I love Zoho.com. I just want to make that disclaimer before I get too far into this post and you start to wonder about me. To summarize Zoho in a phrase, I would say that it is your business online. Zoho offers web-based apps for just about everything your business will ever need.

There are the standard office suite apps like a word processing app (Zoho Writer) and a spreadsheet app (Zoho Sheet) and a presentation app (Zoho Show). These are the ones that I use most frequently and they work just like the other web-based apps you’re used to (like GoogleDocs) or computer-based apps you’re used to (like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

But when it’s time to take your business to the next level, you can do that too. Zoho also has apps like a customer relationship management (Zoho CRM), a project management app (Zoho Project) an invoicing app (Zoho Invoices), a planning app (Zoho Planner), a document management app (Zoho Docs) and a central repository (Zoho Share). While most freelancers may happily use the basic office suite tools, they can use these “next level” business tools to make significant improvements in how their businesses perform. 

And the list goes on with even more specialized apps that you might have a use for (but I haven’t used myself). These include an online notetaker, wikis, On-demand remote support, chat, web conferencing, and way more.

So, why is it that I’m so excited about Zoho and their gigantic suite of apps?

There are a few reason:

• First, freelancing is a freeing business. You’re not tied down anywhere. You can work here, there, somewhere else, and then next door. And you’re not stuck accessing stuff on your laptop. You just need a computer – any computer – and you’re good to go.
• Second, it also enhances the continuity if your business because – if your computer suddenly dies – you can simply log on with another computer and everything is stored online. (Folks, that’s the wave of the future when it comes to computers, by the way: Nothing stored on the hardware itself).
• Third, it helps you run a serious business. Your freelance writing business (for example) might be successful running just a word processing program. But it will be more successful when you’re running project management software and CRM software and more. This is big-business thinking scaled down to make small businesses more successful.

Now, just in case you think I’m on their payroll (I’m not), I will admit that they aren’t perfect. For example, I find their pricing is a little confusing and not always easy to navigate around, but they will answer questions if you email a question to them. And there is some functionality that you don’t get in Zoho apps (like Zoho Writer) that you do get in offline apps (like Microsoft Word). But for the most part, everything you need to run a business is conveniently there!