Off-the-shelf applications for your biz

V Saravanan, a Chennai-based building repair contractor had a big idea: to expand his business threefold by getting client leads online. However, with a humble income of Rs 12,000 a month, investing in a computer was a daunting decision. A basic PC - even an assembled one - would cost him at least Rs 15,000. In addition he would need to pay for the internet connection-at least Rs 300 per month.
While he was still weighing the pros and cons of the investment, he stumbled upon an option that gave him a complete package for a mere Rs 399 per month-Nova netPC.A new offer from Novatium and MTNL, it gives you the option of hiring a PC instead of buying one. In just six months of using the PC Saravanan has managed to scale up his business by about 40%, reaping benefits of the internet without investing in the infrastructure.
Saravanan’s might be a smart success story, but it is definitely not the only one.
Thanks to the evolution of web-based solutions, entrepreneurs can now simply rent core applications from the web. Here are a few handy off-the-shelf applications for your business.
Rent out computers: To rent a PC from companies like Novatium, you’d need an initial investment of Rs 1,999. This and a monthly fee of Rs 399 will let you run productivity applications-Microsoft Office or Star Office and even surf the internet.
Nova netPC is a stripped-down computer, with only the basic hardware: the PC case consists of a motherboard, an Ethernet connectivity port to connect to the VLAN, four USB ports and a serial port for the monitor. Two of the four USB ports are used for the keyboard and mouse. Storage is managed remotely on a server managed by Novatium-currently, you get up to 2 GB of space. In addition, you get about 30 hours of internet surfing.
However, this service is available only in Delhi and Chennai, though the company plans to launch a similar application for the other metros like Mumbai in a few months.
Rent out customer management: Customer relationship management (CRM) is yet another core business application that you could rent on a monthly basis or even grab for free from companies like Salesforce.com or 37Signals (www.37signals.com).
Basecamp from 37Signals, for instance, is a free application that lets you manage your own projects. The program has a series of simple tools, like shared to-do lists, that anyone can use. It isn’t designed for a specific industry, so whether you are a wedding planner or a software developer, you could use it to collaborate on projects. This works great for businesses with a small team.
Rahul Mehra and Radhika Saldhana, who run a small architecture firm and frequently travel between Mumbai and Bangalore, have been using this application with great results.
"Before we used it, we’d send emails back and forth to stay in touch about a project. For the first few months, that was fine, but later it became such a mess. There was no centralised place to check on the work. Now all our work is in one place and that too for free,” says Mehra.
Rent a call centre: Another important facet of business is managing customer complaints and queries. However, getting a call centre to handle these is not a viable option for small businesses. That’s where web applications from companies like Sky-Click and Cincom step in. Sky-Click (www.sky-click.com), for instance, uses the free VoIP-based Skype to connect businesses with freelance customer service agents.
So you could have agents sitting at their homes and answering your customer queries for just $10 (approximately Rs 400) a month, without any additional hardware, landlines or PBX.
All you need to do is register online and download the software on your customer service agents’ PCs.
This web-based application also gives you a range of features such as handling customer calls, and access to call history with call dates, duration and purpose. It also lets you transport your call history to a CRM software or business application.