You have just come up with the best business idea. You know what you want to do and what you want to sell. That’s great! However, now is when the hard work begins.
How are you going to bring it all together? As an entrepreneur, there are many different things you need to consider, especially when your budget may not be the most lenient aspect of your business.
So, what do you do? How do you get everything to work when you only have two hands?
Our suggestion?
Tech Tools.
Previously we wrote an article about an incredible product, Canva, a graphic design tool for the Average Joe and the Design Pro. The article was received really well, so we thought you’d be interested in seeing which other effective tech tools are out there, especially for when starting your own business.
We have put together a list of our top 4 tech tools we feel you absolutely NEED for your start-up business. Each tool covers the basic areas you need to look at in your business: marketing & social media, administration, money and education.
As mentioned before, we highly recommend getting familiar with Canva for all of your design tasks. Let’s take a look at our top suggested tech tools for the other areas.
Ready? Let’s begin.
1. MailChimp
When it comes to your email marketing needs, we can’t think of a better tool to take advantage of than MailChimp. Email marketing for a start-up is vital in terms of communicating with your existing database. You need to feel that you have a quick and effortless way to update, inform and even educate your prospects or existing clients on new business ventures or promotions.
You have the option to design awesome emails, create customer lists and segments, automate welcome emails (which is great for scheduling purposes) and view the analytics once you have sent out the mail. Being an entrepreneur, you are looking for the best ways to reach your audience without having to pay for it. Luckily with MailChimp, you can effectively do so on a free plan. Even better, if you want to upgrade your plan, you can do so and unlock incredible features, and it is still affordable.
2. Google Analytics
Crucial to your digital marketing success and understanding your audiences and website performance is Google Analytics. We are not just suggesting it, we are PUSHING for it. In any business, you need to know how you are doing in terms of the way people are engaging with your content and marketing efforts.
This is a free tool and is one we cannot stress the importance of enough. By analysing the data provided, you can make decisions and optimise your efforts. If you notice you are achieving less success in one area than another, you will be able to make changes to improve and understand where your efforts are going to be most worthwhile.
3. Freshbooks
It’s all about the money. As an entrepreneur, you need to be understanding of the balance between spending and making money. You might find that you are spending more than you are making during the start up phase. But don’t stress too much. There are ways, and people who can help. When it comes to the accounting side of things, you need to make sure your books are in good shape. With Freshbooks this is possible. Freshbooks allows you to easily send invoices, track time, manage expenses and get paid online.
Not only is it effective, but it is super easy to use too. Similarly, Xerox is another tool you can use. Both will help you along when it comes to your finances and staying on top of your numbers.
4. Quora
Feel like you need some questions answered? Maybe you have an idea but you aren’t sure how people will respond to it. Quora is your answer in the educational department. Quora is a forum where questions are asked, answered, organized and even edited by the community that makes it up.
While being able to ask your own questions, you are also able to follow topics that interest you and follow up on different conversations. Quora is made up of different businessmen/women, entrepreneurs and just interested individuals. It is the easiest way to engage with others who may also be in the same industry as you are and you will not have to wait for ages for an answer you need right away.
Choosing the life of an entrepreneur means you have chosen the life of a multi-tasking champion. These tools will help make that task easier. There is no straightforward way to go about it, but we can guarantee that by using each of these tools, things will become a little easier.
If in the end you still feel like you need more help, consider outsourcing some work to a virtual assistant. At Outsourcery, each of our PAs understand the tools you need to succeed within your busy working day.
Become the best entrepreneur you can be and take advantage of the available resources that are right in front of you. Don’t wait until you are in a rut where you can’t seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Do you have any tools that make entrepreneurship any easier? Leave us a comment.
