User Review
( votes)You probably know that managing a business is not always easy. No matter whether it is a prosperous company or a startup; you always need to take care of a variety of needs. When it comes to startups, you also have to deal with a tight budget. In other words, you have to balance between the quality and the price. In this insightful review, we’ll talk about the best management tools for startups that will help you build and develop your startup at a reasonable price.
What Do You Need to Know About Management Tools for Startups?
It doesn’t matter where you are working: if you are dealing with a goal-oriented company, you probably know that every minute and every dollar is precious. That’s why you need multi-featured and reliable project management tools that are scalable and cost-effective.
Project management programs assist a team in properly organizing work and controlling different tasks. The modern software development market is overloaded with a broad selection of tools that will help you be more effective or organized. Some of them are absolutely free, others require a subscription. The majority of them are completely customizable so they can easily meet the requirements of both big companies and small startups.
Why Should Startups Use Management Tools?
The power of project management for a startup can’t be overestimated. It goes without saying that any startup needs to take many risks and take care of the budget. So the key mission of a project manager is to make it more effective at its early stages.
If you are a beginning entrepreneur whose goal is to transform setbacks into successes, you simply can’t do without professional tools and software for startups. Here are the main reasons why you need them:
- You’ll be able to control all the workflow processes automatically.
- You can create lists, audio notes, comments and much more.
- You can keep track of your professional to-do lists.
- You can easily create targeted communication with your clients.
- You can centralize all communications in one place.
- You’ll find out more on how people use your products or services (what they like or dislike).
Overall, it is a good tool that will help you be more focused and effective.
How to Choose the Best Management Software for Startups
The number of programs available today is really huge. It is hard to make the right choice, especially if you aren’t a professional in this niche. See the main features to look for in customer relationship management tools for startups:
- Planning/scheduling. Good programs allow you to plan or delegate tasks, templates, orders, etc.
- Collaboration features. It is really great when the whole team can work on the same document or project simultaneously.
- Documentation options allow you to control any document.
- Evaluation features. With the help of these tools, you can track the productivity of your team.
Project Management Evaluation Criteria to Help Your Startup Grow
Unfortunately, not all platforms have a comprehensive set of features that you really need. To choose the best tools for startups, follow these evaluation criteria:
- Never pay for features you don’t actually need. Inexperienced entrepreneurs frequently choose the most popular solution, even though they don’t need the greater part of its functionality. First, you need to decide which features are must-have and which are nice to have.
- Check the integration. Check whether the chosen solution can be integrated with other cloud-based apps that your team is already using.
- Buy only reliable and time-proven tools. Newbies in this niche don’t know whether the software will add value to their startups and how much is a good price to pay for it. You just need to view this purchase as an investment in the future.
Top 15 Management Tools to Use for Startups
If right now you are trying to find the best project management tools that will help you be more effective, our review of the best CRM platforms might come in handy. So get comfortable and read on!
CRM management or funnel management
Customer relationship management is a time-consuming task. But if you deal with the right CRM tools for startups, you won’t face any difficulties. Here are the best tools that you can use:
- Nimble CRM – a multi-featured solution that is built inside your Office 365 or G suite box. With the help of this tool, you’ll be able to access company insights and control all the deals within existing workflows.
- HubSpot. This tool centralizes the contact lists and can automatically log interactions and scrape data from the internet.
- Pipedrive – a superb tool that allows you to focus on increasing sales and managing your pipeline. It is an easy-to-use but at the same time a powerful CRM tool that can boost your productivity.
Overview of the best task management software
When it comes to task management, what are the best management tools for startups? Look into the following options:
- Pipefy – a flexible solution that can help control your workflow processes. This solution comes with inbuilt practice templates that can help you get started at any moment. There’s a free trial version that allows you to test its features on 10 users (if you want more, you need to upgrade).
- Evernote – a well-known self-management tool that can help create to-do lists, audio notes, comments, etc.
- Wunderlist – a multi-featured solution that allows you to monitor your professional to-do lists. As a result, you’ll be on time everywhere and never forget important tasks.
Best customer support tools
If your customers aren’t satisfied with the quality of services that you provide, your business won’t grow. Here are the best tools that you can use to improve your customer satisfaction:
- Intercom – a powerful customer support platform that offers a set of integrated tools. They allow your sales team to establish targeted communication with your clients.
- SlimFAQ. With the help of this tool, you can easily create a FAQ for your website. It also comes with an inbuilt search engine that allows clients to find what they need in a matter of seconds.
Business intelligence and data analytics tools
The main goal of business intelligence is to deal with complicated strategies that enable its users to analyze data and make decisions that will help increase income. However, you can’t do this without these powerful tools:
- CoBlue. The purpose of this solution is to help users set goals that will help increase revenue. If you are currently looking for a good tool that will help create objectives and make precise measurements, CoBlue might be the right choice.
- SumoMe. This tool is for those who want to increase website traffic.
The best social media management tools for startups
Can you imagine your business without social networking? It’s impossible today because social networking platforms are the best place to introduce your products or services and build your customer community. Here are the most powerful tools that will help you deal with social networks:
- Revive Old Post. With the help of this simple tool, you can share your old or new posts remotely. You can also schedule posts and target your core audience.
- Hootsuite. It is one of the most widely used social media management programs that enables you to control all your social accounts remotely. You can schedule posts, edit them and even boost them on Facebook right from the app.
- Buffer – a must-have tool for those who want to drive social traffic to their blog.
What are the most effective collaboration tools?
Collaboration is the main formula for success. But sometimes, it takes time and effort to discuss all the necessary aspects. See the best collaboration platforms and start using them for your startup:
- Zeplin – a multi-featured collaboration platform for front-end developers. When using it, you’ll notice that you spend less time on meetings. Just a few clicks, and your designers will upload specs and your developers can immediately check whether this information meets the needs of the project.
- Slack – a popular tool for team collaboration. Besides sending direct messages, users also can create chats.
The Main Things to Consider When Choosing the Right Management Tool
You should bear in mind that a lot depends on different factors. Look through these considerations and make the right choice for yourself:
- Collaboration. Any tool must come with inbuilt collaboration options that allow you to stay in touch with the members of your team.
- Scalability. Double-check whether this particular software solution can be integrated with storage space or other modules.
- Real-time reporting. This option allows you to immediately generate reports about the current status of your project.
- Ease of use. Some management tools are very difficult to use. Moreover, your team may need to spend a few days to figure them out. So you need to choose tools that will boost your productivity instead of decreasing it.
- Timesheets. A good tool must include timesheets that can help you control tasks.
- Security. Make sure that your data is well-protected and won’t be passed to third parties.
How Do I Choose?
Consider the above-mentioned aspects to find the right platform that will meet the needs of your team. A lot depends on your requirements, so there’s no need to overpay for additional services. However, you will hardly find a better solution than Nimble CRM – a top-quality CRM tool that integrates with G Suite and Office 365. The main distinctive feature of Nimble CRM is that it runs in a browser and allows you to integrate social media data into the CRM and surface unknown information about your prospects.
To put it simply, with the help of this platform, you’ll be able to assign and control tasks, see sales pipelines, check the communication history and segment contacts. This tool allows you to host more than 25,000 contacts. If it is not enough for you, you can buy more contacts for an additional fee.
Conclusion
When it comes to management CRM for startups is the right solution that will help save your project’s budget! All in all, Nimble CRM is the best tool that will save you time and allows you to stay more organized while developing your startup.
Megan Ranger
Megan Ranger is the content marketing manager at Nimble. She is an alumna of California State University, Long Beach. She enjoys true crime podcasts, reading, and writing in her spare time.