What type of project management software does a small business need?

What type of project management software does a small business need?

As a small business owner you find yourself wearing many hats and usually at the same time.  Accountant, coach, salesman, webmaster and all-around superstar. And that’s just on a slow day.  It’s no wonder that so many small businesses rely Project Management tools to better manage their business, collaborate with employees and keep important projects on track.  What are the most important Project Management requirements from a Project Management tool that small businesses need and how do you select the best tool for your business?

The folks at Software Advice interviewed several hundred small businesses to find out why small businesses see Project Management tools as the solution for their operational needs.

How Small Businesses Benefit from Project Management Tools

• Eliminating the risk of manual records keeping.   About half of small business owners (46 percent) report that they currently rely on manual processes for tracking projects such as excel spreadsheets, emails or even pen and paper.
• Cost benefit from cloud Project Management tools.  Thanks to the popularity of Gmail, Dropbox and other cloud-based applications, even less digital savvy businesses recognize the need for web-based deployment.    Cloud solutions offer quick and easy implementation without the need to integrate with existing systems and applications.
• Businesses see the benefit from productivity enhancing functionality.  More companies today have distributed team members who telecommute.  A common tool for both collaboration on common tasks and Project Management helps bridge the cultural and time-zone differences and improves productivity.

Top Features that Small Business Owners Look for in a Project Management Solution

If you are a small business owner, you need a tool that’s going to get the most productivity from your team and will monitor the progress of each project.  More importantly, you don’t want to spend a ton of money and waste time on integration.   The research indicates that most small business owners are looking for the following:

Integrated Solution.  Small businesses want to combine their multiple requirements and purchase one tool that covers both Project Management and Collaboration.   88% stated that they are looking for two or more applications together and do not want to buy separate best-of-breed solutions.

SaaS delivery.   Although only 25% respondents stated a preference for delivery mechanism, not one business owner requested on-premises delivery.  This indicates the growing understand that the cloud offers a more cost effective and quick way to get up and running without the headache of integration. Also, with so many employees telecommuting, it is becoming increasingly important to offer a remote-based application that can be accessed by all team members, regardless of whether they work in the company office or at another location.

Productivity solutions.  The survey indicated that 66% of buyers were looking for time tracking, 52% of buyers were seeking task management applications and 41% requested resource management solutions.

Do you need help evaluating a Project Management tool?  A checklist of the most common sought after features.

Functionality that was once considered a “nice-to-have” is now taken for granted by many small businesses looking for simple Project Management software.  Below we’ve listed the most common features that small businesses are looking for:

Bug Tracking

Collaboration (e.g., Chat)

Content Management

Discussion Forums

Document Management

Group Calendars

Issue Management

Risk Management

Task Management

Time Tracking

Resource Management

Virtual Whiteboards

Want to learn more about Binfire, the Collaboration and Project Management solution designed for small businesses?  Please click here for an absolutely no obligation free 30-day trial.