When you’re looking for business name ideas, business ideas, or business startup tips you should ask yourself “What tools do entrepreneurs use to create a new business?” You should ask this question because it will help you figure out how to develop your business. It will help clarify the type of business you want to start and how to market your products and services.
This year, many eager new entrepreneurs are ready to hit the ground running with their startups and hopefully experience a year less challenging than the previous one. When launching a new business, it’s important to consider what business tools and core essentials small businesses need in order to thrive in today’s “new normal.”
I help entrepreneurs incorporate and form limited liability companies, so I generally tend to share advice on legal must-haves for small businesses, like business formations, trademarks, and tax IDs. However, I’m not going to do that this time around.
Let’s assume you have obtained these items already. What other tools are necessary to help your small business actively grow and succeed?
One of the biggest challenges we face as entrepreneurs is staying on top of everything. You have to respond to emails, make sure your website works perfectly, organize projects, keep in touch with your network, and avoid getting distracted by social media, cat videos, and tools that only make you less productive.
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The Internet does not just enable procrastination. It also offers solutions to busy entrepreneurs: there is an abundance of tools and services that were created to help you organize your life and business, so you can focus on doing work that matters.
These resources were created by people who know what it’s like to have a to-do list that never seems to end. Many of them can be used for free, so there’s no reason not to give them a try.
Related: Top 10 Best Chatbot Platform Tools to Build Chatbots for Your Business
1. Trello
Trello is a free project management tool that helps you get organized. It shows a board on which you can create lists filled with cards. When you open a card, you can add comments, upload files, create checklists, and more.
It is super versatile, so it can be used for many different types of things: to organize a specific project, write an ebook, create an email course, etc. It really helps you to keep a bird’s-eye view on your projects.
2. Google Docs
Google Docs is an essential tool for working on a file with multiple people. Everyone can add or remove text, proofread content, and give comments for others to see. You can also see who else is working on the document and chat with them, so it’s a great tool for teams.
It’s also a big help for people who get confused when they have several versions of a work-in-progress.
Related: The 15 Most Popular Online Payment Solutions
3. Asana
Asana is the ultimate tool for managing your projects more effectively. It works with tasks, projects, conversations, and dashboards. Teamwork has never been easier. You can turn conversations into actionable tasks, provide comments on other people’s actions, and immediately see what progress has been made – all without having to schedule meetings.
4. Dropbox
Dropbox is great for storage and backups. It has a huge amount of awesome plugin apps to improve your experience. Moreover, it provides apps for every device, which means you can access your files from anywhere.
5. Slack
Slack is a beautiful chat app is an amazing communication tool for teams and mastermind groups. Its smooth design is by far the nicest you’ll come across. Even though it’s relatively new, it is already very popular.
You can create several channels to discuss different topics, or you can have a private conversation. Slack also allows you to share files and to easily find messages, notifications, and files in your archive. Everything is automatically synced on all your devices, and you can easily connect it to other apps, like WordPress or Skype.
Start sharing your ideas with peers and get inspired by their questions, suggestions, and expertise. We’re all in this together.
Related: 5 Ways to Get The Best From Your Remote Team
6. Momentum
Momentum is a homepage replacement app designed to inspire you and keep you focused throughout your work day. When you open your browser, Momentum greets you by name with an inspiring picture and quote.
I find Momentum immensely helpful when determining and completing my One Thing every day. Every morning, I tell it what my focus for the day will be. For the rest of the day, it reminds me of my commitment every time I open a new tab. This makes it much easier to stop wasting time on Facebook and the likes.
7. Spotify
Listening to music really helps me stay focused and productive. Obviously, this is different for everyone, but many people seem to function better with music in the background.
Spotify is a great place to find the right music for every moment. You can choose what you want to listen to, or you can let Spotify surprise you. Find out what type of music keeps you focused and alert. It’s great to help you through the early afternoon dip.
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One of the great tools in Google’s suite. It’s the free way to create PowerPoints and pitch decks, and to seamlessly collaborate on them with your team and consultants. Easy to create, update, and present as you go through your first funding rounds. Effortlessly integrates with Microsoft, and can be used to create videos of your presentations. For a winning deck, take a look at the pitch deck template created by Silicon Valley legend, Peter Thiel (see it here) that I recently covered.
Conclusions
If you wanted to start a business, what would you use to create it? Here’s a cheat sheet on the tools of the trade for creating a new business, from inception to IPO.