Time saving/helpful business tools/tips which improve business efficiency?

I

ivorystraws

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Does anyone have any time-saving/helpful tools they use in their business work that improve day-to-day business efficiency, especially small businesses, for example,

- ShortKeys text replacement utility for fax jobs, web sites, price quotes, and address lists.
- del.icio.us Storing and sharing bookmarks online
- Pando : Email any size file or folder to anyone, free (Still in beta testing though).
- www.box.net: 1Gb of free online storage for backups etc
- Blinksale Send invoices online

They don't have to be IT related.... basically any tools/tips that save time and improve business efficiency.
 
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Keep meetings short. These tend to be the biggest time wasters going. Have a fixed agenda and stick to it.

Online banking - saves time and worth the charges IMO

Also meant to add, register with the Revenue Online Service. www.ros.ie
 
I find using a PDA for tasks, contacts etc. useful. Just switched from a Palm to a Pocket PC.
 
Use Blackberry devices instead of standard mobiles with emails pushed out automatically without you needing your own email server. Saves distribution costs, office desk time, and arrives immediately!

Keep number of people at meetings to minimum.

Algorithm for computing the IQ of a meeting group :

Lowest IQ in Group divided by number of attendees:rolleyes:
 
Would have to agree with the blackberry recomendation

Online faxing system www.iflow-tech.com
Fax straight from a word document
Never worry about running out of toner for the fax machine
 
Thanks for all the helpful responses to date. I don't have a Blackberry but I may be entitled to a free one through Bank of Ireland's business start-up pacakge which provides a free Blackberry through selected discounted phones from O2 (20% discount).

On the point on meetings, I thought that Freeconference (www.FreeConference.com) may be of use and with most small businesses having broadband, Skype (www.skype.com - don't think it's possible to obtain a Skypein number but skype does give free calling, IM, and video calling over the Web) or Blueface (www.blueface.ie - provides virtual fax number with fax to email and email to fax service) could be ideal.

Web Based project management software, Basecamp (basecamphq.com, which could be especially handy for businesses completing services such as graphic/web design for their clients.
 
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another good tool for cost saving and its quite user friendly is [broken link removed] it is 100% free and i have used it myself and find it as good as say thesaurus and payback.
 
Hi Ivorystraws, do you have details of that blackberry offer through Bank of Ireland, or can you point me to it somewhere please?
 
Hi Vanilla,

If you ask in any BOI branch for a leaflet on their business start-up offers, they should provide you with a brochure detailing all the incentives they provide to start-ups when you open a business account with them. There is a number to contact, but I don't have the leaflet to hand. I can get it for you and provide more details to you if you want to PM me.

Just as an aside, I find password manager and form filler roboform (www.roboform.com) very handy but definitely do not keep any financial information in it.
 
Thanks again. I'm not a new business, but was hoping to sweet talk my 'business relations manager' ( love that title) into a free blackberry! But I checked out the offer and it seems to be that the blackberry is available only at reduced rates if you buy certain ( very expensive) phones, so for me thats not as interesting!
 
Yea, seen that. It's very strange as it specifically states "free Blackberry 5820" in the leaflet I have although I did expect some strings to be attached.

It's probably cheaper for small businesses to just buy a prepaid mobile phone, unlock it and use it in conjunction with a sim-card adaptor to get the most out each mobile service vendor's offers.
 
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