Free Web-based and Open Source Business Tools

How to get loads of up-to-the-minute business tools for absolutely nothing.

By William Keyser, Managing Director, WorkSavvy LLC

When you start a business on a shoestring, you will be looking for all the help you can get, especially when you do not have to pay for it. The Web is a veritable goldmine of resources of very high quality free tools. Free does not in this case mean useless.

There have long been shareware and freeware products available. But here we are not talking about them. This Guide is to Web-based tools that you can use via a broadband Internet connection or Open Source tools that are freely downloadable.

Web-based tools just require a Web-browser and so can (almost always) be used with any operating system. Most of them operate by charging only for multiple users, so you will get the benefit of not paying at the outset. Open Source tools are available for all operating systems, though some are specially built for Mac. They all have user groups and very helpful they are.

The tools in this Guide include business productivity, sales, marketing, finance, computing & telecoms.

Get a good introduction to what is available on the Web - free.

You may be daunted by the Web and all that is on offer. Do not be. The Web is by far the greatest source of help for the budding business person.
Try: A good place to start is to visit Savvy Web-biz. It will give you an overview of the subject before you delve in. There is a comprehensive, though not exhaustive list of specific tools below. Pick the ones that interest you and visit the websites. If you would like more information than is available in this Guide get the Guide to Free Web-based & Open Source Business Tools.

Get an Open Source office suite - free.

This package has it all (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, and drawing) - and more. I use it daily and it has many advantages of other 'office' programs that you pay hundreds of dollars for. A small for instance is that you can save documents as pdf files directly. It is compatible with Word, for example, if you need to send a non user a text document via email.
Try: Open Office.

Get a Web-based office suite - free.

This one not only has all the standard office jobs, but also has a wiki program as well as a clutch of productivity tools (CRM, project management, database applications, chat, candidate evaluation, surveys & polls).
Try: Zoho.

Get the best Web-browser - free.

Mozilla's Open Source Firefox is a fast, safe and customizable Web-browser that is the fastest growing browser of them all.
Try: Firefox.

Get the most comfortable email software - free.

Mozilla's Thunderbird is a safe, fast, and easy email client, with intelligent spam filters, quick message search, and customizable views.
Try: Thunderbird.

Get a good way to backup all your data securely - free.

Mozy is a secure automatic remote backup service for any PC, via broadband. Even if you use an external hard disk or other means of saving your vital data in-house, an off-line double up is worth it.
Try: Mozy.

Get telephone calls and conference calls via the Web, without software - free.

There is now a service for your local and international calls with your regular phone (via your computer using broadband); it is free between subscribers and it costs next to nothing otherwise. There is a new free conference call service, too.
Try: For a super telephone service for everyday, use Jajah. For conference calls, check out Free Conference Call.

Get the ability to design your own website - free.

Nvu is a complete Web Authoring System for Windows, Macintosh and Linux users to rival programs like FrontPage and Dreamweaver. You will very quickly get the hang of it.
Try: Nvu.

Or get a content management system to update a site someone else designed for you.

A content management system simplifies the task for you and means that you can keep your website up-to-date without having to rely on outside expertise.
Try: Plone is a ready-to-run content management system that is built on the powerful and free Zope application server. Or you could try Mambo that is a full-featured CMS that can be used for simple websites to complex corporate ones.