The Most Beloved Business Tools

Which business apps, software and Web services are most loved by small-business owners?

While it's easy to say anything created by Google(GOOG), Intuit(INTU), Apple(AAPL) and eBay's(EBAY) PayPal are some of the most used applications by start-ups and small businesses, there are a bunch of smaller names that are "beloved" by business owners.

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BestVendor has created a social directory of sorts to help small businesses make smarter buying decisions through peer recommendations.Roughly 3,000 start-up and small-business owners told BestVendor which "work apps" they use the most and if they would recommend them to others. Here is the cream of the crop. (The list includes only applications that were used at least 20 times.)

1. SpringMetrics is a real-time customer conversion tracking program for e-commerce businesses, offering Web-based performance reports, conversion trends and other analytics so businesses can grow revenue and customers. 2. Ubuntu One is a personal cloud storage and sharing tools for multimedia files. 3. Toodledo is a Web-based productivity tool that can offer project collaboration and management of a user's to-do list. 4. Trello offers users real-time project management collaboration for projects and tasks from multiple users into one tool. 5. Prezi is cloud-based presentation software that connects whiteboards and slides. The tool is for sharing ideas to create a more engaging presentation that can be co-developed by team members anywhere. To follow Laurie Kulikowski on Twitter, go to: http://twitter.com/#!/LKulikowskiTo submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.Follow TheStreet on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

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