When you start a small business it can be tempting to do everything yourself. You don’t have to. In fact, you’ll likely require additional support with some of the day-to-day responsibilities you will have as a business owner.
More often than not, even the most experienced entrepreneurs still require some help. That’s why larger companies put together teams of skilled employees to handle specific tasks for them.
Of course, when you own a small business, it is unlikely that you will have the funds to hire additional hands. You’re a ‘one-man-band’ or perhaps you have a few employees.
Thankfully, there are several free tools for small businesses available to make the day-to-day running of a company easier.
Just to clear something up before we start, you can use all of these tools with absolutely no cost to your business.
They aren’t tools that offer free trials for expensive products – they are all completely free to use or have free accounts where you have access to a selection of essential features that are still incredibly beneficial for your business.
Free Online Marketing Tools
Marketing is essential. Even for small businesses. Online marketing, in particular, is something that you should be utilising. There are many different online marketing categories, including; search engine optimisation, content marketing, social media marketing and email marketing, but there are free tools available to help.
When looking for somewhere to start, these two tools are frequently used by businesses of all shapes and sizes;
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free online business tool that enables you to quickly analyse traffic and engagement data for your business website. It’s also straightforward to use.
Nearly every business uses Google Analytics to help with their marketing strategy, and it can provide you with invaluable information and insights.
HubSpot
A comprehensive marketing tool, HubSpot offers free customer relationship management, marketing, sales and service software for you to use.
What’s the attraction? Instead of using many different websites and apps, HubSpot’s free service allows you to have a large chunk of what you need all in one place for your online marketing endeavours.
Free Business Management Tools
When you’re running a small business, you probably don’t have a management team. You will have to be on top of absolutely everything yourself – you need to be incredibly organised to do it well.
There are a few free business management tools that can help you stay on top of things as an independent business owner, and they will be instrumental to your success, even as your business grows and you employ more team members. Two of the most frequently recommended are:
The Google Suite
This is something that many businesses use daily, but many people aren’t aware of their full potential. These free business tools – Google Docs for documents, Sheets for spreadsheets, Forms for questionnaires, and Slides for presentations – can make many tedious day-to-day tasks slightly more straightforward.
It also allows you to organise all of your business essentials in one place.
Trello
Trello is a business management tool that is known for increasing productivity and helping to ensure nothing gets overlooked. The basic service is free, and it provides you with a convenient way to keep track of many different projects and tasks all at once.
Free accounting tools
Running a business means you will have money coming in and going out more or less constantly. Staying on top of this is essential. You can choose to hire an accountant to handle the bookkeeping, but this can be very expensive (as you’re probably aware).
Thankfully, there are free online accounting tools that you can use to keep on top of your business accounts. These tools can vary quite dramatically, but many small businesses choose to use one of these options;
Crunch
Only available in the United Kingdom, the free version of Crunch’s bookkeeping software lets small business owners manage their finances, invoices, and expenses in real time.
Plus you can book meetings with their in-house accountants to help you with any difficulties you might be having.
ProfitBooks
ProfitBooks is both free and straightforward to use, making it one of the most popular accounting tools among small business owners.
You can handle everything from your invoices to your expenses with this accounting software, so you can easily manage your money without any accounting knowledge.
Wave
Wave’s accounting software provides you with an easy way to track your income and expenses, and it also provides you with somewhere to keep all of your receipts.
There are several beneficial features in the free version of this online business tool, and it will cover all of your accounting basics.
Using free tools to help you run your small business
All in all, there is a brilliant tool for nearly every task and every budget nowadays, and by leveraging these small business tools, you’ll have an easier time running your small business independently.
These tools we’ve mentioned above (and others), can help you keep the job in-house, saving you hundreds of pounds a year instead of having to hire a specialist.
At UENI, we understand that some small businesses can’t even afford to pay a website development company when they’re first starting. That’s why we offer free multi-page mobile-friendly websites to small businesses. We even throw in ultra-fast hosting and all of the technical upkeep of owning a website for free as well, so you can start to build an online presence without having to worry about the cost.
Already a UENI customer? In addition to the free tools mentioned above, we’re always working with our partners to provide the best possible value for your small business essentials. Check out our current partner offers on the main page of your UENI Hub.
