Author: Samantha Stauf / Source: Wise Bread
Freelancers and small-business owners might not have the financial capital on hand to invest in all of the tools and apps that can help a business run smoothly. Thankfully, they don’t need it — because plenty of free, open source software is available online at the click of a button.
Many of the free versions of business software cover, at minimum, the basic needs required by startups and self-employed individuals. Check out a few below. (See also: 6 Helpful Tools to Manage Your Small Business)
1. Google Drive
Google Drive is a free service that gives users access to spreadsheets, word processing, slideshows, and form software. The drive is tied to Gmail accounts. Each user has access to 15GB of cloud storage under a free account.
These free tools don’t have the same level of robust options as Microsoft’s suite of office software, but they offer most of the common features that small businesses will be looking for. As an added bonus, the documents are updated in real time, so it’s a solid choice for companies that do real-time collaboration on projects.
Drive allows users to upload and download documents in a Microsoft format, so you will not have problems sharing documents with clients, customers, or partners who utilize Office.
2. LibreOffice
LibreOffice is a free collection of open source office tools that gives users access to downloadable spreadsheets, word processing, and presentation software. It’s important that you only download the software on the LibreOffice website to avoid potential computer viruses.
LibreOffice is a pretty solid alternative to Microsoft Office. LibreOffice Writer has most of the major and minor features found in Microsoft Word. LibreOffice Calc also has similar features to Excel, but Microsoft macro and programming language can’t be imported from Calc to Microsoft Excel. The presentation software (Impress) has similar compatibility issues with PowerPoint.
The bottom line is that LibreOffice is a good alternative if your business doesn’t receive Excel files with macros and doesn’t need to send presentations to individuals who utilize PowerPoint.
3. Evernote
Evernote is a “freemium” application (free to download and use, with additional paid features) that can be used for word processing, slideshows, note taking, and document storage. The main perk of the platform is the ability to easily store and organize various types of documents in one place.
The basic platform is free and allows users to upload 20MB of new content each month and sync it across two devices. It’s a neat tool, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as your sole project management software. The basic freemium plan doesn’t offer a robust means of sharing documents internally and externally.
4. Prezi
Prezi is online presentation software. A basic, free account allows individuals to create an unlimited number of presentations, but has no miscellaneous options, such as offline sync, privacy controls, or revocable shared links.
The tool, despite its limited scope, is worth evaluating because the presentations that can be created…
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