10 Tools to Launch Your Startup Cost-Effectively

There have never been so many opportunities for entrepreneurship as there are now. While today’s global community is having its finger on the pulse of innovations, startuppers are able to avail of a myriad of tools for building their business. Unfortunately, in many cases, they face a vicious circle: in order to complete startup launch they need to raise money, but in order they can raise money their startup has to become profitable.

A dead-end? No, indeed. Necessity is the mother of invention, and who else but ardent startuppers knows that. Today they can find many big and small freebies to build their product brick by brick. We will now talk about the most prominent tools that will help to launch a successful startup without heavy spending.

1) LaunchRock — for validating your idea and acquiring customers.

LaunchRock is a site builder that was designed to help entrepreneurs acquire customers as soon as it is possible. With it, you can create pre-launch pages and other kinds of landing pages. It is totally charge-free and has no limitations or premium plans. It offers tools for receiving responsive web pages, as well as some commitment tools like signup capture and pre-market e-commerce. Also, LaunchRock offers some promotional and analytical tools to startup owners to gain more conversions and assess their success.

2) Google AdWords — for running an ad campaign

This is the colossus in the advertising service that offers wide possibilities for promoting websites. It offers two approaches, namely, cost-per-click and cost-per-acquisition principles. Although AdWords is not a free tool, it is not difficult to find some free advertising coupons on the Internet and put them to good use. Just google it.

3) Wrike — for project management

Wrike is a project management software that is ideal for small teams that use it for managing and assigning tasks, collaborating on them, sharing files etc. A free subscription provides you a plan for up to five users, basic integrations with Google Disc, Dropbox, MSFT Office 365 and other tools and 2GB of a storage space. If you need advanced options, you can purchase subscriptions starting from $9.80 per user per month.

4) GoDaddy — for buying a domain name

One of the market’s leading domain registrar offers you a bunch of TLDs (.com, .net etc.) at moderate prices, with which you will find a residence for your unique brand name. The company also runs specials from time to time, so you can receive a domain without spending a single dollar. Business’ growth is living up to its name, so be smart when choosing a domain.

5) Bluehost — for hosting your product

Apart from buying a domain, you need to have it hosted on the servers in order to have your website up and running. Bluehost is not free, but it is probably the best if we consider the mix of the high quality and affordable price. It is the top choice for many startuppers, which is explained by the company’s excellent service and support, regular sales and freebies, as well as the money-back guarantees.

6) Google Analytics — for receiving efficient stats

Google never stops delighting its users with products and services, and Google Analytics stands proudly among them. All the beauty of it is that it is free, and that’s a great tool to be used for analyzing your website’s traffic. You can add up to 50 websites to your profile to track and obtain a detailed statistic on each aspect of your users’ behavior (clicks, downloads, multimedia playing etc.). With Google Analytics, you know where your visitors come from, how long they are staying at your pages and where they are located.

7) Dashline — for securing all the passwords

If you are preparing for a startup launch, you probably have dozens of accounts at omnifarious online services. You definitely have a lot of things to do rather than worrying about the security of your login information. This password manager will free you from any hassle in this sphere. The service offers a free subscription and a number of premium ones. Try it and you will like the idea.

8) Freebbble — for obtaining 1000+ decent and free design items

Freebbble is an awesome online source you will appreciate in terms of finding fresh ideas, inspiration and ready-made solutions for your website’s design. Freebbble is contributed by Dribbble users, who kindly procured tons of useful designing stuff like templates, mockups, illustrations, icon sets, wallpapers, fonts etc. All items are tagged with corresponding licenses that outline the scope of your responsibility so that you understand in which way and when you can use this or that part of the design.

9) QuickBooks — for managing accounting aspects

This is one of the most respected online accounting solutions for small businesses. QuickBooks offers a wide array of features to organize the financial aspect of your business. It helps you control your cash flow, create customized branded invoices, sales receipts, quickly receive reports on your gains and losses, balance sheets, manage your taxes, always be alert to overdue payments and many other useful features.

10) HootSuite — for managing social profiles

This one is not so popular, but a really useful tool in startup tool box. It is difficult to overestimate the significance of social media for startups. HootSuite is a social dashboard that allows you to easily manage all your social media accounts from one place, saving your time that you would spend switching from one platform to another. With it, you may schedule your social media updates, customize searches, keep an eye on your competitors and do many other things related to social media. The free basic package allows synching up to three social media profiles, which is quite sufficient for a start. Later, you can order an upgraded package that would cost you $9.99.

This list is a non-exhaustive one since there are literally hundreds of free or cheap products and instruments that can help you in your entrepreneurship. Now that you are armed with the list of startup tools, do not hesitate to try them in practice. And, if you liked the article, do not hesitate to share it with your friends!