Online Software to Organize Any Small Business

And now for something completely different: project management software for the non-project-management software set.

It was only matter of time, but the development of Web-based project management tools is now officially beyond the purview of the traditional techno-arms merchants. No longer do the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Salesforce.com or even NetSuite offer the only tools needed to organize your business.

Now relatively modest, targeted organizations can offer powerful project management tools at reasonable prices. Today, New York-based Behance announced the official launch of its online project management tool aimed at creative professionals: Action Method Online. Perfectly useful introductory plans are free. Premium services start at $12 a month, per seat. Longer plans run $99 a year per seat. And bulk discounts are available.

I have spent the past few days testing this product, and for those of you who have just washed up on these sole-proprietor shores, this tool just may be for you.

What you get

Put simply, you get a dead easy way to organize that miserable excuse of a business life of yours.

For the average train wreck of a small shop, Action Method Online offers an easy onramp to the Web-based organizational super highway. The system easily and gently gets you started with the -- let's be honest here -- torturous process of defining the tricky concepts you need to make sense of your new business. What tasks really define themselves as operations? What is an in-progress job? How about pending jobs? Or bids? Or new leads? Who is responsible for them? How long will they take? And when are they due?