Sometimes you just need a low-tech set of free business tools to get something done. Usually, what you need to get done turns out to be in the area of business management, bookkeeping, cash flow management or some other financial aspect of the business that many of us find tedious and bothersome. Still, the right tool, especially a simple tool, can help.
Marketing and Direct Mail
You can quickly understand and use these tools. They’ll not only help you solve specific problems, using them will teach you more about the costs of marketing and direct mail.
Marketing Today’s Marketing ROI Calculator—This tool helps you figure out your required returns on a mailing campaign, cost per piece, and more. Use it to test your assumptions and play with the numbers until you can make a campaign work for you financially.
United States Postal Service Tools—The USPS.gov site provides a few tools that are really quite handy, though I wish they would do a better job of aggregating them in one place. Try the budget planning worksheet, a spreadsheet that helps you plan mailing campaigns.
Finance and Accounting
JaxWorks Free Excel Toys—You can download 30 spreadsheets that help you calculate breakeven, headcount costs, expenses, payroll, and more.
EZ Accounting—CPA Timothy C. Stewart provides a couple of really nice free calculators, such as his Balance Sheet Calculator.
Palo Alto Software—Most famous for its Business Plan Pro software, Palo Alto Software’s site provides a number of free business calculators, such as the Starting Costs Calculator, which is simple but useful. I find the Cash Flow Calculator (shown above) to be extremely helpful and simple to use, though you’ll probably want to use a spreadsheet also to get a month by month projection.
General Calculator Resource
For a repository of every calculator you can imagine and lots of business help, check out Martindale’s Calculator On-Line Center. Everything from Agriculture to Weather and lots in-between.
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