Entrepreneurs have many tasks to accomplish by the time they actually start a business. If you’re in the pre-launch phase of a new business, these six tools can help you accomplish everything that needs to be done before launch.
Uphabit: For Digital Networking
Entrepreneurs need to be constantly networking. Who you know is as important as what you know (and sometimes more important). Networking no longer means just making connections in person, though.
Uphabit updates networking for the social media age. Import your current network, and add more people as you make new connections. The app brings each person’s contact information into one central place, automatically integrating with the major social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Of course, you can also import your contacts’ email addresses and phone numbers.
Uphabit then functions as a network CRM platform once contact information is uploaded. You can create automated introductions for new contacts, schedule reminders to message people, take notes on each person, and tag groups by industry, city or anything else. Incoming notifications can also be intentionally spread out, so you don’t miss anyone in a glut of messages.
- Purpose: Grow and manage network connections
- Features: Social media integration, schedule reminders, group contacts
- Who It’s For: All entrepreneurs
Download Uphabit and begin using the app now, even if you’re far from actually establishing a business. It’s never too early to begin expanding your network of connections.
Hootsuite: For Social Media
Social media is a major aspect of many businesses’ marketing strategies, and customers expect businesses to be at least somewhat active on platforms. Without a process in place, however, social media can consume an inordinate amount of time.
Hootsuite provides a process for managing social media accounts in an efficient manner. The software brings all major social media platforms that a business uses into one place, so you don’t have to constantly toggle social apps.
Once your accounts are set up, you can schedule posts, monitor messages, analyze engagement and grow your audience. The app has free plans, allowing you to scale up into paid plans as your business’ social activity increases.
- Purpose: Manage social media accounts and increase engagement
- Features: Post scheduling, message monitoring, engagement analytics
- Who It’s For: All entrepreneurs who sell to customers (B2C businesses)
Social media accounts take time to grow, but can provide good ROI once established. Use Hootsuite to slowly start growing your social accounts, and scale up as it makes sense to.
Quickbooks: For Managing Finances
Managing finances is the bane of many entrepreneurs, but it’s absolutely essential. You need to track accounts receivable, accounts payable, balances, payroll (if applicable) and more. Without tracking all financials, you don’t know how profitable your business is. Even worse, you may have trouble properly filing taxes.
Quickbooks is a standard software for managing small business finances. It can do all of the above, and integrates with many other programs. Bookkeepers and accountants are used to working with Quickbooks, and you also can export your own data for filing taxes via TurboTax. Plenty of third-party plugins further enhance features.
- Purpose: Manage virtually all aspects of small business finances
- Features: Extensive tracking, and extensive integration with other programs
- Who It’s For: Entrepreneurs who need to track sales, expenses, and other financials
Quickbooks isn’t the only small business finance software, but it’s one of the most widely used. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the interface and features, and you’ll soon understand why many small business owners use Quickbooks.
Wix: For Creating a Website
Every business needs a good-looking and user-friendly website. Most entrepreneurs don’t have the technical know-how to develop such a website, though.
Wix makes creating a small business website easy, even if you’ve never done it before. The drag-and-drop interface lets you customize your website’s design quickly, and you can use premade templates if you need some guidance. You can further develop your website with lots of third-party plugins.
Depending on your website needs, Wix has free, inexpensive, and highly capable plans.
- Purpose: Create and maintain a small business website
- Features: Easy drag-and-drop builder, many plugins, flexible plan options
- Who It’s For: Entrepreneurs with general website needs
Wix is one of the most popular general website builders. Try out Shopify if you have an ecommerce website, and WordPress.org if you have some web development experience. Otherwise, Wix is the first website builder to try. Square would be a close second choice for most.
Tailor Brands: For One-Time Tasks
When it’s time to actually start your business, there are several things to do that you’ll (hopefully) only do once. For example, you should develop a logo, set up a business email address, create business cards, file your business name, file for an EIN, and officially form an LLC. (The LLC structure provides certain legal protections, and provides an air of legitimacy.)
Tailor Brands is a one-stop shop for many of the things that you’ll only do once. The AI-enabled logo creator makes creating a logo easy even if you have no experience. You can then use that on your business cards and website (whether you make the site with Tailor Brands or Wix). The How to Start an LLC guide will take you through registering a business name, filing an EIN (which is easy), and forming your LLC.
- Purpose: Take care of one-time tasks, such as the business’ logo and LLC formation
- Features: AI-enabled logo creator, extensive LLC formation guide, and other aides
- Who It’s For: Most entrepreneurs who are ready to actually set up their business
There are plenty of other online tools that can help you with these tasks. Few platforms have so many well-developed tools in one place, though.
Google Analytics & Search Console: For Website Data
Most businesses rely heavily on their website for customer acquisition and/or sales. In many cases, the success of a business directly correlates with the performance of its website.
Google Analytics and Google Search Console provide extensive details on website performance. Analytics records how many visitors come, the general demographics of visitors, where they come from, and what pages they see on your site. The search console provides data on how well your website is performing in Google’s search results.
Best of all, both of these tools are free if you have a Google account. Google accounts are likewise free to create, and you probably already have one.
- Purpose: Monitor website performance
- Features: Extensive website visitor data, search performance data, and free
- Who It’s For: All entrepreneurs will find that Google’s tools provide robust data for free
Wix and other website builders/hosts have their own analytics software. You’ll likely find that Google Analytics and Google Search Console are far more informative. They’re both also easy to set up for any website.
Get Your Business Underway
With these tools, you have the resources needed to get your business started. Work your way through all that there is to do. You’ll be surprised how quickly the various tasks can be completed with these tools — and how soon you can be serving customers and growing your business.
