Loading...Start-ups are the buzz word these days and more and more people are coming up with ideas for start-ups. The Internet has levelled the playing field to an extent, so even the small guy has a chance of getting their products into the market. However one of the biggest problems faced by start-ups is getting funding for their projects. If you are on a limited budget then there are awesome free and low cost tools available to make things easier. Below are some of them.
Bug Tracking
Bug tracking is an important part of any tech start-up and most of them are affordable scaled down versions. FogBugz bug tracking system is one of the most popular tracking tools in the world and their software is free to use for start-ups with two or less users. If your team is larger than that the cost is around 30$ per month, which I think is a fair deal. With plugin integration and superior support this is well worth the money spent. BugZilla is another free alternative you can use to manage your software project.
Drawing Diagrams
There are many diagrams involved in the software development process. Flowcharts,Use case diagrams, class diagrams and to some extent Gantt charts. The widely used tool for this is Microsoft Visio or OmniGraffle if you are a Mac user. But both of them are a bit expensive. Creately online diagramming tool is a great alternative for this and because it is a web based product you can access it from your home and office. It’s around 5$ per month for a single user and team plans are much cheaper.
Document Management
Managing documents is another important thing to consider in a project. Project specification, user reviews, marketing plans etc all add up to a considerable number of documents. Google documents are the perfect tool to manage them efficiently. If you are concerned about privacy and leaking of important company data you can choose Google business application suite which comes with many features.
Social Media Marketing
Some may wonder why a tech start-up needs social media management, but your product won’t be worth anything unless your potential customers know about. Social networks like Twitter, Facebook provide you with a great way to spread the word about your product. You can also use them to spy on your competitors as well. HootSuite social media dashboard is a great free tool to do that. You can manage up to five social media accounts for free so if you are only monitoring Facebook, Twitter and Google plus you don’t have to pay anything.
Invoicing
Invoicing and managing finances is another important part of running a tech start-up. Managing your finances and tracking expenses are very important if you want to be profitable. Freshbook bookkeeping tools are very good low cost solution for this. It’s free up to three clients and very affordable beyond that as well.
Mentioned above are five important tools you can use to manage your tech start-up in an efficient manner and without hurting the budget. Know of better solutions? Feel free to mention in the comments section.