It should be clear by now, that the Corona Virus is causing turmoil across the Globe.
While there is no use in panicking, there is no denying that we are confronted with the fact that many businesses are now forced to have their office workers to work from home. And the idea of that is causing nightmares for many business owners.
Unfortunatelly, it are especially small businesses who are very vurnerable to situations such as what is happening now. Mostly because the already small profit margins just do’t allow to add more strain to already strained resources. Hence this translates in the lack of time to work preventively in a way that larger businesses and corporation can afford.
But all of this does not need to be a doom scenario!
When we started our own online Entrepreneuship 12 years ago, we sort of naturally took the cloud option for EVERYTHING we do in the office. From calculation systems, to our Customer Relation Management, our project management, invoicing and accounting. EVERYTHING a small company usually needs to work on in an office. And we NEVER looked back.
This being said, I completely understand that when your business is NOT living online, the current state of affairs, and the lack of experience in cloud/remote working can be overwhelming.
But remote work or cloud based busininess management is not rocket science.
In fact most cloud software is extremely userfriendly. Much more so than a lot of, may I say the word, outdated, locally installed software.
“As far as I am concerned, we’re in this together, and we will rise together or go down trying to do it on our own.”
Edwin Spiessens
If you feel insecure, or you do not know where to start, send me an email, or drop a comment at the bottom of this post, chances are we can help you out, or at least point you in the right direction!
For now, here are a few useful lists.
We will update as we go.
Cloud companies which are offering or extending free services to small businesses as a Global Corona pandemic support.
Box is offering 3 months free of its secure file sharing and collaboration platform. The offer is for the company’s Business plan and includes unlimited storage, mobile access, and advanced user and security reporting.
Cloudflare for Teams enables remote workers to connect securely and easily to corporate apps – without the need for corporate VPNs. Cloudflare is offering 500 seats of Cloudflare for Teams for small businesses through September 1, as well as a free 30-minute onboarding session.
Google is expanding features of Hangouts Meet, its video conferencing platform, for current customers through July 1st, 2020. Customers can now host larger meetings with up to 250 participants, live stream to 100,000 viewers, and save recordings to Google Drive.
GoToMeeting is offering 3 months of free site-wide licensing of its video conferencing solution, GoToMeeting, for eligible organizations (health care providers, educational institutions, municipalities and non-profits).
Microsoft is offering 6-months free of Microsoft Teams, a unified communication and collaboration platform. Starting on March 10th, restrictions will be lifted on how many users can join a team or schedule video calls.
Cisco is extending services for existing customers of Webex, its video conference platform. The offer includes unlimited usage without time restriction, support for fewer than 100 participants, and toll free dial-in.
Zoho is offering its Remotely product line for free to all new customers until July, 1st 2020. Zoho Remotely is a suite of cloud applications that helps teams collaborate and communicate.
Open for Business Hub
Small businesses are the lifeblood of many economies around the world. The recent COVID-19 outbreak is having a disproportionate impact on these businesses, who lack the resources of larger organizations to stay open.
Free cloud applications we have worked extensively with, and that are “easy to get going”.
Drop us any question if you have doubts. We will try to assist where we can.
Let’s get to it!
Starting with one of my personal favorites:
Trello Is the Fun, Flexible and Free Way To Organize Plans, Projects & More. Go From Idea To Action In Seconds With Trello’s Intuitively Simple Boards, Lists & Cards. Connect Other Apps. Work Offline. Access From Anywhere. Available in 21 Languages.
WhatsApp Web
SNIPBOARD.IO
The easiest way to share screenshots and images.
Free online calls, messaging, affordable international calling to mobiles or landlines and Skype for Business for effective collaboration
Evernote is an app designed for note taking, organizing, task management, and archiving.
Canva is a graphic design platform that allows users to create social media graphics, presentations, posters and other visual content. It is available on web and mobile, and integrates millions of images, fonts, templates and illustrations
Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything.
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