Finding the right small business software and services is a crucial part of any successful startup business – especially online.
With a dazzling array of tools available to small businesses, it can be really difficult to make the right choices about anything from writing business plans, to designing and printing business cards, to creating a website.
This article brings together a categorized list of all the best resources on software, tools, and services that your small business is likely to need before, during and after the startup phase.
Startup
Starting a new business can be a frenetic time – running around trying to stay on top of a million different things.
You can make life a lot easier by ensuring everything is done right the first time:
Business plans:
What are are the best business plan software products or business plan templates?
Business cards:
How to design and print business cards
Where can I get business cards online?
Office supplies:
3 best online shops to buy office supplies for small business
Domains, hosting & websites
Websites are a fact of business. Whether you are starting a small retail shop, or setting up a work-from-home consultancy, a website is an absolute necessity.
For free advice on how to get the perfect website with the least amount of time, effort and cost, check out Domains, hosting & building websites.
Domains:
How to find and buy small business domain names
Web hosting:
The best small business Web hosting services, 2012
Shopping carts:
Top shopping cart software, 2013
Small business websites:
The best free website builder trials for small business
CMS (Content Management Systems):
How to create a blog in one day using Drupal 7
How to start a blog with WordPress
Productivity tools
While it may be tempting to try and accomplish everything yourself, or in-house, often, finding and utilizing the right productivity tools can streamline processes, and end up saving time and money.
It’s worth looking at what tools and services are available (especially newer, cloud based, online productivity tools), because you may discover a really valuable service that you weren’t aware of before.
For example, are you cloud based virtual PBX systems for your office communications? If not, definitely browse over Top 10 productivity tools for business.
Marketing
All businesses, at some point, need to start marketing themselves in order to grow. In fact, in my experience, it doesn’t matter what business you are in – you are in the business of marketing.
Both traditional marketing and online marketing can take a bit of time and effort to get right, and there is plenty of scope to waste a lot of cash if you’re not careful.
Making sure you understand who your audience is, how to reach them, and what message they need to hear, is of crucial importance – as is monitoring and analytics.
For a run down on everything from email marketing, SEO, and social media management, check out Top 10 online marketing tools & services.
Tax & accounting
Tax and accounting administration can be a serious drain on your time and energy – time and energy that could better be spent marketing and growing the business.
Fortunately, as software services migrate to the cloud there are more and more options available for small business owners to access top accounting software packages at affordable prices.
Save yourself long hours of working on your tax and accounts by checking out the 30 day free trial of Quickbooks online at Top free trials, software & services for business
Software
No small business can operate without having decent software to manage, organize and maintain operations. You’ll need quality office software, anti-virus, and more.
Top 10 small business software products, 2012 provides a great list of the leading software items on the market.
For a complete, all in one resource for small business software tools and services, go to The best business software & productivity tools.
So there’s my list of all the top small business resources available online. Hopefully you have found plenty of great stuff to incorporate into your own business to both save time and money, increase productivity, and make more money.
What other tools and services do you recommend for small businesses? Share your tips in the comments, to help others make the right choices.