4 Free online tools to launch your startup.
Soul Graphics has been around since 2014 and we’ve learned a lot along the way. 3 years in, here is our list of ultimate free must haves for your business to get off the launching pad quickly. And no, we’re not getting paid. We just love these products and what they’re doing for us.
01. Hootsuite
If you haven’t heard of this one, you’ve been living under a rock. But it needs to be pointed out that you need this tool. As entrepreneurs, we spend hours trying to launch our businesses, and get noticed online. Do yourself a favor off the bat and download Hootsuite. You can pay for their services, or if you’re just getting started, you can download their free version that allows you to manage up to 3 social media accounts, and schedule your posts in advance. It’s a time saver (and time is money!)
02. HubSpot
Every growing business needs a great CRM to manage their clients, pipeline, tasks, etc. While there are many great CRMs out there, none come close to the value that HubSpot’s free CRM provide. We just switched over from the Zoho CRM to HubSpot and we haven’t looked back. You, of course, can pay for more features as needed, but if you’re just starting out and strapped for cash, check out the free version and see how it works for you.
03. Google Suite
If you’re at all concerned about your SEO, you have to have Google+. Their mail app (Gmail) is the best there is out there too. Forget Outlook, Zoho, Apple Mail and all of those other jokesters — Gmail is a must have. Now, while it’s not free, there are ways that you can get around the fee. When we were first starting out, we set up a Gmail account as a forwarding account and used an alias to send from Gmail. It’s quite simple and you get all the features that Gmail has to offer with none of the cost. Get a little creative here and you’re set!
04. ZipBooks
This is my favorite free tool. Simple accounting software, for free! Think QuickBooks, for free. Anyway, you get the idea. This tool lets you manage your finances without all the headaches. You can track your team’s time, their project, your expenses, run reports, and automate invoices to clients. When we first started out, I was handling this manually. Talk about a headache. Now, ZipBooks has saved me. And it’s beautiful to look at too! Definitely check it out.
Bonus:
Medium. Duh ;)
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