Project Desk Helps 420 Jars Manage Tasks and Time

by Matt LaPrairie, Co-Owner

I'm the co-owner of 420 Jars, a small business that sells glass storage jars.  With no employees and just the two of us running the business, we always have numerous tasks that need to be accomplished.  Prior to using Project Desk, our task list consisted of post-its, emails, and our not-always-great memories.  It was obvious that we needed a solution to help us manage our projects if things were to be completed in a timely fashion.  In March I began searching the Internet for project management software.  We required something that would work on PC and Mac, allowed both of us to be administrators, and was cost-effective.

I tried a number of services looking for a product that was fast with an intuitive interface.  The latter was more difficult to find than I expected.  I wanted something that gave a quick overview of current tasks, due dates and completion status while making it easy to add tasks and make changes.  During my search, I tried various services by signing up for a free trial or using their online demo.  In each one, I found elements that I liked, but there was always something that I didn't like, so I kept searching.  Sometimes this problem was speed; some online services were incredibly slow waiting for the Web pages to load took longer than entering the task.  Other services were fast enough, but had functional limitations or only allowed for one administrator.  Some others managed to offer the features that I was looking for, but made it difficult to navigate because of a poor design.

When I signed up for a Project Desk account, the first thing I noticed is that the homepage is laid out exactly as it should be.  There are sections that display my tasks with their due dates, the tasks that I have assigned, topics in our discussion board as well as a calendar.  Adding and editing tasks is a breeze and I was happy to find that the Web site loads quickly.  As I continued to test this service, I found that it had all the features I was looking for as well as some that I hadn't considered but are particularly useful, such as the email reminders and online document storage.

As a small business with little capital, finding a free or low-cost service was essential.  Project Desk's free offering is perfect for us right now and as our company grows to need more storage space or more users, we will upgrade to a paid account.  We've been using this service primarily keep track of the various tasks that need to be accomplished; this includes updates to our Web site, promotions, and reminders to follow up with customers.  The discussion board feature has been especially helpful for brainstorming ideas; it provides a simple forum to post thoughts and replies.  Project Desk allowed us to collaborate on the design and functionality of our Web site by keeping track of the decisions we made.  This service has improved our time management and helps to keep us organized and on target.  At this point, I would say Project Desk is a necessity for our business (or at least my sanity) and I appreciate the hard work that must have gone into this product.

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Related Links:

     The 420 Jars Web site

     www.420jars.com

     Sign up for a free Project Desk account (or get more information)

     www.projectdesk.net