As a solopreneur for the last decade I discovered that one of the biggest hurdles to getting this business off-the-ground was software. In the early years of AtmoVantage (back when it was called “Austin’s Atmosphere“) I tried saving money by using the free tiers of various business software products. I used Waveapps for free invoicing software, cPanel for free business email, Trello for free project management and the free tier of Hootsuite for social media engagement. It didn’t take very long for me to realize that the “free” price tag was actually quite expensive in terms of my time.
One of the biggest pitfalls of an early solopreneur is not accounting for the value of your own time. Time is a finite resource that is often overlooked when counting business costs. As the old adage goes “time is money”. Using a bunch of disjointed, free business tools is probably costing you more in time than you would otherwise pay for a professional suite of business software. The affordable solution to this problem is Zoho One.
What is Zoho One
Zoho One is an integrated suite of professional software tools that covers all your business needs from sales, marketing, accounting, HR and operations. Zoho One is a singular platform to efficiently manage and run your company.
In addition to the easy-to-use cloud-based desktop applications, Zoho One also lets you take your work on-the-go with mobile applications for iOS and Android. Using a single set of login credentials, you’ll have access to the entire suite of Zoho tools anywhere you go.
Zoho One includes just about every tool you need to run your business. The seamless integration between their different products will not only save you valuable time, but it’ll also make you more efficient and productive!
Cost
Zoho One offers a free 30-day trial.
There are two types of plans available:
- All Employee Pricing
- Must purchase a license of ALL employees on your payroll
- Perfect for solopreneurs and small businesses
- Flexible User Pricing
- Only purchase a license of a specific number of users, regardless of business size
- Ideal for larger organizations or businesses that don’t need a license for every employee
Save money by paying annually rather than monthly. Prices are valid as of August 2021.
Features
Sales
- CRM
- Live Chat (SalesIQ)
- Digital Signatures
- Goal Tracking
Support
- Business Email
- Phone Bridge
- Knowledge-Base
- Remote Assistance
Accounting
- Invoicing
- Snail-Mail Invoices
- Generate Estimates
- Reoccurring Invoices
- Vendor Billing
- Bank Account Sync
- Expense Tracking
- Payment Gateways
- Subscriptions
- Sales Tax Management
- Automated Workflows
- Reports, Insights & Analytics
Marketing
- Social Media
- A/B Testing
- Insights & Analytics
- Email Newsletters
Human Resources
- Create/post Job Openings
- Schedule Interviews
- Time Tracking & Scheduling
- Process Payroll
Operations
- Internal Team Chat
- Intranet System
- Custom Applications
- Forms
- Cloud Document Sync
- Video Teleconference
- Projects & Sprints
- Notebook
- Password Management
- Word Processor
- Spreadsheets
- Slideshow Presentations
Top Applications
Here are some of the most helpful applications included in Zoho One and what I use them for in my business.
| Zoho App | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Assist | Remote Desktop software for assisting clients with troubleshooting. |
| Books | This is my primary accounting software. It handles everything from invoicing, expenses, tax reports, etc. |
| Connect | A complete “Intranet” for documenting internal procedures and policies. |
| CRM | A full-featured Customer Relationship Manager |
| Desk | Issue tracking, support ticket management and incident logging. Also used for creating FAQ’s and a self-serve knowledge-base. |
| Docs | Dropbox/Google Drive replacement. |
| Business email with calendar integration. | |
| Meeting | A Zoom replacement for teleconferencing with clients |
| Projects | Create projects for clients, track task completion and log time for billing. |
| SalesIQ | Live chat support widget on the website with live visitor analytics. |
| Sign | A digital signature solution for documents and contracts. |
| Social | Social media management for publishing content across multiple platforms. |
| Subscriptions | Helpful for selling reoccurring packages, such as maintenance plans and hosting. |
When I look at this list I’m struck by the value of Zoho One. All these applications and more for less than $500/year!
Favorite Features
AtmoVantage has been using Zoho One for several years and I’ve come to really appreciate some of the specific featues Zoho One offers. The entire suite of applications is more than enough to run this business, but here are some of the features I love the most:
Projects and Invoice Integration
My favorite feature of Zoho One has to be the seamless integration between the Projects and Books (Invoice) applications. In Zoho Projects I can quickly start/stop timers for certain clients, log time for specific tasks, and then those timesheet entries are automatically synchronized with the next reoccurring invoice in Zoho Books. I don’t have to import or export anything manually between the applications. With the Zoho Projects mobile app I can even log time while on-the-go!
Snail Mail Invoices
Not all clients like receiving invoices electronically. Some still prefer to receive a physical hardcopy. But printing, envelope-stuffing, stamping and mailing invoices every month is tedious and inefficient. Zoho Books offers an amazing service to “Send Snail Mail”. You purchase Snail Mail credits ahead of time, ($1/envelope) then simply click a button on the invoice. Zoho takes care of the printing, postage and mailing, complete with professional envelopes and payment stubs!
Final Thoughts
I can’t recommend Zoho One enough to fellow solopreneurs and small business owners. The all-in-one solution to juggling multiple platforms makes it ideal for streamlining business operations and consolidating applications. The native integrations between the various products is one of the biggest selling points.
Not only is Zoho One a fantastic suite of business applications, it also offers a competitive and affordable alternative to existing “Big Tech” platforms like Google and Microsoft. Zoho is a Silicon Valley tech company, but it was started in India and has a vastly different culture from other “woke” tech companies. Zoho is a company focused on delivering value to its customers, not virtue-signaling to the hysterical mob.
Bonus: If you use this referral link to sign-up for any Zoho service (either individual products or the entire Zoho One suite) you’ll get a $100 credit that can be used to purchase additional Zoho products/services!
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