Small business logistics? software? hacks?
August 9, 2006 10:39 AM Subscribe
Help me get my small business more organized! Need small business management software recommendations, hacks.
I run my web development business full-time and I have four freelancers working for me at various times on various projects. By the beginning of next year, I hope to hire them full-time.
Currently, I use Blinksale for invoicing, and I like it a lot. I have used Basecamp on occasion for project management, but we usually just revert to sending emails back and forth rather than posting stuff on that. Then, there is time-tracking--currently, my freelancers just send me emails with their hours worked at the end of the week.
I'm hoping to find an elegant solution-- not-too-expensive software that will allow my employees to submit their time worked, and will allow me to create invoices for my clients. I would also like a way to keep track of business expenses. It doesn't really need to have a project management component. Eventually, I would like a payroll system as well. And employee benefits.
The most important thing would be that I could access all of this online, like Blinksale and Basecamp. I also really, really appreciate good design and ease-of-use.
I have looked at software like Studiometry, but that just seems like overkill for me . I checked out this thread http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/33509, and sidejobtrack looks like it does part of what I want, Veetro as well. Neither has expenses tracking, so maybe that should tell me I'm looking for too much.
How do other business owners work it all? Do you use a combination of different solutions? Any cool hacks you can tell me about? I would love to hear the details of your process! Thanks :)
I run my web development business full-time and I have four freelancers working for me at various times on various projects. By the beginning of next year, I hope to hire them full-time.
Currently, I use Blinksale for invoicing, and I like it a lot. I have used Basecamp on occasion for project management, but we usually just revert to sending emails back and forth rather than posting stuff on that. Then, there is time-tracking--currently, my freelancers just send me emails with their hours worked at the end of the week.
I'm hoping to find an elegant solution-- not-too-expensive software that will allow my employees to submit their time worked, and will allow me to create invoices for my clients. I would also like a way to keep track of business expenses. It doesn't really need to have a project management component. Eventually, I would like a payroll system as well. And employee benefits.
The most important thing would be that I could access all of this online, like Blinksale and Basecamp. I also really, really appreciate good design and ease-of-use.
I have looked at software like Studiometry, but that just seems like overkill for me . I checked out this thread http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/33509, and sidejobtrack looks like it does part of what I want, Veetro as well. Neither has expenses tracking, so maybe that should tell me I'm looking for too much.
How do other business owners work it all? Do you use a combination of different solutions? Any cool hacks you can tell me about? I would love to hear the details of your process! Thanks :)
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posted by FlamingBore at 11:38 AM on August 9, 2006