Small business tools or software help small businesses manage and grow their operations. These tools can assist with project management, marketing and sales, financial management, communication and collaboration, customer relationship management, human resources management, and e-commerce.
Small business tools can streamline and automate various business processes, helping businesses save time and increase efficiency. Some free business tools are specialized for a particular industry or type of business, while others are more general-purpose and can be used by companies in various industries.
Some of the best business tools offer a forever free plan, allowing users to use the tool at no cost indefinitely. Some tools can be paid versions or subscribed to monthly or annual, and some are offered as a free version or free plan.
Why do we need the best small business tools for business?
There are numerous reasons why small business needs online business tools. Some of the main benefits of using the best small business tools include the following:
Improved efficiency:
Small business tools can help streamline processes, automate tasks, and reduce the amount of time and effort required to manage various aspects of the business. This can help small businesses operate more efficiently and focus on their core competencies.
Greater organization:
Small business tools can help businesses stay organized and keep track of their work, including tasks, deadlines, and schedules. This can help businesses manage their time and resources better and avoid missing deadlines or falling behind on essential tasks.
Enhanced communication and collaboration:
Small business tools can help businesses communicate and collaborate more effectively with their team, clients, and other stakeholders. This can assist in improving productivity and ensure that everyone is on the same page.
Increased productivity:
Small business tools can help businesses get more done in less time by streamlining processes and improving communication and collaboration. This can lead to improved productivity and, ultimately, more promising results.
Better decision-making:
Small business tools can provide businesses with access to data and analytics that can help them make better-informed decisions. This can help businesses make more informed choices about how to grow and improve their operations.
Improved customer service:
Small business tools can help businesses manage and track their customer interactions, helping them provide better service and build stronger relationships with their clients.
Overall, free business tools can help a business grow its operations by providing them with the resources they need to manage various aspects of its business.
What are common small business management tools?
Many new business tools are available to help businesses manage and grow their operations. Some common types of tools include:
Project management tools:
These help businesses plan, organize, and track their work, often in the form of tasks, deadlines, and schedules. Examples include Trello, Asana, and Basecamp.
Marketing and sales tools:
These help businesses reach new customers, generate leads, and close sales. Examples include social media management tools like Hootsuite and Mailchimp.
Financial tools:
These help businesses manage their finances, including invoicing, billing, and bookkeeping. Examples include QuickBooks and Xero.
Communication and collaboration tools:
These help businesses communicate and work with their team, clients, and other stakeholders. Examples include Slack and Zoom.
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools:
These help businesses track and manage interactions with their customers and prospects. Examples include Salesforce and HubSpot.
Human resources (HR) tools:
These help businesses manage their employees, including payroll, benefits, and employee onboarding. Examples include Gusto and BambooHR.
E-commerce tools:
These help businesses set up and manage an online store, including creating product listings, processing orders, and handling shipping and returns.
Top 19 best tools for small business owners
Here are the best tools for small business owners that they must have in 2023:
HubSpot CRM is the best small business software tool to help small businesses manage and grow customer relationships. It is a cloud-based platform that offers a variety of features to help businesses organize, track, and communicate with their customers.
Some of the main features of HubSpot CRM marketing tools include:
- Contact and company management: Organize and manage your customer data and prospect information in one place.
- Lead capture and tracking: Easily capture and track leads from various sources, including your website, email, and social media.
- Email and marketing automation: Create personalized email campaigns and track their effectiveness.
- Sales and customer service: Collaborate with your sales and customer service teams to manage customer interactions and support.
- Mobile app: Access your CRM data on the go with the HubSpot CRM mobile devices app.
Google Docs is a valuable tool for business in a variety of ways. Some ways a small business might use Docs include:
- Collaborating on documents: It allows multiple people to work on the same document simultaneously, making it a useful tool for team projects.
- Creating and editing documents: With Google Docs, you can create and edit various document types, including letters, resumes, reports, and more.
- Storing documents in the cloud: It stores documents in the cloud, so you can access them from any device with an internet connection. This makes it easy to share documents with others and collaborate on the go.
- Creating and sharing documents with clients: It allows you to share documents with clients and collaborate in real-time, making it a helpful tool for working with clients remotely.
- Integrating with other Google tools: It can be integrated with other Google tools, such as Gmail and Google Calendar, making it a convenient tool for managing your business.
Google Analytics is a web-based service offered by Google that helps businesses track and analyze website traffic. It is one of the most powerful tools for small businesses with valuable insights into how their website is performing, including information on who is visiting the site, where they are coming from, and what they are doing while on the site.
Some of how small businesses might use Google Analytics include:
- Tracking website traffic: It provides detailed information on the number of visitors to your website, including where they are coming from and what pages they are visiting.
- Identifying trends: It can help you identify trends in your website traffic, such as which pages are most popular or which marketing research campaigns drive the most traffic.
- Understanding customer behavior: It provides information on how visitors interact with your website builder, including how long they spend on each page and what actions they take.
- Setting goals and measuring performance: It allows you to set specific goals for your website, such as increasing the number of sales or sign-ups and tracking your progress towards achieving those business goals.
Slack is a collaboration platform that is used by many small businesses to communicate and work together more effectively. It is a cloud-based tool that allows team members to communicate in real-time through channels and direct messages, share files, and integrate with other tools and services.
Some of how small businesses might use Slack include:
- Internal communication: Slack allows team members to communicate with each other in real time, eliminating the need for long email chains or in-person meetings.
- File sharing: Slack allows team members to easily share files, including documents, images, and videos.
- Integrations: Slack can be integrated with a wide range of other tools and services, such as Trello and Asana, making it a convenient tool for managing different aspects of your business.
- Collaboration: Slack allows team members to work on projects in real-time, making it a great tool for collaboration.
Calendly is a scheduling and appointment scheduling tool that can be used by small businesses to streamline their scheduling processes and save time.
With Calendly, businesses can create and share customizable scheduling links, allowing clients or customers to self-schedule appointments or meetings at a time that works for them. This can be especially useful for businesses that offer services or consultations that require advanced scheduling, such as consulting, coaching, or personal training.
Some benefits of using Calendly as a small business tool include the following:
- Efficient scheduling: Calendly helps businesses save time by automating the scheduling process and reducing the need for back-and-forth communication with clients or customers.
- Customization: Calendly allows businesses to customize their scheduling links with specific dates, times, and duration options, as well as set rules for booking (e.g., minimum advance notice and the maximum number of appointments per day).
- Integration with other tools: Calendly integrates with various productivity and communication tools, such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and Zoom, making it easy to manage appointments and meetings.
- User-friendly interface: Calendly has a user-friendly interface that is easy to use and navigate, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Asana is a project management and team collaboration tool that helps businesses and organizations track and organize their work, communicate with team members, and stay on top of tasks and deadlines. It offers all the features that are designed to help teams stay organized and productive, including the ability to:
- Create and assign tasks: Asana allows users to create and appoint tasks to team members, set deadlines, and add attachments and notes to provide more context.
- Communicate with team members: Asana includes a built-in messaging feature that allows team members to communicate and collaborate in real time.
- Track progress: Asana provides tools to help teams track the progress of their work, including Gantt charts and calendar views.
- Integrate with other tools: Asana integrates with a range of popular tools, such as Dropbox, and Slack, which makes it easy to access and share files and information with team members.
Canva
Canva is a graphic design tool used by small businesses to create professional-looking marketing materials, such as social network posts, brochures, business cards, and more. It offers a wide range of customizable templates and a mobile-friendly interface that makes it easy for users to create designs even if they have little to no design experience.
Here are some key features of Canva that make it a useful tool for businesses:
- Wide range of customizable templates: Canva offers a wide range of templates for various marketing materials, including social media posts, business cards, brochures, and more. These templates are easy to customize with your own branding and content.
- User-friendly interface: Canva has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to create designs even if they have little to no design experience.
- Collaboration tools: Canva has free tools for collaborating with team members on design projects, such as leaving comments and feedback on designs and sharing designs with others for review.
- Asset management: Canva has features for organizing and managing your design assets, such as the ability to create folders and collections to keep your designs organized.
- Performance analysis: Canva has the best free tools for analyzing the performance of your designs, including metrics on the number of views and engagement with your designs. This can be useful for understanding how well your marketing materials resonate with your audience.
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that small businesses can use as a platform for building and managing a website. It offers a wide range of features and plugins that make it easy for a small business owner to create and maintain a professional-looking website without needing technical expertise.
Here are some key features of WordPress that make it a useful free tool for small businesses:
- Customization options: WordPress offers a wide range of customizable themes and plugins that allow you to customize the look and functionality of your website.
- Ease of use: WordPress has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for businesses to create and manage website content without needing technical expertise.
- SEO-friendly: WordPress is optimized for search engine optimization (SEO), which can help your website rank higher in search engine results and attract more visitors.
- Mobile-responsive: WordPress websites are mobile-responsive, meaning they will automatically adjust to display correctly on mobile devices of different sizes.
- Security: WordPress is regularly updated to ensure the security of your website, making it a safe and reliable platform for small businesses.
- Community support: WordPress has a large and active community of users and developers, which means there is a wealth of resources and support available for businesses using the platform.
Video conferencing
Video conferencing is a tool that allows small businesses to hold meetings and communicate with team members, clients, and partners remotely. It is especially useful in the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic when many businesses are operating remotely or have a hybrid model of remote teams and in-person work.
Here are some key features of video conferencing that make it a useful tool for small businesses:
- Real-time communication: Video conferencing allows team members, clients, and partners to communicate in real-time, regardless of their location.
- Collaboration tools: Many conferencing platforms offer tools for collaborating on projects, such as screen sharing, whiteboarding, and file sharing.
- Cost-effective: Video conferencing can save small businesses money by eliminating the need for travel and reducing the need for in-person meetings.
- Easy to use: Many video conferencing platforms are easy to use and require little to no technical expertise.
- Secure: Most conferencing platforms offer secure connections and encryption to protect the privacy of your meetings.
Mailchimp is one of the best free online tools. It is an email marketing platform that can be used by small businesses to create and send newsletters, promotional emails, and other types of marketing emails. You can sign up for a free account and get a range of features and integrations that make it useful for businesses looking to improve their email marketing tools effort.
Here are some key features of Mailchimp that make it a useful tool for businesses:
- Email templates: Mailchimp offers a range of customizable email templates that make it easy for small businesses to create professional-looking emails without the need for design expertise.
- Segmentation and targeting: Mailchimp allows businesses to segment their email lists and target specific groups of recipients with specific types of emails, which can improve the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.
- Analytics and reporting: Mailchimp provides detailed analytics and reporting on the performance of your email campaigns, including metrics such as open rates and click-through rates.
- Integrations: Mailchimp integrates with a range of tools, such as e-commerce platforms, CRM software systems, and social network platforms, making it easy to use in a wider marketing workflow.
- Automation: Mailchimp offers automation tools that allow businesses to set up trigger-based emails, such as abandoned cart emails or welcome emails, which can help improve the efficiency of their email marketing efforts.
TurboTax is a tax preparation small business accounting software that can be used by small businesses to file their taxes and manage their finances. It offers a range of features and tools that make it a useful tool for businesses looking to streamline their tax preparation and financial inventory management processes.
Here are some key features of TurboTax accounting software that make it a useful tool for businesses:
- Tax preparation: TurboTax guides small businesses through the process of preparing and filing their taxes, including the calculation of tax deductions and credits.
- Financial management: TurboTax offers tools for tracking and managing small business finances, such as tracking expenses and income, generating financial reports, and creating budgets.
- Accuracy: TurboTax uses advanced algorithms and double-checks to ensure the accuracy of tax returns and financial calculations.
- User-friendly interface: TurboTax accounting software has a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for businesses to use even if they have little to no accounting experience.
- Expert help: TurboTax offered expert help and support for small businesses, including access to certified public accountants (CPAs) and enrolled agents (EAs) who can provide guidance and assistance with tax preparation and financial management.
Hootsuite is a social media management tool that helps small businesses and organizations manage their social network presence across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. With Hootsuite, you can schedule and publish content, engage with your followers, and analyze your social network performance all in one place.
Some key features of Hootsuite that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- Social media scheduling: You can schedule your social network posts in advance, which can be a helpful tool if you have a limited amount of time to devote to social media management.
- Social media analytics: Hootsuite provides detailed analytics and custom reports that can help you understand the performance of your social network campaigns and identify areas for improvement.
- Team collaboration: If you have a team working on your social network efforts, Hootsuite allows you to designate tasks and collaborate with team members in real time.
- Social media listening: Hootsuite has a feature called Hootsuite Insights that allows you to monitor and track mentions of your brand or keywords across social network platforms.
Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to create and display ads on Google search results pages and other websites that are part of the Google Ads network. AdWords can be one of the useful tools for small businesses looking to reach a wider audience and drive traffic to their website.
Some key features that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- Targeted advertising: You can target your ads to specific demographics, locations, and interests, which can help you reach the people most likely to be interested in your products or services.
- Measurable results: AdWords provides detailed analytics and reports that allow you to track the performance of your ads and see how they're contributing to your business planning and goals.
- Flexibility: AdWords allows you to set your own budget and bid for ad placements, so you have control over how much you spend on advertising.
- Integration with other Google products: AdWords integrates with other Google products, such as Google My Business, which can be helpful if you're already using these tools to manage your online presence.
Moz is a software company that offers a range of tools and services for businesses and individuals looking to improve their online presence and search engine optimization (SEO).
Some of the products and services offered by Moz that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- Moz Local: This tool helps businesses manage their online presence and listings across a variety of local directories, search engines, and multiple social networks platform.
- Moz Pro: This suite of SEO tools helps businesses track and improve their website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). It includes features such as keyword research, link building, and website analytics.
- Moz Academy: This is an online learning platform that offers professional courses online, webinars, and other resources on topics such as SEO, content marketing, and social media marketing.
BuzzStream is a digital marketing business software that helps businesses and individuals manage and optimize their outreach and link-building efforts. Some key features of BuzzStream that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- Contact management: BuzzStream allows you to store and organize contact information for the people and organizations you're reaching out to.
- Outreach tracking: You can use BuzzStream to keep track of your outreach efforts, including emails, social network interactions, and phone calls.
- Link building: BuzzStream has tools that can help you identify and track potential link-building opportunities, as well as manage your outreach to secure those links.
- Collaboration: BuzzStream allows you to share and collaborate with team members on your outreach and link-building efforts.
Evernote is a note-taking and organization productivity app that can be useful for small businesses looking to improve their productivity and organization. Some key features of Evernote that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- Note-taking: Evernote allows you to take notes in a variety of formats, including text, audio, and images. You can also organize your notes into notebooks and tags to keep them organized.
- Task management: Evernote has a task management feature that allows you to create to-do lists and assign tasks to team members.
- Collaboration: Evernote allows you to share notes and notebooks with team members, making it easier to collaborate on projects and ideas.
- Integration with other mobile apps: Evernote integrates with a variety of other apps and services, such as Trello and Outlook, which can be helpful tools if you're already using these tools to manage your business.
Google Drive is a cloud storage and file management platform that can be useful for small businesses looking to improve their collaboration and file organization. Some key features of Google Drive that may be particularly useful for businesses include:
- File storage: Google Drive allows you to store and access your files from anywhere, as long as you have an internet connection. This can be helpful if you have a distributed team or if you need to access your files from multiple devices.
- Collaboration: Google Drive has built-in collaborative tools, such as Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which allow multiple users to edit and work on the same documents in real-time.
- File sharing: Google Drive allows you to easily share files and folders with team members or clients. You can set permissions to control who has access to your files and how they can use them.
- Integration with other Google products: Google Drive integrates with other Google products, such as Gmail and Google Calendar, which can be helpful if you're already using these tools to manage your business.
Udemy
Udemy is an online learning platform that offers a wide range of courses on various topics, including business, marketing, and technology. Some ways in which Udemy may be useful for small businesses include:
- Professional development: Udemy offers courses on various business and leadership topics, such as project management, communication skills, and time management. These courses allow most small business owners and employees to develop new skills and improve their performance.
- Marketing and sales training: Udemy offers courses on social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and customer service. These courses can help businesses learn how to effectively promote their products and services and improve their customer relationships.
- Technology training: Udemy offers web development, data analysis, and computer programming courses. By taking these courses, businesses can improve their technical skills and better understand the technologies relevant to their industry.
Payroll
Payroll software is a tool that helps small businesses manage the process of paying their employees, including calculating and distributing paychecks, withholding and paying taxes, and tracking employee hours and attendance. Many payroll software options are available for small businesses, each with its features and pricing.
Some key features to look for in payroll software for small businesses include:
- Automatic calculation of paychecks: Software can calculate paychecks based on employee hours worked, pay rates, and other factors, taking the manual work out of this process.
- Tax compliance: Software can help small businesses ensure that they are withholding and paying the correct amount of taxes on behalf of their employees.
- Time tracking: Many software options include features for tracking employee hours and attendance, which can be helpful for small businesses that need to track employee time for payroll purposes accurately.
- Employee self-service: Some software allows employees to view and manage their payroll and benefits information, saving small businesses time and resources.
It's important to carefully evaluate different software options to find one that meets the needs of your small business and fits within your budget.
Conclusion
Small business tools can be beneficial for small business owners in managing and running their businesses effectively. These free business tools can assist with project management, accounting and finance, marketing and sales, and CRM, among other tasks.
It is essential for successful entrepreneurs to carefully consider their business needs and goals when choosing their favorite small business tools and to carefully evaluate the available options to find the one that best fits their business. Business owners can save time, improve efficiency, and better serve their customers and clients by using the right free business tool.
