We need tools to start our business. But the number of tools is so huge today, it would be hard to choose. Today, I have tried one of the most useful startups on the market for you. These are not just fashionable startups or flash in the pans. These are tools that will help you efficiently do your work every day! So let’s get started!
Tools a Startup Need
Project Management
- Trello
With remote working becoming more prominent, it is vital to ensure that you and your team are working on maintaining task clarity and focus. Trello is a useful tool when it comes to project management. In a single dashboard, you can get a complete overview of what your team is working on. You and your team can simply add in new tasks and also highlight to the team on what is completed. You can also include file attachment to share your finished work to your team quickly. The interface is straightforward and easy to use. You and your team can pick it up in no time!
Some of their best features:
- Apps integration
- Easy and straightforward dashboard
- Customizable
- Always in sync with your mobile and desktop
Pricing:
- Basic Plan – Free
- Business Plan – $9.99 per user/month
- Enterprise Plane – $20.83 per user/month
Find out more about Trello: https://trello.com/home
2. Asana
Another great project management tool – Asana. While Trello is a great and straightforward tool to get a good overview of what you and your teams are working on, respectively, Asana focuses on incorporating more features on team project-collaboration. It allows you to plan the project agenda together as a team and assigned roles. Create project timelines and to-dos list to stay ahead of schedule and get things done more efficiently as a team.
Some of their best features:
- Customizable work templates
- Chat
- App integration
- Portfolios
Pricing:
- Basic – Free
- Premium – $10.99 per user/month
- Business – $24.99 per user/month
Find out about Asana: https://asana.com/
Communication
3. Slack
As the saying goes, communication is key. It is important to establish a good communication platform, especially when everyone is working from home. Having a transparent communication system ensures that everyone is in the loop and figure out what their main priorities are and, most importantly, to clarify doubts and gain clarification whenever possible. This is where Slack comes in. Slack is an online communication tool that is designed for collaboration in mind. It allows you to instantly communicate with your teammates and create channels according to the projects you are working on to drive productivity. Not to mention, Slack interface is user-friendly as well!
Some of their best features:
- Channels
- Searchable history
- App integration
- High data security
Pricing:
- Small Team – Free
- Standard Plan – $6.67 per user/month (suitable for startup!)
- Plus Plan – $12.50 per user/month
Find out more about Slack: www.slack.com
4. Zoom
Holding virtual meetings would be the new norm. I believe even when COVID-19 goes away, we cannot deny the rise of the gig economy. There will be more freelancers out there, and businesses would have to carry out virtual meetings more frequently than ever. Zoom is a great tool when it comes to virtual meetings. Simply schedule a meeting via zoom, the meeting URL will be generated, and you can just send the URL to the person that you are going to have meetings with, and you are done!
Some of their best features:
- Built-in collaboration tool (e.g., screen sharing)
- Streamlined calendaring
- Meeting recording and transcripts
Pricing:
- Basic Plan – Free
- Pro Plan – $14.99 per user/month
- Business or Enterprise Plan – $19.99 per user/month
Find out more about Zoom: https://zoom.us/
Meeting calendars & scheduling
5. Calendly
With more virtual meetings, you might face challenges in keeping tabs on all your upcoming meetings, and this is where Calendly can help! In a way, Calendly works like your virtual PA. You can share your calendar URL with anyone you are meeting with and allow the person to fix a time with you in your calendar. Calendly will help you to keep track and avoid conflicting meetings and send you email reminders at your next meeting. Calendly is a great tool to help you stay organized!
Some of their best features:
- Calendar Integration
- Time zone intelligence
- Real-time notifications
Pricing:
- Basic – Free
- Premium – $8 per user/month
- Pro – $12 per user/month
Find out more about Calendly: https://calendly.com/
File Storage
6. Google Drive
Google Drive might be a familiar application for everyone. As long as you own a personal Google account, you will be introduced to a trove of useful applications such as Gmail, Hangout, Google Docs, and of course, Google Drive for free. Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization platform that allows you to upload all relevant documents and synchronize files across all devices. In drive, you can store, share, and collaborate your files with your team. Accessing files and download necessary work materials has never been this straightforward!
Some of their best features:
- Always in sync with your mobile and desktop
- Cloud-native collaboration apps (Google Docs, Sheets, Slides)
- Search technology
Pricing:
- Personal – Free
- G Suite Basic – $6 per user/month
- G Suite Business – $12 per user/month
- G Suite Enterprise – $25 per user/month
Find out more about Google Drive: https://www.google.com/drive/
Creatives
7. Canva
Canva is a digital graphic designing platform and is also my personal favorite. The main reason is that it allows people with no designing background to easily create and design marketing collaterals or any graphics like a pro. Its interfaces are user-friendly and well-organized. They have tons of design templates in different sizing to meet your startup needs. I guess there are no more excuses for not working on pleasing aesthetic collaterals without having a designer in your team.
Some of their best features:
- Tons of templates
- Millions of stock photos
- Enable team collaboration
Pricing:
- Canva Basic – Free
- Canva Pro – $9.87 per user/month
- Canva Enterprise – $28.23 per user/month
Find out more about Canva: https://www.canva.com/
Cuttles
Cuttles is a startup planning tool that you can use to level up your own and your team’s productivity in those critical early stages of your startup journey. Expect for doing your business plan, you can create budgets, do your pitch and build a roadmap so you always have a clear overview of the milestones ahead.
Squad Help
Squad Help assists you in finding an ideal name for your business. However, they do not limit their services to just business names. Instead, it also assists in finding the perfect name for your app, book, product or service, etc.
You can start a naming competition and engage thousands of experts as you’re guided through their agency-level naming process. You can also explore their hand-picked compilation of premium names that are available for immediate purchase.
Pricing: For as low as $199 per contest.
Conclusions
Starting a business is as much as about what to learn as about making mistakes. And it is those mistakes that turn into learning opportunities. The good news is that there are also tools you can use to avoid these pitfalls and streamline your startup process.