Why Every Entrepreneur Needs a Project Management Tool

Running a business means juggling tasks, projects, and goals. Whether you’re managing content creation, client communications, or employee scheduling, or pretty much anything else in your business, staying organized is critical for growth. Many entrepreneurs start with simple tools like mobile note-taking apps or Google Calendar tasks, but these options quickly become inefficient as the business grows. Task management apps help you track to-dos, but if you’re serious about scaling your business, you’ll need more advanced solutions.

Enter project management software—a must-have tool for entrepreneurs looking to streamline operations, improve communication, and grow their business efficiently. Unlike simple task apps, project management tools offer features like automations, time tracking, team collaboration, and custom workflows to ensure you stay ahead of deadlines and keep everyone on the same page.

Now, let’s explore how some of the most-used project management tools—ClickUp, Trello, Asana, and Airtable—can benefit different types of entrepreneurs.

Business Example Use Cases

First, let’s meet three different entrepreneurs owners and the business they run. Each has a very different type of business and therefore unique needs for tracking their projects and tasks. Right now, each is exploring the best way to take the complex variety of tasks that they have, and tracking them in a way that is most efficient and effective. 

TikTok Treasures – Owner: Ashley Kim

Ashley Kim runs TikTok Treasures, a solo business that resells jewelry. She uses TikTok for social selling and needs a system to manage content creation, inventory, and customer communication without overwhelming herself.

Elite Biz Solutions – Owner: David Green

David Green is the sole owner of Elite Biz Solutions, a coaching business. While he manages most tasks himself, he outsources graphic design, bookkeeping, and social media management to freelancers. His project management tool needs to handle client workflows, track time for billable hours, and delegate tasks efficiently.

HomePro Services – Owner: Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson operates HomePro Services, a home repair and cleaning business. Her business recently hit a million-dollar milestone and now has several full-time employees plus freelance contractors. She needs to manage scheduling, team assignments, and payroll while ensuring smooth customer service operations.

Project Management Software Comparison

Over the years, I have used every CRM you can imagine and every project management software you can find – between my own use and that of my tens of thousands of clients over the years. I’ve needed to quickly integrate and adapt to whatever technology they use internally so that I can seamlessly work with their team.

This also means that I have found a very clear favorite for my own use, and have some insights into the different capabilities of some of the entrepreneur-favorite software.

ClickUp: The All-in-One Solution

ClickUp stands out for its extensive feature set, offering more than most competitors in both free and paid plans. After integrating pretty much every platform available (at least available as of 2024), it’s the one I choose over and over again.

For one thing, the capabilities of the free plan are extensive. And when you do need an upgrade – such as I need advanced time tracking – the monthly rates are super budget-friendly.

• Free Plan Features:
  • Unlimited users and tasks
  • 100MB storage
  • Multiple views (List, Kanban, Calendar)
  • Basic time tracking
  • Email tasks to lists
  • Email from a task instead of or in addition to commenting
• Paid Plan Features (Starts at $5/user/month):
  • Advanced time tracking and reporting
  • Automations (limited to 1,000 actions on free, unlimited on paid)
  • Custom fields, goals, and portfolios
  • Gantt and timeline views
  • Unlimited storage and integrations

How ClickUp Works for Each Business:

• TikTok Treasures: For Ashley, ClickUp’s free version would be more than enough. She can use the different views to plan her TikTok content and track customer orders. The email-to-task feature would help her organize inquiries without needing paid features like automations. Plus she can easily forward emails to different task lists an have a spot to track everything else related to the regular running of her business.

• Elite Biz Solutions: ClickUp is ideal for David’s needs, offering the ability to delegate tasks to freelancers and track their time for billable hours. Team and guest users allows him to share content only with the people who nee access. He can also email directly from a task, allowing communications related to one task to all be collected in one spot. With the basic paid version, he can set up numerous automations and custom workflows to streamline client communications and project tracking. Plus, being able to organize everything into different workspaces, folders, lists, and views – all standard on the free plan – allows him to seamlessly plan his projects.

• HomePro Services: Sarah will benefit most from ClickUp’s advanced features. The ability to schedule employees, track team productivity, and use time tracking for payroll makes the paid plan a valuable investment for her growing business.

   

Trello: Simplicity in Task Management

Trello is a straightforward, visual task management tool based on Kanban boards. It’s perfect for those who want a simpler solution with very little learning curve but comes with fewer advanced features than ClickUp. One piece lacking on the free version is the different ways to organize projects unless you pay for additional integrations.

• Free Plan Features:
  • Unlimited cards and up to 10 boards
  • Basic task management
  • One Power-Up (integration) per board
  • 10MB file attachments
• Paid Plan Features (Starts at $5/user/month):
  • Unlimited boards and Power-Ups
  • Advanced checklists
  • Larger file attachments (250MB)
  • Priority support

How Trello Works for Each Business:

• TikTok Treasures: Trello’s visual simplicity is perfect for Ashley to organize her social media content and manage customer orders. There are many things that will still need to be done manually. The free plan could be enough for her current needs, but she might need paid Power-Ups as her business grows. I always recommend that entrepreneurs start with a platform that can fully grow with them as their business grows.

• Elite Biz Solutions: David may find Trello too basic, as it lacks built-in time tracking and robust automation features. He also likes to be able to easily take emails and drop them into the appropriate client task list, which is a feature that Trello can only do with some extensive workaround. He’d likely need external integrations, which would make the platform less efficient for his needs.

• HomePro Services: Trello is not suited for Sarah’s growing team. It lacks the complex task management and scheduling tools she needs for her business. She may be able to piece together multiple different platforms that can each do a small piece, but this is how things tend to fall through the cracks.

Asana: Intuitive Workflow for Task Management

Asana is known for its clean design and intuitive task management. Very similar in capabilities to Trello. It offers useful workflow automations but lacks advanced time tracking and custom reporting.

• Free Plan Features:
  • Unlimited tasks, projects, and messages
  • Multiple views (List, Calendar, Kanban)
  • Basic workflow automations
• Paid Plan Features (Starts at $10.99/user/month):
  • Advanced automations
  • Custom fields and reports
  • Gantt chart (Timeline view)
  • Priority support

How Asana Works for Each Business:

• TikTok Treasures: Asana could work well for Ashley to plan content and track sales. However, she likely won’t need the paid features. she may still have trouble with Asana growing with her business.

• Elite Biz Solutions: Asana’s easy-to-use interface is great for David to manage client tasks and delegate projects. But, he’ll need external tools for time tracking, making it less optimal than ClickUp.

• HomePro Services: Asana’s workflow features are useful for Sarah, but without advanced time tracking and scheduling features, it will fall short for her growing team.

Airtable: The Spreadsheet-Dashboard Hybrid

Airtable combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the power of a database. Quite a few people have started using it for project management even though it’s not really built for that purpose and can become square peg/round hole situation. It’s highly customizable but can be complex to set up to get the full use as a project management system.

• Free Plan Features:
  • Unlimited bases
  • Grid, Kanban, and gallery views
  • 2GB storage per base
  • Basic automations
• Paid Plan Features (Starts at $10/user/month):
  • Advanced views (Gantt, calendar)
  • More advanced automations and integrations
  • Increased storage (20GB per base)

How Airtable Works for Each Business:

• TikTok Treasures: Airtable’s data-tracking capabilities could help Ashley manage inventory, if she needs to do this, but its complexity might be unnecessary for her needs.

• Elite Biz Solutions: David could use Airtable to track client data and project management, but the setup might require more effort than it’s worth compared to simpler tools like ClickUp.

• HomePro Services: Airtable is a powerful option for Sarah to track employees, client appointments, and data. However, it requires customization to get the full use that she would need, which could be time-consuming.

When it comes to project management, ClickUp emerges as the most comprehensive tool, offering flexibility for both solo entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Trello is perfect for simple visual task management, while Asana shines with its easy-to-use workflow interface. Airtable offers powerful data management but may be too complex for small businesses that need quicker setup times.

Ultimately, the right tool depends on the complexity of your business and your future growth plans. If you’re looking to scale and manage a growing team, investing in a robust tool like ClickUp is well worth it.

How to Choose the Right Project Management Tool for Your Work Style

Use this chart to help you assess your work habits and business needs. 

For each question, select the answer that resonates most with your style. At the end, tally up your answers and refer to the results to determine which project management tool might be the best fit for you. 

Once you’ve completed the chart, go back and choose the answers that reflect your most critical needs.

Question	A (ClickUp)	B (Trello)	C (Asana)	D (Airtable)
1. How complex are the projects you manage?	Complex with multiple dependencies	Fairly simple tasks	Medium complexity	Complex, data-heavy projects
2. How many people do you collaborate with?	Teams with both internal and external	Just me or a small team	Medium-sized teams	Teams with freelancers and data roles
3. Do you require advanced reporting?	Yes, I need detailed reports	No, basic visual tracking is fine	I use reports occasionally	Yes, especially with custom data
4. Do you track time spent on tasks? Either for billing or internal information.	Yes, it’s crucial for billing or payroll	No, I don’t track time	I track time sometimes, manually	Not often, but may need it later
5. How important is automation in your workflow?	Very important, I rely on automations	Not important, I prefer manual updates	Somewhat important	Important for repetitive data tasks
6. How do you like to visualize your tasks?	Multiple views depending upon the type of project (List, Kanban, Gantt, Calendar)	Kanban only	Mostly list, sometimes Kanban	Flexible between grids and views
7. Do you need to integrate other software?	Yes, many tools (CRM, Google Drive, etc.)	A few tools	Occasionally	Yes, especially for data management
8. Do you work with clients who need to view project progress?	Yes, I need guest access with permissions	No, it’s just me or my team	Sometimes, but it’s rare	Yes, clients need to access data and progress
9. How important is task prioritization?	Very important, I handle many projects with deadlines	Moderately important	Somewhat important, I mostly focus on project flow	Very important for organizing data-based tasks
10. Do you need custom fields and dashboards?	Yes, I need to customize fields and views	No, I just need the basics	Occasionally	Yes, I need to manage complex data
11. What is your budget for project management tools?	I can invest in paid plans	I prefer free tools	I’m willing to pay for essential features	I will invest in tools that scale with me
12. How do you prefer to manage tasks?	Structured workflows with automation	Simple drag-and-drop tasks	Organized lists with some automation	Data-driven task tracking and custom workflows

Your Results

Now, tally your responses:

• Mostly A (ClickUp): If you selected mostly A, you likely manage complex projects with multiple team members or freelancers and need robust time tracking, automations, and reporting. ClickUp is the best fit, offering comprehensive features for businesses that need flexibility and scalability.

• Mostly B (Trello): If you selected mostly B, you prefer a simple, visual tool to manage tasks in a more informal or personal way. Trello offers a Kanban-style board that’s perfect for straightforward task management without the complexity of advanced tools.

• Mostly C (Asana): If you selected mostly C, you’re managing medium-complexity projects and need intuitive, organized task lists with occasional automation. Asana provides a great balance of usability and essential project management features for teams and solopreneurs.

• Mostly D (Airtable): If you selected mostly D, you’re working with data-heavy projects or need to track complex information in a flexible and customizable way. Airtable is ideal for those who need a spreadsheet-database hybrid to manage workflows and collaborate effectively.

Now Identify Your Most Critical Needs

Go back and note the answers that reflect your most critical needs. Consider the specific features that will help you most as you scale your business. Are automations, integrations, or time tracking crucial for you? Or is ease of use and a simple interface more important?

For me, unlimited automations are key, as is time tracking and permission-controlled guest access. I have a lot of projects that I rely upon automations to move the project forward, track time both for internal use (knowing how long different projects take) and sometimes for client billing, and have a combination of team members and guests who all need access to different views.  While all of the other features are also helpful, I know that for me any system must have these three basics.

By identifying your top priorities, you can make an informed decision about which project management tool will help you succeed as your business grows.

My Favorite Task Management Tips

Here are some tips for effectively using project management software, especially tailored for entrepreneurs: