On this page

Starting a business is daunting, and knowing where to begin is difficult. But with the proper tools, you can launch your business in no time.

People believe that starting a business is unattainable or requires a substantial amount of capital. The reality is that competition is fierce, and you will require the proper tools and resources to succeed.

In the first of its series, this article will share the first top 5 types of tools an entrepreneur needs to consider or even invest in at launch in order to better organize ideas, be inspired, focus, and automate.

One thing to note which i truly believe in; there is no one size fits all. A tool is not a magic wand, first ask yourself what do you want to achieve from a certain tool? What would a good day look like with having a certain tool? What tasks and features are most important to you and your business? A good question to ask is what is your budget? But most importantly, how do you imagine scaling your business and what tool do you see yourself using in a year or two? You see once you adopt a tool, it is hard to change, and it gets harder with the more employees and personnel you add who adopt and use the tool. Don’t think for present times in terms of budget, scale, volume, and tasks, think at least 12-24 months from now.

Project Management Tools

Monday.com Best for collaborative creative teams

ClickUp Best for teams who need a full-featured tool at a low cost

Asana.com Best for easy user adoption

Wrike.com Best for external collaborators

Zoho Projects Best for scalability

Online Filing Tools

Google Drive for Google Workspace users

OneDrive for Microsoft 365 organizations

Box.com which is in my opinion the best document storage and online filing tool

Dropbox.com ubiquitous with many users and a startup favorite, competes well with features against Box.com, pricing models are very different

Zoho Workdrive: The newest of the bunch and Zoho’s latest attempt at being a competitive player in the workspace ecosystem

Customer Relationship Management Tools (CRM)

Close.com Startup-friendly CRM provides pipeline view, voice call (including call recording), SMS, reporting, and email marketing features (including custom email sequencing) in one place

Agilecrm.com Agile CRM offers a free, full-featured sales CRM for up to 10 users, which is explicitly targeted at startups

HubSpot.com Manages workflows for improved project management; you’ll be able to effectively assign and track leads, keep an eye on the sales process, and record customer interactions across channels

Copper.com Copper provides startup-friendly features like automated data entry, smart identification, lead and customer tracking, plus optimization of sales contacts and opportunities

Zoho.com/crm Zoho CRM is easy-to-use with simple user interface targeted at startups and small businesses, including customizable modules, automation, and social media features

Business Accounting Tools

Freshbooks.com Best accounting software for customer support

Waveapps.com Best free accounting software

Zohobooks.com Best mobile accounting software

Quickbooks.com Best overall accounting software

Xero.com Best accounting tool for growing businesses

Best Marketing Automation Tools

Constant Contact – Best Overall Marketing Automation Software

HubSpot – Best for Inbound Marketing

GetResponse – Best Features for Marketing Automation

ConvertKit – Best Marketing Automation Software for Beginners

Salesforce Pardot – Best for B2B Marketing

I will be adding more categories and tools to this ever growing lists of my favorite and best fit tools essentials for entrepreneurs to explore on their journey to scaling and growing their business with the least headache of additional tasks to be completed manually.