It is difficult to run any business on a tight budget, and for small companies, it is more so evident.
Small businesses, especially the startups, often find themselves in tight spots when the funds they have are just not enough to run the business smoothly. While not many people take note of it, spending on various software in the company does induce a lot of expenditure, which is where open source software come into play.
We aim this post to young entrepreneurs who are bootstrapping a business while trying to reduce their expenses.
You will read about how you can avoid some of the commonly used expensive software and use free; open-source alternatives to cut the costs that come with them.
Here are the Five Open Source Software that Every Small Business Must Use.
Table of Contents
1. Open Office
It doesn’t matter what form of trade you are into, every business requires the use of text, presentations, and other office applications. Undoubtedly, MS Office is the pioneer of producing such applications, but it does come with a cost which is way too high for anyone’s liking.
Many people stick to Microsoft only because they are not aware of its various alternatives out there. Amongst different options for office applications, Open Office is one you must try using.
From docs to sheets, Open Office Suite comes with various applications that you and your employees can use free of cost. Using Open Office is similar to using any Microsoft Office application, and you will not feel any stutter while transitioning your work on it.
2. Riot
Skype is another Microsoft product which is fantastic to use in its regard, but to be able to use it for your business; you must lighten your pockets. Riot is a free alternative to Skype which even surprised us with the number of features that we saw it had to offer in our time using it. Like all the software in this list, Riot is also open-source and has all the essential features that Skype carries.
Riot comes with features like end-to-end encryption and service integrations, something which even Skype fails to do.
The user interface of Riot is easy to understand, and the quality of its video conferencing will make every corporate strategy making session lag-free. Despite the low popularity Riot is available on all platforms including Androids.
3. Thunderbird
Thunderbird is an email client that you can use without spending a dime on it. Mozilla is the parent company of Thunderbird, and this email client is secure and easy-to-use.
Thunderbird doesn’t take up much space on your system, which is one of the significant advantages that it has over Outlook.
It sorts multiple account entries in an organized manner making it simpler for a single user to operate various tasks on it. This ease makes it an ideal application to use for the employees working for a b2b Business, where email marketing plays a crucial role. While it may not have calendar or to-do lists option like MS Outlook, Thunderbird comes with additional features of using add-ons with it where you can use lightweight calendars along with many other extensions.
4. ClamWin
The age of the internet does bring security threat to any business, and with attacks for ransomware and so many system vulnerabilities being exposed every day, using an anti-virus is essential.
You might not realize it, but a lapse in system security even in one device in your office can put your data in danger.
ClamWin is a free antivirus that takes care of system security woes. This open-source antivirus has a very high rate of virus detection and can run real-time to keep your data safe.
Millions of home and office users trust ClamWin for their device security, and if you own a small business, you can make use of it too. It can remove spyware from your system and can run scheduled scans to check for any vulnerabilities.
The virus database on this application gets updated regularly, and it also comes integration features with some selected software.
5. Ubuntu
Ubuntu is not an unknown name when it comes to operating systems, and it is amongst the most used ones around the world. This OS is renowned for its security, and it is believed that next to no viruses can make their way on a system running Ubuntu.
Its ability to be one of the most secure OS does stop it from supporting almost every application that Windows does. The best thing about Ubuntu? It is the most user-friendly operating systems that you will come across.
In a market where the price of operating systems is sky-high, Ubuntu manages to impress everyone while being available for free.
If you haven’t heard of most of the software in our list, then don’t be surprised as many people don’t know them too. They might not be as widely used as the premium software, but open-source applications have a lot to offer which small business can make the most out of.
Also, read part-time home based business ideas.
Moreover, these are only a few programs that you know about. There is an abundance of such apps which are unexplored. Which free applications do you use as an alternative to premium ones? Do let us know of your favorite software in the comments.
