Tell me more ×
Answers OnStartups is a question and answer site for entrepreneurs looking to start or run a new business. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I started my own business about 7-8 months ago. Everything looks great and we are growing very nicely. I like web apps to keep my business organized (teamworkpm for project management, freshbooks for invoicing, etc.).

In the very beginning I used to do all the things those apps do via Microsof Excel. I learned a lot since those days, and one of the very first lessons I got was to use web apps instead of Excel.

Problem is that I still use Excel to solve some problems. One of those problems is to set goals and expectations for future months. I really want to stop using Excel to do this, and I'm very sure that there is an app for that.

What I do on Excel is to have a template with "ideal sales" and "real sales". There are 2 graphs that compare both numbers, and that helps us a lot because we can see if we are on the right track. I would love to use an app instead, with maybe some extra-features. Of course we are willing to pay a monthly fee for the service, so any recommendations will be cool, because I have searched for it and found nothing.

Any recommendations for such an app?

share|improve this question
1  
Where is you question?" – Ross Jan 21 '11 at 7:48
Most accounting packages will do what you are wanting (although they are not web apps. However I believe there are some web based accounting packages.) – Susan Jones Jan 21 '11 at 8:55
Thanks for your answer Ross, my question was about any app to track goals/expectations of my business :). I have tried like 2-3 accounting services but any of those have a function for expectations, just to track past and not a path to future – Julio Jan 22 '11 at 7:03

4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

What you need is a CRM tool. Something like:

There are tons of customer relationship management tools that exist. Many of these allow you to set goals/expectations and also allow you to manage your 'sales pipeline.' Based on your prospects how much potential money could you make, you can set probabilities and it will calculate your expected income with some fancy reports.

But spreadsheets are good tools, don't be embarrassed about it if it works. If you feel it's time to out grow it then one of these might work for you.

share|improve this answer
And if you want a free version of SugarCRM, it's called vtiger.com/crm/open-source (they push the on-demand version where they host it on Amazon for you, but you can download and run it yourself) – gbjbaanb Apr 19 '12 at 23:24
up vote 0 down vote

Julio, sometimes the best apps are the simple ones you create for yourself. Excel is a great tool for forcasting, goal tracking, and probably could not be replaced with an one size fits all solution.

Here is what i do. For each project we create a task list, you can use a number of applications for this (both installed or on the web), but i prefer to use excel. We use different xls files to track projects, vacation, goals, milestones, tasks, you name it.

Its not the cleanest approach but it works. You can get fancy and use a service like Box.net or sharepoint to share the excel files, but we just keep it very simple and use a dropbox account.

Its quick, its dirty, its easy to manage.

Once a project is launched we track its revenue using queries to its db. That is a completely different story with a bunch of automation set in place.

My main advice to you would be to focus on your business and not too much time setting up systems or doing data entry. Excel works again for us because we can quickly see "whats up" and move ahead.

If you are looking for a more elaborate solution look at a CRM such as salesforce or the suite of products offered by 37signals. If they dont have you covered look at who is integrated with them and i am sure you will find a good solution.

share|improve this answer
Frank, thanks for your answer .. im already using dropbox, and 37signals alternative (teamwork, dont like the "close-road" thinking about 37signals). "My main advice to you would be to focus on your business and not too much time setting up systems or doing data entry" ... i was thinking that quote a couple of days ago, maybe i should stau with excel but ill be glad to see how does an app work on that, im an engineer so i like numbers and graphs he :). – Julio Jan 22 '11 at 7:06
As an engineer its so easy to get off track from your current project, building cool tools, reports etc. All of that should be done as necessary or after you are 100% set and have free time. For me the free time never comes, but maybe one day i will just hire a guy to create Creative Solutions to assist our business. – Frank Jan 23 '11 at 0:02
up vote 0 down vote

At the risk of distracting you from your main mission of building your own products, one answer to your question is Lokad*, a SaaS app that does forecasting for sales and also demand and call volumes. It even has an API so you can geek out on it.

*No, I am not affiliated with Lokad.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I have recently tried Trello, http://www.trello.com. It is a concise webapp created specifically for tracking progress. It is free to use.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.