In this article, we will discuss the best free business automation software. So keep reading.
Everyone has heard the word ‘automation’—it’s quite widespread nowadays, isn’t it? Automation is frequently utilized in various business processes, as it helps to run a business smoothly and easily without hiring additional employees. But what, in general, is business automation, and why is it needed?
Also, you can check 6 Tips For Starting A Small Online Business That You Haven’t Heard.
What Is An Automation Process?
The transfer of typical, frequently repeated processes in an enterprise under the guidance of electronic systems and programs is called automation. The result is more free time, labor, and financial resources saved.
The automation process is often the first and foremost step in increasing the productivity of the entire enterprise.
Any process can be automated. Any company’s processes are divided into the main, profitable, and supporting (accounting, reporting, etc.)—those that do not directly affect profitability but are an integral part of any enterprise.
Why Is Automation Needed?
The main reason for the emergence and implementation of automation is the need to get more free time. The processes performed by people and the processes performed by programs differ significantly from each other, not only in the speed of solving the task (some automated processes take minutes, while it takes hours for employees to cope with them). Automated processes are of higher quality and do not require additional costs (after all, an employee needs to be paid for the work done).
Automation allows you to unload employees – and the manager himself – from unnecessary work and free up time for more important and urgent tasks. Also, it is effective where human labor practically does not give a result – service assessment, labor productivity analysis, correspondence with a large number of clients, correct salary calculation, creating invoices, etc.
Main Goals
Understandably, automation has specific goals. Those are:
- Effective organization of accounting and control systems at the enterprise;
- Quick preparation and sending of reports;
- Business planning and drawing up a development strategy based on specific data;
- Reducing the cost of human labor (by reducing the time for employees to cope with “paperwork”);
- Minimization of the “human factor” – we are all people, and we can make mistakes. Computers don’t;
- Increased security storage of documents;
- Improved service.
Free Business Automation Software
The need for business automation has prompted the massive creation of programs of different types—there are both paid and free tools. For staff’s daily tasks and goals, you can safely use our list of business programs that can be downloaded for free by visiting the official website. Some of those can even be utilized online without downloading.
So, here is our list of free business automation software:
Google Suite
This is the most popular solution among free business automation software. With Google Suite, you can do the following:
- Upload and download large files;
- Work with documents, give and take access to them;
- Use the online calendar;
- Create presentations online;
- Use files with more than 30 extensions.
Streak
With Streak, the following options are available:
- Managing the sales process;
- Working with reviews of your users;
- Setting up automatic sending of letters;
- Recording the time of viewing your letter.
SMMplanner
The program has free and paid versions. With its help, you can:
- Work with several social networks at once;
- Create and schedule posts;
- Create projects;
- Post 50 free posts every month.
Yaware.TimeTracker
This is time and task-tracking software. The free plan is designed only for small businesses (that include up to 5 computers). The following is possible:
- Accounting of the arrival and departure of employees;
- Fixing the sites/programs used;
- Daily reporting of working hours and the most used programs;
- Fixing breaks in work.
It is worth remembering that the price/quality scheme also works here – you should only count on a little, buying something for free. However, for a small or start-up business, this is quite enough.
WordPress
If you run a business on social media (especially Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn), a blog with useful information for users is a great thing. Especially when it’s free. Here are what you’ll get:
- Basic features of Jetpack;
- Several dozen free themes;
- Disk space: 3GB
- The ability to publish articles and share them on your page;
- Conversion statistics (what pages users visit most often).
Invoicy.io
This is an invoice creator that can help you to create invoices for the Free Invoice Generator. It’s always been challenging to make an invoice online. All you have to do is enter the site and get acquainted with all the options for free invoice creation. Here is what is offered:
- Color schemes;
- Adding the logo of your company;
- All the fields for adding information are there, so you will not have to guess what must be included in an invoice and what must not.
So, use all your options, and good luck!