Following is a list of useful collaborative tools to help your startup ‘virtually’:
1.Meetup (Event organizing/Crowdsourcing)
What can be better for startups than to create some events locally or attend some – meetup is a great way to network and meet potential business partners. If you’re developing in Joomla, then organize a Joomla meetup or if you’re looking for writers for your blog then attend a blogging meetup. Meetups can be organized and attended according to the area you belong to - excellent tool for promotion and networking.
2.CrunchBase (Startup Promotion)
This is a great way to gather information on what everyone else (other startups to be specific) is doing. CrunchBase is a great source to tap into the startup market and check what is happening out there – who’s getting funding from who, how much of funding, new launches etc. If your application by chance gets attention from TechCrunch staff, it can have a massive effect. I know of a case where someone who had their startup featured once on TechCrunch and generated 300 leads from TechCrunch itself.
3.Yammer
Yammer is the Twitter of your startup. It resembles Twitter, but is totally private, so that only your employees can see what you are working on, what coffee you are having or what you thought of the latest episode of Friends – a dead-simple collaboration tool that all startups should use.
4.GoPlan (Task Management)
It is a simple and effective task management application (or a to-do list application) that allows you to quickly organize a project, share it and see its progress. Features such as tasks, milestones, discussions, and calendar make this application more interactive.
5.Zoho CRM
It is a free Customer Relationship Management System that you can use to manage customers, sales and opportunities. It is a free application for anywhere up to 3 users and has a lot of nice features including an API, dashboard and inventory management.
Let us know what you think of these applications and also suggest others. We at Vinfotech use these apps quite extensively. We also help building such applications. Get in touch with us for your development and design needs.
In the age of ‘information explosion’ it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage and organize data. And for a startup organizing and control at an early stage is really important. The following web apps will make sharing and collaboration much easier for a startup:
Basecamp: A great web-based project collaboration tool. It brings the people involved in a project together and makes communication easier. Assigning tasks, sharing files, tracking time and meeting deadlines – all becomes easier with basecamp. It has a 30-day free trial period and then you can choose from various reasonable plans available. A highly recommended web app to use – it doesn’t break your bank and provides first-class collaborating service (both internal and external).
Dropbox: It provides online storage space. There are so many files and documents that need to be stored and accessed frequently and dropbox makes this very easy. Not only storage but features like file sharing and offline backup of your files (which any member of your staff can access) are also provided by this tool. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to use.
Google Apps: This is a web-based collaboration and communication tool for businesses launched by Google. Calendars, e-mail, contacts, document sharing are a few features of this tool. Very useful and highly recommended for all startups.
Dimdim: It’s an outstanding tool to conduct web conferences online. The application works entirely from your web-browser – no need to download anything. Save on traveling expenses and conduct meetings, presentations and seminars online.
At a certain point of time, “being virtual” loses its appeal, especially if you hire new team members or it isn’t possible to work from home. As a startup, you’re on a tight budget and at the same time it is important to have a good office space for your team. A trade-off between the two is an ideal win-win situation for a startup.
A small suggestion here to all startup businesses is that look for an inexpensive office that will help you survive in the initial period. No private office, prime locations, pretentious architect or sixty story buildings.
Here are a few other points you should keep in mind when looking for an office for your startup:
1. Don’t get carried away with too many choices. Try being more decisive
2. Try striking a good bargain whether buying or letting
3. Find a balance between what your clients expect, a good price and the kind of atmosphere your team will be most productive in
4. Identify all parameters when choosing your office space. Location, size and price are the obvious ones but also think about access to extra amenities (coffee shops, communal areas), parking, atmosphere, furnished/unfurnished and security.
5. Avoid agents and try doing your search. Make a good comparison of available options
6. Stick to being conservative. Don’t lease expensive premises the moment money starts coming in. Wait for a good three to five years before taking such a step.
7. Find office space that comes with tax benefits
You can also use the“SPACE” testto get a good deal on office space:
