Project Management Tools You Can Use As a Small Business Owner

Project management is surprisingly easy in a small business environment. Yes, there are fewer participants and fewer steps to take. However, large companies frequently employ separate project managers for sales, product development, and marketing. On the other hand, the project manager for a small organization is typically responsible for managing several different departments. Finding project management software that can assist you in maximizing output while balancing everything else on your plate is crucial.

Best Project Management Software for Small Businesses with the Most Extensive Free Plan

1.     Trello

Trello is an easy-to-use visual project management tool that uses Kanban boards. Also, Trello doesn't have the same learning curve as most project management software because its simple, drag-and-drop user interface enables your team to get started immediately.

Create a new board by starting from scratch or selecting a template from hundreds of choices in marketing, sales, design, team management, and other areas. Each Kanban board can be configured to mirror the backlog, in-progress, and completed lists seen in the conventional agile format. Alternatively, you may utilize your imagination and turn the boards into tools for collaboration or ideation, where team ideas are collected, categorized, and approved as necessary. Cards (i.e., tasks) can have custom fields, labels, attachments, comments, and more in addition to checklists and due dates.

Simply drag the task cards to the relevant list when you finish them. From the activity menu, you may keep track of all remarks and tasks that refer to you or that you are observing.

Trello also provides one of the best free plans available, with ten boards, unlimited users, tasks, and Power-Ups, as well as 250 Butler automation command runs each month.

2.     Paymo

Paymo is a fantastic alternative if you require a project management system to manage projects, invoices, and billing for numerous clients.

Projects are set up per client in a billing-centric manner, and you can choose whether to bill for the project using hourly rates or a flat fee (or not at all). You can track the time spent on each work and project because a timer is integrated into the user interface. Paymo will automatically generate the invoice based on that data.

Each project contains the tasks and subtasks that are related to it, and there are five different ways to see the work: list, table, Kanban board, Gantt chart, or calendar. Additionally, you may utilize Paymo's filter to arrange all of your tasks by status, due dates, priorities, and other criteria for each client and project. You may chat with coworkers, monitor timesheets, and preserve all project-related data within each project.

Paymo stands out as an economical but capable alternative to manage task lists for numerous team members if the majority of your projects are services for clients that call for billing and invoicing.

3.     Wrike

You will inevitably continue to manage a portion of your projects via email, regardless of how capable your project management app is. This is made really easy with a built-in email connector that enables you to link your inbox activity to Wrike.

This email integration is unique compared to the Gmail or Outlook connectors in the app directory. Instead, you just need to add and validate one or more "from" email addresses because this native email integration is already configured within your profile. Any email sent from one of those accounts with the subject line "wrike@wrike.com" will instantly appear in Wrike.

Using email, you can use Wrike to create new tasks, assign tasks, add attachments, schedule tasks, update task statuses, set task priorities, add comments, and add functions to one or more subfolders.

You can get a lot done without ever leaving your inbox, but ultimately you'll check in to Wrike and manage projects from there. The design of projects in Wrike initially resembles that of Asana. Wrike offers more organized flexibility, allowing you to tailor (and standardize) what information is an essential part of each work.

4.     Nifty

Give Nifty a try if you're searching for a straightforward project management program that is anything but basic. To be fair, the software doesn't scrimp on features; it includes a ton of user permissions and controls, customized views, and even time monitoring. But the fact that Nifty's project management just works is what sets it apart.

You may start working on projects immediately, thanks to the abundance of project templates available across various departments and use cases. The streamlined project dashboard is among the most helpful I observed, offering everyone a high-level view of the project outline, members, and recent activity. (Alternatively, you can import projects and tasks from your current project management platform.) For further information on project milestones, timing, and percentage completion, click Roadmap (to the right of the Dashboard tab).

The clean and practical Kanban, list, calendar, swimlane, timeline, and roadmap views are switchable in the top-right corner of the Task tab, and you can choose one as the default view for each project in the settings.

The communication and collaboration tools in Nifty are yet another feature I adore. They made it simple to keep all conversations regarding a project or job together. Team members can discuss individual tasks and the project as a whole in Discussions rather than going to Slack or email.

Which small business project management software should you choose?

As you choose a project management app, ask yourself a few questions: Do you value structure more than flexibility? Do your initiatives require specific metrics? What kinds of project-related data must you keep on hand?

Every app on this list has a free trial version so that you can try it out. We advise you to choose and try the option that best fits your needs. Go on to the next tool if it doesn't work for you.

Just keep in mind that the greatest approach is the one that provides you with the framework and psychological support you need to complete your tasks quickly and with high-quality results.