Many small business owners are seeking the best online small business tools because they do not have the funds to invest in expensive big business technology. For best results you should begin by asking for advice from other successful entrepreneurs, typically marketing or public relations consultants, who can help you choose what are the top online small business tools.
Running a small business can be an expensive endeavor. You might be one of those lucky entrepreneurs who can afford to take risks, but it’s more realistic to think you’re like most small business owners, meaning you carefully review all critical decisions your team wants to make. Choosing and using the best software for your business is no different.
WordPress
As per the official stats, WordPress is the foundation of 36% of the web. From building your website to blogging and sharing to selling your stuff, WordPress does a commendable job. You don’t have to grapple with coding, scripting, and any manual while using WordPress. Professional themes, stunning designs, and ease of use – this is undoubtedly one of the most impressive free business tools currently.
Perfect for:
All types of businesses; irrespective of their scales.
Unique Features:
- Thousands of plug-ins and add-ons with easy installation and easy customization.
- Real-time analytics and notifications to help you create an ultimate website.
ZipBooks
Do you have a hard time reconciling your financial records? You’re not alone. Many business owners and operators share this experience; dealing with large numbers can be hard. And that’s where business tools like ZipBooks come in. ZibBooks is a free accounting software that takes care of every number-related need in your business.
Reliable for fine-tuning checks and balances, its intelligence-driven software takes it up a notch by providing insights on performance to guide your interactions with customers.
What can this tool do for you?
Human errors are inevitable. Checks and balances are too delicate to be totally left in the hands of employees.
Businesses are unable to stand the test of time when tracking expenditures, revenue and profit becomes a problem. With ZipBooks’ automated bookkeeping, you can make sure that recurring expenses, accounts payable, and other financial transactions are recorded properly.
Zoho Docs
Zoho Docs is an ideal document management solution for small businesses with light document workloads. In addition to plug-ins to the rest of Zoho’s software ecosystem, the Zoho Docs free plan is available for up to 25 users and includes 5 GB of storage per user.
The free plan also includes unlimited file and folder sharing, desktop sync, editing tools, user management, and version history. You’ll also be able to integrate with Dropbox and turn on two-factor authentication (2FA) for added security. Plus, each document provides you with in-app chat so you can collaborate in real time.
G-Suite
Google must be doing something right to be a leading name in technology. The famous G-Suite consists of business tools that are essential for growth, in areas such as communication, management, cloud storage, and control.
What can this tool do for you?
Emails are still very important when it comes to professional business communications. Even if you don’t have a Gmail account, you probably know people who do – and many of your customers, too.
G-Suite takes it beyond regular email service provider by giving businesses the opportunity to have a business identity. It also boasts several features that facilitate business functions in the areas of documentation, survey, presentations, mobility, and more.
Basecamp
You would not be mistaken if you referred to Basecamp as an online “organizer” as it basically helps you put your office in order. Basecamp creates an opportunity for team members to work closely, executing both individual and group tasks without unnecessary hassles. It is indeed a vital tool as research shows that being organized at workplace increases productivity.
What can this tool do for you?
Effective communication enhances performance. When you inform team members about what they are expected to do and provide all the resources needed, they are most likely to deliver great results. Basecamp builds strong communication ties between team members by facilitating instant communication.
Big on delegation, it allows you to assign tasks to the most suitable team members based on their expertise. Employees are motivated to excel in their areas of specialization. Other team members are not left in the dark about the progress of projects as they are kept in the loop, and can follow the conversations – this creates room for learning, and promotes team spirit.
Canva
Canva is an excellent source of professional-grade graphics and comes with hoards of pre-formatted templates to create flyers, social media or promotional banners, blog graphics, and practically anything to everything.
It effectively compensates for the lack of professional designers and expertise in creating eye-catching visuals for all your needs.
Perfect for:
Businesses of all kinds and all scales that require graphics.
Unique Features:
- Hoards of stock images, illustrations, font libraries, and custom templates
- Drag & drop editor, photo editor, and branded templates
- Customizable branding and design resizing
Acquire.io
Acquire is an omnichannel customer engagement platform that helps you enhance customer experience. Through the platform, your customer-facing teams can handle a higher volume of requests and customer queries, as well as have better sales conversations, quicker and more effectively.
What can this tool do for you?
Talking to customers about the right product or service at the right time is key for online business growth. For example, Acquire’s conversational sales chatbot helps your team by drawing website visitors in and gathering information. This helps you to save time and resources and eventually have more targeted and relevant sales conversations.
Also, Acquire can boost customer support and make sure your customers stay with you. With pro-engagement features like cobrowse and live chat, your customer support team is better positioned to resolve customer requests. Acquire’s tools for building knowledge base and support chatbots are also an asset to your customer support operations.
Shopify
Having given wheels to more than 1 million businesses across the globe, Shopify is an all-in-one online platform that offers the best tools for businesses of all kinds and all scales.
It offers an incredibly efficient and robust platform to start, run, and grow your business ventures.
Perfect for:
Businesses of all types and scales.
Unique Features:
- All free business tools available under one roof
- Shopify experts for mentoring
- A suite of tools ranging from security to ecommerce and marketing to analytics
Teamwork
Teamwork is a work management tool that provides all of the essential features you need to run an online business. Originally created as a project management tool, Teamwork is now a full suite of Work Management tools that vastly improve collaboration, helping ensure all tasks are completed in a timely manner and allowing full visibility over all processes for the entire team.
What can this tool do for you?
Simply put, Teamwork helps you get stuff done. The entire team has full visibility over all tasks ensuring full accountability and transparency. Features of Teamwork include Board View, Project tracking, Internal chat, CRM, Document management, Integrations with many other products. You can create task lists for everyone involved in the process, ensuring everyone knows what they need to do and when they need to do it.
Want to create your own business website, build a social network, promote your business on Twitter and Facebook, manage your e-mail and stay organized? These are some of the tools that will help an online business get organized–from market research, to managing finances, to generating leads, and so on. There are also some additional great resources for getting an online business off the ground.