners to focus on strategy and on more important things. Automation allows businesses to welcome, re-engage, and follow-up potential and existing clients. 

It also comes with reporting feature showing data and analytics allowing business owners to evaluate performance and aid in the formulation of future campaigns.

New business accounts are free and can hold up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month.

4. Skype - Skype is a text, voice and video tool that allows users to communicate online at no additional cost. 

It allows business owners to hold online meetings, group calling and video conferencing with up to 25 people. If you are traveling or is out of the country, Skype allows you to get a local number where your customers can call you wherever you are without long-distance charges. 

Skype also allows file sharing, screen sharing, and language translation. 

5. Asana – Asana is a project management tool that allows users to track projects from start to finish. It is an effective tracker to know who is doing what, by and when. This has been really helpful for teams who are doing different roles in a certain project.

Basic plans include free features, such as unlimited projects, tasks, and conversations.  

6. PayPal – PayPal provides a faster and safer way to send and receive money. It is a popular payment method used in over 200 countries. This enables clients to have more confidence in your business by using a payment method they are familiar with.

It also comes with an invoicing tool to easily and quickly request payments from customers.  

Creating a PayPal account is absolutely free.

7. TradeOff - It is an online platform that allows users to trade services for other services. It is an effective tool for networking and looking for collaboration opportunities. 

Through this app, users can trade the skills that they have with the skills that they need. Exchanges can be made with services, money, or a combination of both in a safe and secure platform.

How about you? Can you recommend other applications that can help?