Money-Saving Online Tools for Small Business Owners

Running a small business can be costly, but there are a variety of online tools and website to help save time and money. Here’s a look at five web-based companies that offer services that will help a business save on the bottom line.

Office2Share For many small businesses, growth ebbs and flows depending on the season, which can create a workspace nightmare. Instead of renting out an office that sits empty half the time, small businesses can easily find offices to share when they need it. Offices2Share.com allows users to search for office space to share based on location. Small business owners can search for short-term rentals, ready-to-use office spaces, executive suites, shared/sublet office space and pre-built office space. And here’s the best part: the service is free for small businesses.

Peopleperhour.com Often small business owners face a short-term project or surge that requires extra hands, but they don’t necessarily have the money (or need) to hire a full-time employee. A UK-based Internet company called Peopleperhour.com created a marketplace for small businesses and freelancers around the world looking for work. The site is free to employers who post a job and allows them to get bids from freelancers, choose a worker. Workers get paid when the work is completed. Since its launch in 2008 the site claims 47,042 small and medium-sized businesses have used it to outsource more than $46,766,610 worth of services.

FormNet Forms are a part of a small business owner’s life, whether it’s a contract or LLC form, there’s no escaping them. But thanks to Formnet, created by Entrepreneur.com, small businesses don’t have to pay someone else to create forms. FormNet has more than 1,000 forms and documents that small businesses can download for free. Users can browse the website by category, which include finance, investing, legal, marketing and real estate, or search through its database of forms. Keep in mind that all the forms are general and not based on any state laws or jurisdictions, which means small business owners may still want to consult a professional.

Envato.com Need a digital file but don’t have the cash to hire someone to create it? Envato.com may be for you. The Australian company operates a marketplace for businesses and digital professionals to meet and sell goods. The site targets businesses that may need digital good likes WordPress themes, music loops, Flash templates and ebooks. Envato.com boasts a community of 500,000 authors and buyers around the world with hundreds of new files added each day. Envato.com also has a network of educational blogs to help entrepreneurs brush up on their digital skills.

evoice.com Having a receptionist will make even the smallest business seem larger, but it can be hard to find the money to pay for one. Thankfully, there are a slew of telecommunications companies that have low- cost telephone services that will answer and route calls for small businesses. One such company is evoice.com that provides users an auto attendant that will answer calls and transfer them to the proper person. Customers also get call routing and voice messages transcribed and delivered as texts or e-mails.