In this article, you will know about five SaaS solutions and cloud services and their alternatives that can help decision makers carry out efficient project management in startups and small businesses of all kinds. Those tools have basic versions and are available for free. Some advanced features are available in paid versions.
However, the basic functionality in any of the described solutions is sufficient to run startup project management at scale.
You may consider combining any of these tools with existing software solutions in your startup if it makes practical sense. For example, MailChimp and Zoho CRM could make a good fit for marketing automation and project management in a digital marketing startup.
MailChimp email marketing and automation
It is a must-have tool for digital marketers, project managers, and team leaders to do creative email and content marketing. MailChimp allows automating many routine tasks in digital marketing you can imagine so that you can focus on optimization and growth. That’s why many experts suggest using MailChimp as a standalone solution for startup project management and marketing automation.
Here’s how MailChimp can help you run effective project management and marketing:
- Create, customize and share creative email designs
- Send 2,000 daily emails for free
- Design stunning landing pages and clickable call-to-actions (CTA)
- Integrate your email marketing campaign with Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads
- Create, automate and integrate user workflows
- Get multiple insights and templates about email designs and content
Look at SendinBlue, Campayn, and Mailerlite as suitable alternatives to MailChimp, especially if you are looking more affordable email marketing solutions for your startup project management activities. See emailvendorselection.com for more ideas.
Bitrix24 collaboration platform
Bitrix24 is a powerful business suite for startups and enterprises to manage customers, projects, and day-to-day activities in teams and departments. Its real-time collaboration and communication tools such as chat, video conferencing, company-wide social networking allow users to negotiate issues, discuss project progress, manage documents, and do other things essential for startup project management.
Bitrix24 feature highlights:
- Outstanding team collaboration tools, real-time communication, custom workflows, advanced reporting
- A simple built-in CRM module to manage contacts, leads, opportunities, and sales goals
- Kanban task management, group calendars, featured scheduler
- A free version for small teams and startups
If you are not entirely satisfied with Bitrix24, here are six worthy alternatives to give a try:
- Slack team collaboration
- Trello Kanban boards
- Wrike startup project management tools
- Basecamp task and to-do list management
- Asana teamwork solution
- Redmine self-hosted issue tracking software
Zoho online project management tools
Zoho is well known as a comprehensive CRM and sales management solution for growing startups and enterprises. It has a modular system that offers powerful standalone tools for salespeople, marketers, project managers, and analysts.
Zoho is available as an all-in-one solution which you can use for free. You can add up to three users to manage your marketing campaigns and project management initiatives in Zoho. An extended paid version offers workflow management, advanced analysis, and custom reporting.
Zoom video conferencing and file sharing
When it comes to business communication software, MS Skype is often considered the #1 solution for startups. But not this time. It is Zoom, an online meeting assistant to organize and run audio and video meetings, calls, and chats. Zoom.us is one of the most reliable teleconferencing solutions available on the market today.
The free version of Zoom allows for up to 100 participants and 40 minutes in one HD video conference. The software lets easily see who is currently speaking and share files and docs. Participants can use Zoom’s client application and a mobile phone to dial into the conference.
Breakout room is an excellent feature for project teams and groups to join the same conference with full audio, video, and screen share capabilities. The data transmission during the call is SSL encrypted. The software is available for mobile and desktop users.
Wise (TransferWise) borderless money transfer
There are now a number of money transfer solutions for startups and enterprises. Wise (formally known as TransferWise) is one of the most reliable and affordable online payment services available at competitive rates and fees for businesses.
Wise offers easily executable payouts API and dashboards to make one-off transfers and batch payments for projects as well as manage currencies and pay suppliers and contractors for project management services.
Here are a few benefits Wise has to offer for emerging startups and small businesses:
- Fast borderless payments form $1 to $199,999 at real exchange rates
- Convenient one-off transfers to pay for separate services and tools
- Robust open API to automate payments and workflows
- Receive money with zero fees
- Over 28 currencies for cash and 50 currencies for money transfer.
Payoneer, Skrill, Neteller, and Entropay can be great Wise alternatives for small businesses. Take a look at each, and see if one seems right for your startup project management.