When it comes to choosing which software tools to use for the day to day running of a small business – the choices are bewildering. My advice is keep it simple and keep it cheap!
Provided the system you go for today can export it’s data into another format later on – you can always change / upgrade later on.
And if you’re already thinking cheap – how about thinking FREE?
Many small businesses want the convenience of sophisticated software but can’t justify the expense for a firm that may have only one or two employees or limited amounts of data to manage.
Thats where Google comes into it’s own – With a vengeance!
Once you have become used to using Googlemail for receiving, storing, archiving and sending your emails – you’ll want to use this add on for the Firefox browser to boost your productivity and make you feel good about yourself!
The addon is called integratedgmail and it provides a great ’single page view’ of your email – your diary – your task list and any other google apps and gadgets you use every day.
It meets my 2 criteria perfectly: It’s simple and it’s free! But best of all, it works like a dream – you’ll be amazed at how a simple thing like having all your stuff in one place can increase your efficiency! Really!
I gave up using the task list and the calendar in Google, because I was always having to open and close more tabs and windows than you could point a stick at 
it was just too laborious.
With everything in one place, daily stuff is a breeze – I use it all the time and just love the clean interface and simplicity of use!
Downsides: Well you do need to be using Firefox as your default browser but that’s no problem – also I’ve noticed that when working on a slow connection such as a mobile broadband dongle, things can be slowed down a little – but not enough to outweigh the massive advantages gained by using this wonderful add on!
Get it here: http://integratedgmail.com/
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