As published on Business2Community.com
The Cloud Is Great for SMBs
Whether or not the economic environment is right to start your small business depends a lot on what your business is, where it’s located, and who you ask. But insofar as technology is concerned, the tools available for starting a small business have never been better.
Gone are the days when SMBs were constrained by investments in hard technology that would only depreciate. Even physical resources are fewer, all because of the tremedous pace of cloud technology. Tools and products are more agile, affordable and modular than ever before. The new business owner has access to millions of free or inexpensive technology toolkits, services and systems and skills which until recently been the luxury of big budget corporates.
Many costs that were once fixed have now become variable and scalable. So instead of high up-front outlays for infrastructure, more resources can be provisioned for a small company’s products and services. To kick things off, you need the gumption, drive, a product or service that people want, and a little direction on what tools to use to get started.
Below is my list of top services and solutions for any small business to use to manage and support what it takes to run it. Most are free or inexpensive for basic versions, and are available in this wonderful new advent of the technology cloud.
10 Great Sets of Business Tools for SMBs
- Designing a company logo (99designs, Designcrowd)
- Building your website (WordPress)
- Hosting your website (DreamHost)
- Temporary landing page tools (LaunchRock, KickOffLabs)
- Website templates (ThemeForest)
- Prototyping, mockups and wireframes (Gomockingbird, Balsamiq, FlairBuilder)
- Website A/B testing (Optimizely, 37 Signals)
- Website usability testing and heatmaps (Usertesting, Userfy, Clicktale, Clickheat)
- Presentation building and sharing (SlideRocket, Slideshare)
- Financial model and budget planning (Vumero)