Managing a startup often means wearing many hats. Besides being the CEO, you’re also the HR manager, the finance department, the sales and marketing team, and much more. Not to mention, your resources may be limited due to limited funding, lack of manpower, and time constraints. That’s why many startup owners choose to use technology to streamline processes and save money.
In this article, we list the best tools for startups, from solutions that manage customer relationships to platforms that facilitate collaboration.
1. Oneflow
As an all-in-one digital contract platform that makes it easy to digitally create, sign, and manage contracts, it’s the perfect tool for startups. You can create contracts using dynamic templates that streamline the contract creation process.
It also allows you to collaborate on contracts with live editing, inline comments, interactive fields, and tracking. This shortens the time to sign contracts as all communication is kept directly in the contract.
Oneflow’s contract management platform offers integrations that enable you to sync data between your existing software and the contract. This eliminates admin work and ensures data integrity, all in one place, making it a valuable tool for startups.
Plus, you can save money because the free version is free forever.
Pricing
- Free: Free forever
- Essentials: 17 euros per month per user
- Business: 45 euros per month per user
- Enterprise: Upon request
2. Salesforce – One of the best tools for startups
Investing in a CRM is a great move because it helps set your company up for long-term success. From the outset, it helps lay a strong foundation for customer relationship management and business growth.
Salesforce is a leader in CRM software, helping startups build resilient, customer-centric organizations.
The most important feature that Salesforce offers is a connected platform that allows you to create a single source of truth for every employee. Each product connects to the same underlying CRM database. This gives you insights into every contact at each stage of the customer journey.
Salesforce also offers a free trial for 14 days. The trial includes:
- Pre-loaded data or upload your own
- Pre-configured processes, reports, and dashboards
- Guided content, how-tos, and best practices for sales
- Online training and live onboarding webinars
Pricing
- Starter Suite: $25 per user per month
- Professional: $100 per user per month
- Marketing Account Engagement: From $1,250 per month
- Sales Cloud Enterprise Edition: From $165 per user per month
- Service Cloud Enterprise Edition: From $165 per user per month
3. Microsoft Teams
80% of organizations use social collaboration tools to enhance business processes. These are essential tools for startup owners who want to manage projects easily and bring people together to work as a unified team.
Microsoft Teams deserves a spot on the list of best tools for startups because it streamlines team communication and collaboration. It brings together messaging, file sharing, and integration with other collaborative apps into one centralized platform.
Pricing
- Microsoft Teams Essentials: $4.00 per user per month
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic: $6.00 per user per month
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard: $12.50 per user per month
4. Google Workspace
Google Workspace is a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that help businesses and teams collaborate more effectively.
It includes tools such as:
- Google Calendar
- Google Sheets
- Google Slides
- Google Drive
- Google Docs
- Google Meet
- Google Chat
- Gmail
Each of these tools is integrated into one platform. They enable seamless communication, file-sharing, real-time collaboration, and project management so teams can work together efficiently from anywhere.
Read also: Stop using papers! How contract management tools can save your time and money?
Pricing
- Business Starter: $6 per month
- Business Standard: $12 per month
- Business Plus: $18 per month
- Enterprise: Upon request
5. Adobe Express
Adobe Express is one of the best graphic design tools for startups, where individuals can produce visual content such as presentations, social media graphics, posters, flyers, and other materials.
It helps streamline the graphic creation process with free customizable templates, drag-and-drop tools, and a huge library of images, icons, and fonts.
Adobe Express is a design platform of choice for many individuals and businesses because it’s user-friendly and empowers them to design professional-looking graphics without needing advanced design skills or a large software budget.
Pricing
- Free: $0
- Premium: $9.99 per month
- Teams: $12.99 per month, per seat
6. Stripe – One of the best tools for startups
Stripes offers payment processing software that allows businesses to accept payments online, in mobile apps, and in person.
It helps automate payment processing, subscription management, invoicing, and fraud prevention.
Stripe offers a high level of convenience as it integrates easily with many websites, applications, and tools for startups. It also supports a wide range of payment methods and currencies.
Pricing
- Standard: 2.9% + $30c per successful charge for domestic cards
- Custom: Upon request
7. Dyte
A real-time video conferencing platform, Dyte provides React native video SDK that enables users to host virtual meetings, webinars, and online events with high-quality video and audio capabilities.
It offers a wide range of features to enrich the video streaming experience, including screen sharing, chat, and recording. This allows participants to collaborate and interact effectively from anywhere in the world.
Read also: How to increase your revenue with automated sales cycle?
Pricing
- Video: $0.004 per user per minute
- Voice: $0.001 per user per minute
- Live streaming: $0.002 per user per minute per viewer
- Chat: From $80
8. Later
66% of business owners say the biggest benefit of using social media is increasing sales. As a startup, generating sales is essential to building brand awareness and establishing credibility in the market.
And using tools that help manage your social media accounts can maximize success. Later is a social media management platform that helps you plan, schedule, and manage your posts across different social media channels.
Its features include content calendar planning, post-scheduling, visual content creation tools, and analytics. This helps you optimize your social media presence and engage with your audience more effectively.
Pricing
- Starter: $25 per month
- Growth: $45 per month
- Advanced: $80 per month
- Agency: $200 per month
9. Wiz
As a startup, every cost matters. So, prioritizing security is mission-critical. Otherwise, you risk expensive data breaches and costly disasters.
Both Fortune 100 companies and startups rely on Wiz for cloud security solutions, such as their CNAPP, for a unified approach to cloud security.
Its features ensure that cost-cutting doesn’t compromise security. With a clientele including Fortune 100 giants such as Hearst and Synthesia, Wiz is the trusted choice for safeguarding digital assets. Its proven track record with industry leaders underscores its unmatched reliability.
Bonus Tip: Since costly data breaches can result from external and internal risk factors, combining Wiz with threat management software can help save money while combating the risk of insider data threats.
Pricing
- Custom: Quote upon request
10. Inbox Army
While Inbox Army isn’t an actual platform, it still deserves a spot on our list of tools for startups. Why? Inbox Army is a surefire way to help you improve your email marketing strategy.
As a leading full-service email marketing agency, Inbox Army specializes in designing, coding, and optimizing email campaigns for businesses.
Some of their services include:
- ESP vendor evaluation and migration
- Dedicated email marketing resources
- Email campaign manager
- Email strategy and audit
- Campaign management
- Email template design
Inbox Army supports clients across several platforms, including ActiveCampaign, Salesforce, Omnisend, Mailchimp, and HubSpot (to name a few).
Using this service, you can create visually appealing and effective email campaigns that drive engagement, conversions, and revenue.
Pricing
- Custom: Quote upon request
Power up your startup’s success with these tools
As a startup owner, the benefits of using technology are clear. You can boost productivity, cut costs, save time, and streamline operations.
Each tool we mentioned offers value in a wide range of areas, from payments to social media marketing. So, choose the technology and tools for startups that best meet your goals, needs, and pain points.
Always consider your unique factors, such as the size of your team and the return on investment (ROI) you want to achieve.
When in doubt, look at the functionality, integration, ease of use, cost, support, security, customization, and vendor reputation to help you make your final decisions.
What tools will you add to your tech stack in 2024 to help you work smarter, not harder (without breaking the bank)?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Author bio: Britney Steele
Born and raised in Atlanta, Britney is a freelance writer with 5+ years of experience. She has written for a variety of industries, including marketing, technology, business, finance, healthcare, wellness, and fitness. If she’s not spending her time chasing after three little humans and two four-legged friends, you can almost always find her glued to a book or awesome TV series.
