When most startups start their journey, they don’t have the capital they can easily spend. It is very important for most entrepreneurs to keep their expenses to a minimum until they receive the first investment because at this point most of them cover the expenses from their own pockets. Here are free and effective resources these entrepreneurs can turn to that can help their startups grow. Here are 15 free tools every startup needs.
Slack
Which has been climbing the way to become a Unicorn, has become an indispensable part of every office in a short time. Now almost every company is turning to Slack when managing internal communications. According to data released in April 2019, Slack has an average of 10 million active members from 150 countries per day. More than 600,000 companies use Slack, but only 88,000 of them have paid memberships. Slack users report a 50% decrease in the number of emails, as well as a 24% decrease in meeting frequency and a 33% increase in company productivity. Since Slack can also integrate with Asana, it can also give warnings about what needs to be done on the calendar. In remote working systems, Slack is indispensable for many enterprises.
MailChimp
Email marketing is an increasingly important strategy for many companies. Mailchimp provides convenience to entrepreneurs thanks to the service it provides in this context. With Mailchimp, you can fill out registration forms, send campaigns and automatic e-mails. Although they don’t offer as many options as some email software providers offer, Mailchimp is a good option, especially for beginners. Entries can benefit from free up to 2000 submissions.
Canva
Graphics and visuals are of great importance for many enterprises. You can use Canva to showcase the right designs on websites, blogs, social media. You can access blog post graphics, social media templates, logo,s and more here. It is the choice of entrepreneurs who are not skilled or experienced in design with its easy use.
Buffer
Social media is a necessity for any business, but few people have the time to post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram throughout the day. Buffer allows you to write and schedule your posts in advance so you can keep growing your social media without spending a ton of time. Once your content is shared, Buffer will show you which posts perform best with your target audience. This helps you create more of the style content your followers will enjoy.
Google Analytics
One of the most important responsibilities that come with managing a website is being able to monitor and analyze your traffic; Google Analytics is one of the biggest names in website analytics. With Google Analytics, you can see where your traffic is coming from and which web pages your visitors spend most of their time on. You can also see at what point visitors leave your site; so you can easily see which aspects of your site you need to improve.
HubSpot
HubSpot is one of the few free CRM software solutions for businesses that covers sales, marketing, and service; It is considered an effective solution for beginners. A standout HubSpot feature is free to live chat software that helps sales reps manage leads throughout the entire process, helps marketers acquire leads, and assists customer service reps in resolving tickets faster.
Zoom
Another way to communicate with customers and clients is Zoom, which helps target younger generations who have grown up with (and prefer) video platforms. Of course, you can also use Skype, another free solution, but Skype is not designed to support businesses. You can host up to 100 participants, have unlimited one-on-one meetings, and hold unlimited non-video regular meetings, with Zoom, which stands out, especially in the pandemic period. The easier it is to hold these meetings, the easier it will be to focus only on the meeting and not on the technology.
Trello
Intra-company communication and task management and distribution in digital have become more important, especially during the pandemic period. With Trello, users can see what each team member is up to and assign tasks to each other. Team collaboration is crucial and it’s valuable that everyone sticks to the same business plan to avoid any miscommunication. Serving in this context, Trello provides support for managing teams.
LinkedIn is a goldmine, especially for startups. When used actively, it is a very convenient platform for networking and for finding angel investors.
PayPal
PayPal, an online payment system that works over the Internet, is on Forbes’ list.
Medium
Thanks to Medium, a micro-blogging platform where visual content comes to the fore, you can talk about your venture and attract more customers and investors without having to worry about design.
AngelList
You can find a startup job, post a job posting, contact investors, and track who invests in what on AngelList, which brings new ventures to early-stage investments.
Upwork
You can post a job posting on Upwork, the world’s largest freelancer platform, and develop your business without recruiting full-time employees and without paying a salary.
Calendly
With Calendly, which can work integrated with Wix and Google Calendar, you can organize your appointments, calls, and meetings with investors.
Asana
Asana is a professional application designed to help teams track work.
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