Running a small business is no easy feat, but thankfully there are plenty of free online tools designed to make the process easier. Today, we’ve rounded-up our pick of the best free online tools for your small business. They’re sure to save you time, energy, and of course, money.
Grammarly
This free online tool lets you check your grammar, spelling, and detect plagiarism all within your web browser. Grammarly’s proofreading and plagiarism-detection resources check against more than 250 grammar rules, meaning that it’s a must-have for any business owner – whether it’s to perfect your business communication, marketing collateral, product descriptions or blog posts.
Evernote
Evernote is a mobile app designed for note taking, organizing, task lists, and archiving. It’s great for using on-the-go, helping small business owners to stay on top of the seemingly endless tasks they must work through each day. As well as being free, the app also syncs your memos, allowing them to be accessible anywhere you need them.
Gmail
We’re sure you’ve all heard of Gmail before, with many small business owners already utilising the email system due to its simple and sleek layout and design. One of the great things about Gmail is that it also syncs up with other Google services, including Calendar, Google Drive, Docs, My Business, and more.
Stock Images
Technically we’re referring to a few stock image websites, including Pexels, StockSnap.io, and our favourite, Unsplash. Forget spending a small fortune for on-brand stock imagery; if you want photographs which are unique, eye-catching, and on trend, then these free-to-use stock image websites are your go-to.
Buffer
Buffer is a free-to-use platform that allows you to manage your social accounts and schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Linkedin. Additionally, you can analyse your statistics across each platform to determine what times are best to post, what countries the majority of your followers come from, and more.
Canva
If you want beautifully designed marketing collateral but don’t have the budget to pay a professional designer, then Canva is the next best thing. It’s a graphic-design tool website that uses drag-and-drop features for total ease. You can choose from thousands of templates across categories such as social media, brochures, posters, resumes, and more.
Slack
Slack is described as “a cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools and services”. While it’s most famous for its instant messaging capabilities, it can also be used for a whole host of other tasks, including screen sharing, phone calls, file sharing, and more.
WordPress
Many people begin their foray into blogging through a free WordPress account. While the free version doesn’t have as many capabilities as its paid counterpart, it’s still a great resource to help you get started with your company’s website or blog – especially if your budget is tight.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs lets you audit your website, explore competitors, research keywords and backlinks – all in one place. While the paid plans offer greater capabilities, the free plan is a great start into the world of search engine optimisation (something which when mastered, will help you to rank higher than your competitors in Google).
MailerLite
There’s a wide array of email platforms available with free plans, but MailerLite is still one of the best, even when compared to MailChimp. Without paying a cent each month, you can send up to 12,000 emails to 1 – 1,000 subscribers, access built-in photo editing, 24/7 email support, utilise advanced segmentation, and create landing pages (among so much more).
QuickBooks / Wave
Quickbooks and Wave are two of the most popular free accounting tools available to small business owners, saving you a heap of both time and money. They let you send invoices, organise expenses, and manage your cashflow easily.
What other free online tools do you use for your small business? We’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.
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