Starting a new business can be a huge leap of faith… and sometimes a huge expense, as well. Between the costs of registering and licensing your business, working with an attorney and an accountant, creating some basic brand elements (like a logo), maybe buying yourself a new computer or work phone…. the expenses certainly can add up fast.
But, many don’t realize that you can run a small business online for little to no cash! That is, if you’re willing to put in the hard work and manage things yourself or in-house for awhile. As you’re starting your business and beginning to grow revenue, it’s important to keep overhead costs low and to efficiently manage cashflow. Ever heard the phrase “Keep it small, keep it all”? That’s what we’re talking about.
That’s why it can be helpful to build your initial tech stack of online tools using the many great free options that are out there and available to small business owners, at least until you’re business is driving enough revenue for you to upgrade to paid platforms.
So, we’ve put together this list of our 25 favorite free online tools for new business owners who are just starting out, in our opinion.
[P.S. You may notice that we’re big fans of Google and HubSpot… we love what these two all-stars have to offer!]
FOR COMMUNICATIONS:
– Gmail
– Slack
FOR CALENDAR:
FOR CONFERENCE CALLS:
– Zoom.us
FOR PROJECT & TASK MANAGEMENT:
– Asana
FOR WEBSITES & BLOGS:
– WordPress*
– Wix*
*While the WordPress and Wix website platforms are free, we do recommend purchasing a branded domain name for your business and connecting (or redirecting) your WordPress/Wix site to your domain, and this feature may be a paid upgrade.
FOR SALES:
FOR FILES & DOCUMENTS:
– Genius Scan (mobile app)
– Google Suite of Apps on the Google Cloud (Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Presentations, Google Forms, etc.)
– DropBox
FOR ACCOUNTING & EXPENSES:
*While QuickBooks Online isn’t actually free, it is pretty affordable and we do recommend it for anyone who plans on handling their own accounting.
FOR MARKETING:
FOR SOCIAL MEDIA (other than the social media channels themselves):
– Buffer
FOR DESIGN:
– Canva
FOR MARKET RESEARCH:
FOR REPORTING:
If you would like to learn more about any of these free online tools (especially the ones related to marketing and social media!), or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
These are just 25 of our favorite free online tools for small businesses. If you use and enjoy any other free tools for entrepreneurs and business owners, please tweet or contact us about the tool and why you like it!