Free small business tools are critical for small business owners. People starting small business need software that helps to organize their growing lists of contacts and customers. Although some sites offer free trials to their software, others offer full access completely free. Many help with ideas like how to pick a good name for your company. Others give you templates, which can be helpful when writing email or letters to clients or trying to produce brochures to attract new customers.
Business owners juggle multiple roles at any given moment. Whether it’s communication or time tracking or creating effective work schedules, filing reports, managing payroll, boosting engagement, or…well, the list could literally go on and on. But you get the point by now.
With advancements in automation with business tools, managers can keep their finger on the pulse with little manual upkeep so they can focus on the bigger picture of what really matters. Only a handful of business tools even offer the total all-in-one package.
Google Docs (& Friends)
You can’t write about free online services without mentioning Google, so we’re going to start with the Internet giant everyone knows. This is a great tool when you need to collaborate on files.
When it comes to sharing files and collaborating on documents, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are the way to go. The files are stored in your Google Drive and are a wonderful way to avoid those endless back-and-forth emails when collaborating on various documents.
Facebook Page.
With a Page, you can build lasting connections with customers on Facebook. Access key tools, share business info, photos and videos, and invite customers to contact you directly.
Instagram business account.
Connect with a vibrant community and meet people where they go to discover things they care about. Tell your business story visually and inspire customers to take action through posts and stories.
Share content and start conversations with posts.
Posts are a great way to give updates and stay top of mind, as they show appear on your Page or Instagram profile and can appear on your fans’ News Feed. Include images or videos so your posts will stand out and catch attention.
Google My Business
The world’s most used search engine offers businesses a free profile to help you connect with your customers. Use Google My Business to post hours, location, and pricing information, and share pictures and even a virtual tour—all of which will then show up for your audience in Google’s search results.
Bonus: Having a more complete Google My Business profile can also help your website’s overall SEO ranking.
Connecteam
When you have many deskless or remote employees, Connecteam is the best free small business tool for you. After all, it was specially designed and built to cater to these employees! Apart from being super easy to use, Connecteam enhances your daily business routine. How so? Connecteam is the leading business tool that makes it easy for managers to offer feedback, enhance engagement, track work hours easily to enhance timesheet management and payroll process, share intuitive schedules, remain transparent, and unite all workplace communication and collaboration – for free.
Foursquare for Business
Your customers may have already listed your business on FourSquare for Business and may already be talking about you online – luckily, you can get in on the conversation by claiming your business profile and interacting with your customers immediately. FourSquare for Business is a free and instant way to advertise to a wide audience and interact with your customers, as well as let your audience know your business’ most recent updates by managing your own listing on the app.
Enloop
Even with a sample plan in hand, starting with a blank word doc to write your business plan is horribly intimidating. Use Enloop to easily create a professional looking business plan complete with 3-year financial forecast reporting, and even get a free business plan score to help take your plan from good to great. Your first business plan is free, with affordable subscription rates for additional plans and added features.
Organizer by OtherInbox
Organizer does exactly what its name implies—organizes your inbox. Once it’s added to your email, it will automatically sort through the hundreds of promotional emails, receipts, and newsletters into the folders of your choosing. Designed to prioritize the most important emails and securely keep them at the top of your inbox, Organizer is the ultimate time saver for those whose inboxes are perpetually stuffed. Because those promotional emails and receipts may become “out of sight, out of mind” once they aren’t filling your inbox to the brim, Organizer also sends a “Daily Digest” email to keep you in the know of exactly what emails have been filed into which folders. That way you can keep an eye on what’s coming into your inbox without sacrificing the time to actually sift through each folder while focusing on the emails that are the most critical to you.
This easy-to-use project management and team collaboration software is a great option for small businesses. By replacing the multiple tools required for task management, collaboration, time tracking, communication, file sharing, and reporting with a single all-in-one software, and gives teams a central source of truth.
WordPress.org
We’re still pinching ourselves at the thought that the gold standard of blog management is absolutely free. Sign up for WordPress through you web hosting service to create and manage a beautiful blog for your business. And with thousands of third party add-ons to make managing your website even easier, the benefits of WordPress for digital marketing really never end.
Google Analytics
To know how well your marketing efforts are succeeding at converting leads, you first need to know how and from where your audience is accessing your website. Google offers amazing free analytics tools that help small business owners determine what is working in your marketing plan and gain insights about your web traffic.
Join.me by LogMeIn
Gone are the days of conference calls. Well, maybe not gone but definitely changed. Solutions like LogMeIn’s join.me conferencing tool lets you present to multiple employees or clients from the comfort of your home or office chair, saving you long trips.
Hubspot’s Marketing Grader
Do you wonder whether all of the time, energy, and money you invest into marketing your business online is even working? Use Hubspot’s free marketing grader tool to find out how well your blog, social media, and other digital efforts are generating leads, and see how you stack up to the competition.
Conclusion: Many small business owners have a difficult time finding free resources for their business. This is especially true when they want to manage their business. A good solution to manage a small business is with a computer software program, but most free software programs are too limited in what they offer for small businesses. Some don’t work as advertised, and others have crippled features. This post is here to help you understand more about this topic so you can decide if there is a decent software program out there for your small business.