When it comes to small business startup tools, there are more options than you can imagine. The vast majority of these tools, though, aren’t useful for startups. Here is a list of the simple startup tools necessary to get your business started.

You will find some of the most helpful tools for entrepreneurs 2020 in this article. Many of the essential startup tools listed below are free while some cost money, but all are worth using today!

Apploye – Time tracking and scheduling app

Overview

Apploye is a smart solution for time tracking, monitoring, and scheduling. It supports the startup mostly, but other medium and large organizations can equally use the software for better improvement. The software is very friendly and easy for the user with a sorted dashboard and features. 

Key Features

• Online time tracking, billable and non-billable hours tracking, manual time entry,
• Customizable timesheet, offline tracking, daily, weekly, monthly review,
• Keyboard and mouse movement tracking, screenshots, apps and URLs tracking, GPS location tracker,
• Attendance, scheduling, shifting duties, leave and vacation tracking,
• Productivity level monitoring, project, and task tracking,
• Comprehensive reports, payroll and invoices,
• Available in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android, Web. 

Pricing

• TimeTrack: $6 per user per month
• FieldTrack: $7 per user per month
• RemoteTrack: $8 per user per month

Fiskl – startup tools for finance management 

Overview 

Fiskl is a set of startup tools that lets you scan receipts, create and manage invoices, quotes and expense reports. Small or large businesses can automate and manage all expenses and billing activities they need. Keeping a close eye on all of your expenses will help you get a grip of what parts of your business should be improved, and how you should model your prices. 

Key features 

• Customized invoices
• Over 150 supported currencies with automated, live exchange rates
• Recurring invoices
• Invoices and estimates with status tracking
• Payment integrations 
• Send invoices via email, WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage
• Intelligent expense management
• Banking integration 
• Built-in, easy-to-use timer 

Pricing 

Free plan – free for one user

Create invoices for up to 7 clients, log up to 250 items, no recurring invoices, banking integrations, no white labeling possible. 

Solo plan – €10/m for one user

Unlimited invoices, log unlimited items, create recurring invoices, integrate with one bank account, remove Fiskl branding from your account. 

Pro – €15/m for two users

Unlimited invoices, log unlimited items, create recurring invoices, integrate with three bank accounts, etc.  

Prime – €25/m for five users

Unlimited invoices, log unlimited items, create recurring invoices, integrate with unlimited bank accounts, etc.

Google Docs

The day of using Microsoft Word are long gone. Using Google Docs for documents, spreadsheets and slides has been a game-changer for us. Work collaboratively on the same document without the need to send files, add comments and track versions. Yes it has less features than Word or Excel but that’s a good thing. Tip: Use Google Forms as a free alternative to Typeform to collect information from your customers and get a graphic report of the results.

/ FOR APPOINTMENTS

9. Calendly

We’ve experimented with various scheduling apps but have found that Calendly is the best (in our opinion). Avoid email ping pong to arrange meetings and send people your available times using your own calendly url. Block out certain days and times to ensure you only schedule calls when you want.

/ FOR MEETINGS & BROADCASTING

10. Zoom

We do a lot of video calls, webinars and podcasts and have found that Zoom is the best all-round tool. It’s more stable than the others, has great features to encourage interactivity and allows you to record sessions easily. Tip: Connect it to Facebook to broadcast as a Facebook live as well as on Zoom.

nTask for project management

nTask is a project management tool that will help you keep all your tasks in line. You can manage your tasks, track time you spend on each task, organize online meetings with your team – pretty much everything you need to manage your projects. 

nTask will save you time switching between several different tools and keep all your tasks in one place. And what’s most important – since you’re just starting out, nTask has a free basic version that will surely cover all your needs. 

Key features 

• Projects – track your project schedule 
• Tasks – create, assign, and track tasks 
• Meetings – organize and manage your meetings efficiently 
• Timesheet – make time tracking hassle-free 
• Issues – resolve issues quickly by defining issue severity, issue priority, and issue status
• Risks – identify and analyze potential risks your projects are subjected to 

Pricing 

Basic – Free forever

Offers 100MB storage, 5 members per team, unlimited workspaces and tasks, meetings, timesheets and issues. 

Premium – $3.99/month

Offers everything in Basic plan with additional 5 GB storage, projects, Gantt and kanban view, bulk actions and custom filters. 

Business – $11.99/month

Offers everything in Premium plan plus 10 GB storage, feature for saving custom filters, risk management, custom roles, and advanced reporting/integrations. 

Enterprise – Contact their team for pricing

Offers everything in Business plan, plus custom onboarding, dedicated account manager and dedicated cloud. 

ZOKRI – OKR and performance management

Overview

ZOKRI is goal setting software for companies that want to move away from goals created only by management and then stored in spreadsheets. The type of goals that aren’t looked at by the teams doing the work. These don’t work. High performing teams are trusted and empowered to discuss, propose and create Objectives and Key Results that align with company objectives, then deliver. This way of setting goals as evolved over 20 years and has been adopted by pretty much every start-up and fast-growing tech company. ZOKRI has a free plan for SMBs and small teams with paid plans starting from just $5.

Key Features

• Create a Mission, strategy and goals that align in one place
• Use OKRs to define ambitious stretch goals with measurable outcomes
• Track KPIs and set targets for business-as-usual metrics
• Get updates on progress, plans and problems weekly
• Alerts and notifications keep everyone on track and focused
• Free guides and video tutorials coach you on how to use OKRs

Pricing

Team – Free

1 team of up to 10 people. Includes: Strategic Objectives, OKR Management, Check-ins, Notifications & Alerts, Meeting Management, Knowledge Base, Email Support and SSO User Management.

Essentials – $5 per month / per user

OKR Software for unlimited teams. Includes: Strategic Objectives, OKR Management, Check-ins, Notifications & Alerts, Meeting Management, Knowledge Base, Email Support and SSO User Management.

Performance – $10 per month / per user

Performance Management Software for unlimited teams. Includes: All Essential Features, Personal OKRs, Personal Development Plans, Wellbeing Surveys, Custom Surveys, Manager Support, Culture & Values and HRIS Support.

Chanty – startup tool for instant communication 

Overview 

Chanty is a tool that helps you communicate with your coworkers in a quick and easy way. Yes, most of your business communication should go through emails, but for some parts of the business, it’s quicker to solve issues with your team on the spot. With Chanty you can easily share your ideas, issues and fixes via instant messaging, voice messages and improve overall communication by integrating it with other tools you use.

Image credit: Chanty

Key features 

• Unlimited message history, conversations and tasks
• Teambook hub with members, tasks, conversations and all the shared content
• Powerful conversation actions
• In-app media content player
• Instant search for messages, files and other content
• Seamless file sharing

Pricing 

Free Plan – for teams with up to 10 members

Offers 20 GB per team, unlimited public and private conversations, unlimited searchable history, unlimited one to one audio calls, unlimited voice messages, built-in task management, one guest user and up to 10 integrations.  

Business Plan – $3/user/month

Offers 20 GB per team member, unlimited public and private conversations, unlimited searchable history, unlimited one to one audio calls, unlimited voice messages, built-in task management, three guest users per member for free, unlimited group audio calls, unlimited one to one video calls, unlimited screen sharing and unlimited integrations. 

IdeaBuddy – a perfect tool for planning your startup

IdeaBuddy is an innovative business planning software that helps aspiring entrepreneurs and teams to develop their ideas, create a business model, validate a business concept, and get a modern business plan.

If you just came up with the idea for your business, with IdeaBuddy you can sketch it out in Idea Plan. 

You can develop your idea further with Business Guide, which will take you step-by-step through the entire business planning process and provide relevant examples along the way. Also, the Financial Plan will help you make your financial projections in a simple way (no hard maths needed). https://www.youtube.com/embed/yYiRFYKMzCE?feature=oembed

Key features 

• Business canvas – quickly sketch out your business idea 
• Step-by-step business planning guide – develop your business idea 
• Automatic financial projections – easily forecast for performance 
• Business plan builder – get a modern business plan 

Pricing 

Dreamer plan – $15 per month/$45 per year

This plan allows you to work on 1 idea (project). It includes a business canvas, a step-by-step business planning guide, and a financial plan, which you can export and share. 

Founder plan –  $25 per month/$85 per year

You are getting 3 ideas (projects). It has everything included in the Dreamer plan, plus you are getting a business plan builder.

Team plan – $45 per month/$165 per year

Up to 30 ideas (projects), and it has all the features included in the Founder plan, plus you are getting a business plan builder.

***Lifetime plan***

This is a time-limited offer and it includes a lifetime subscription to a Founder plan with 3 ideas for only $178.

Conclusion

A common question we get asked is: “What tools do I need for my startup?” That’s an important question to ask, and why this review was written. We were able to provide you with the best tools for your startup businesswe’re here to give you the answer. But first, let us explain why you should take our recommendations on these tools.