For many businesses, a Web site is the first way that your clientele will look at you even if it’s just to find your address and phone number. As an entrepreneur, you’re constantly looking for tools to help give you that edge above the competition. Whether that be a tool to manage your workflow, to track your hours worked or even something as basic as a piece of software that helps you write finding the best ones can be difficult.
Many small business owners, especially those who own small businesses, often have no idea where to get the best business products they need. Here are the some of top terrific tools and apps for small businesses.
Productivity and Organization
Every entrepreneur knows that their time is valuable. Being able to crunch more tasks into any given day is something we all long for.
Here are some tools that will keep you more productive throughout your day.
- Evernote – Perfect software for anyone who needs to keep track of things in any medium.
- 1Password – The best way to create a strong, secure password for every website you visit.
- Dropbox – Cloud storage app for business. Great for all entrepreneurs.
- Toggl – Free time tracking tool that’s simple to use.
- Mod Notebooks – A paper notebook that syncs to the cloud.
Copywriting and Word Processing
Often an overlooked part of setting up a product or website, good copy and writing is essential to how customers feel about your product. Be sure to check out some of these tools to help with your writing process.
- Grammarly – Making you a better writer by finding 10x more grammar and spelling mistakes than a normal word editor.
- Hemingway Editor – A wonderful tool that makes your writing and spelling mistakes bold and clear.
- Draft – Write better. Genius for any business looking for more apps to help their workflow.
Outsourcing and Virtual Assistants
Sometimes it isn’t possible to work on everything at once and that’s where outsourcing and virtual assistants come in. They’ll help you complete tasks that you don’t have the time or the knowledge to do.
- Upwork – One of the best online solutions for hiring freelancers.
- Fiverr – Find anything you need, starting at just $5.
- Clarity – Schedule a call with experts in your market.
- Gigster – Hire a quality developer for your project in under five minutes.
Team Communication
With the ever expanding popularity of remote teams, team communication is more important than ever. Being able to reach someone quickly to notify them about anything is essential. These tools will make your team’s communication easier than ever.
- Slack – Be less busy by having everything in one place.
- GitHub – Build software better, together.
- Trello – Organize, plan, and schedule projects as a team.
- Flowdock – Groupchat for teams. Stay in touch and stay up to date with everyone.
Graphic Design and Branding
Every entrepreneur at some point needs help with their design and branding. Whether it’s for your personal brand, or a business you’re starting you’ll need tools that help with design. Be sure to play around with some of these tools to figure out which one works best for you.
- Sketch – An easy to use, beautiful program for designers.
- InVision – Free web and mobile prototyping for designers and developers.
- Crayon – Market design research for your next project.
- Photoshop – An absolute must for anyone who’s serious about design.
- Canva – Make awesome images without much design knowledge.
Fonts and Type
Comic-sans just doesn’t cut it anymore. Be sure to check out the resources below to find some fantastic fonts.
- Google Fonts – Hundreds of free fonts that you can use for your website.
- DaFont – A massive online resource of free and paid fonts you can use.
- Font Squirrel – Handpicked free fonts.
- Type Kit – Subscription based font service that brings thousands of fonts into one library.
- Abstract Fonts – Over 10,000 fonts for you to use.
Free Stock Images
Free stock images are perhaps the most valuable resource to any entrepreneur. Being able to cut costs while also getting stunning images is such a wonderful thing.
- Pixabay – Free stock images.
- Unsplash – Free (to do whatever you want) high resolution stock images.
- Superfamous – Nature and abstract stock photos.
Social Media Management and Automation
Social media management is an absolute essential part of any entrepreneurial endeavor. Being able to respond to messages quickly in a professional manner can be the difference between losing a sale, and gaining a customer.
- Buffer – Schedule and share social media content with just a few clicks.
- Hootsuite – The only social media dashboard you’ll ever need.
- Topsy – Monitor certain hashtags and accounts to stay up to date with current events.
- Crowdbooster – Measure and manage your social media marketing campaigns.
Email Marketing and List Building
Email has proven to be a tool so valuable with all of the noise across social media if you haven’t started building an email marketing campaign, now is the time.
- Mailchimp – Send better email.
- Customer.io – Send customized messages based on their interactions with your business.
- Really Good Emails – Take a look at some of the best email marketing from top businesses.
- Constant Contact – Grow your business with email marketing software.
- Exact Target – Build and manage marketing campaigns based on customer journeys.
Analytics and Website Data
Analytics for your business is extremely important. Being able to see how long someone visits a page for, where they drop off, and more can be a way for you to make important business decisions. Be sure to check out some of these tools and find which one works best for you.
- Google Analytics – The absolute gold standard for all website analytics software.
- CrazyEgg – Heatmap analytics to see where visitors are clicking.
- Piwik – Open-source analytics that gives you much more than just powerful analytics.
Financials and Invoicing
Sometimes as an entrepreneur you’ll need to invoice clients. That can be a bit of a headache if you don’t have the proper systems in place. And, when tax season comes around you had better have your financials in order. These tools will help with the financial headache.
- Freshbooks – Send invoices, track time, and capture expenses in minutes.
- Mint – Be good with your money with Mint money manager.
- Xero – Online accounting software for your small business.
- NutCache – Smart and simple project management for invoices and expenses.
- QuickBooks Online – Easily manage your business anywhere, anytime.
Customer Support and Email
Customer support is not the most exciting aspect of being an entrepreneur, but it’s certainly valuable. These tools will help you along the way, and make your life and workflow much easier.
- Zendesk – Software that makes your life easier when dealing with every aspect of customer support.
- Freshdesk – Offers a solution for customer support requests as well as online helpdesks.
- Uservoice – Product Management & Customer Support Software to help companies build better products and support their users.
- Clickdesk – Online live chat software that combines chat and support desks.
