Internet usage in Asia is skyrocketing, for both consumers and businesses. Most small business owners probably have a ton of mobile applications that you personally use to make your personal life better. However, there are many benefits to moving your business to the cloud as well, such as hassle-free collaboration, lower overheads and better accessibility.
Here are 4 cloud applications that are useful for any small business in Hong Kong.
Every business requires smooth communication. Skype allows everyone on your team to meet and communicate remotely. You’ll be able to make internet calls for free, and calls to a landline/mobile phone for low rates. Using Skype for communications will save you a lot in time and resources. Google Hangouts is another great alternative for this.
Constantly emailing documents back and forth can be a huge hassle. It’s hard to track what version everybody has, and it makes collaboration difficult. Google Drive solves that. It provides a central drive for you to store your documents where every member of your team can access it. This way, you’re all sure that you’re working off the same version, and there’s no confusion. Not only that, you’ll get free 5GB of storage, which means you can save money on servers and hard drives. Another popular alternative for cloud storage is Dropbox.
Engaging your customers regularly is very important for a small business – it’s crucial for building relationships with your customers and growing your brand. You could manually send them emails, but having a newsletter system will save you a lot of time and frustration. Mailchimp provides a simple and cheap way for you to set up an email newsletter. It has great tracking tools, and is very easy to use.
As a small business owner, you’ll constantly have many things on your mind. Taking notes is important to make sure you don’t forget your tasks and ideas. Evernote is a great tool for that. From sticky notes entered into a computer/tablet/mobile phone, to random pictures snapped along your commute to work, or just a scribble on a piece of Starbucks napkin, Evernote helps you store and organize your thoughts throughout the day – so that you’ll never forget another idea again.
The cloud is not a new space, but many small businesses are still not making the most of it. Give the apps on this list a try, and see for yourself how much time and hassle it can save you.
