13 Tools Every Small Business Owner Needs To Achieve Next-Level Success
These tools can help Canadians with everything from accounting to graphic design.
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Between the power of social media and e-commerce platforms like Shopify, starting your own business has never been more accessible.
Whether you're turning your design hobby into a greeting card business or your love for baking into a gourmet cake business, there can be parts of starting a business that aren't as fun. Luckily, with the right tools in your arsenal, your goals can certainly be easier to manage.
No matter what stage you're at, here are 13 tools that'll make your life easier and scale your business to the next level.
Canva Pro
You don't have to be a professional graphic designer to create beautiful posts to share on your social pages. Canva is an online drag-and-drop program that'll make it easy-peasy. You can start with the free version or upgrade to Pro to get added features like templates, a brand kit and more.
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Vistaprint
If you need any of your designs printed, VistaPrint is the place to go. You can get stickers, business cards, posters, thank you cards and so much more printed for an affordable price.
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Grammarly
Have you ever sent an important email only to realize, seconds later, that there was a major typo? Grammarly is a Chrome extension that can help you edit your writing and even improve your tone. You can use the free version or upgrade to Premium for $12 per month or Business for $12.50 per month.
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QuickBooks
Managing your own expenses and invoices is tedious and takes up a lot of valuable time. Quickbooks is an app that'll help you track everything, so you never miss a payment again. The plans start from $12.50 per month for basic services and go up to $90 per month for more support and analytics.
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Squarespace
You can graduate your business from Instagram or Facebook to its own website using the Squarespace website builder. They have tons of gorgeous templates to start with, so you won't need to hire a web developer to create the site of your dreams.
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GoDaddy
No website is complete without a domain name and you can get a good rate on one at GoDaddy along with secure hosting. You have the option to build a website directly from your GoDaddy account if you want to keep everything in one place.
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NordVPN
You can keep your IP address secure with a VPN, especially when you're working on public Wi-Fi. Right now, you can get 72% off your subscription and pay only $3.29 per month.
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Sync Cloud Storage
There's nothing more frustrating than losing your work on the computer after spending hours on it. A backup tool like Sync will give you some peace of mind knowing everything is safe in the Cloud. It also works as a document collaboration platform! If you sign up now, you can get the first 5 GB for free.
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Seagate Portable 1TB External Hard Drive
You can also pick up an external hard drive to store your files and access them even when you don't have Wi-Fi. This one from Seagate, which you can order on Amazon, comes in various sizes from 1TB to 5 TB which is a lot of storage!
1Password Password Manager
Never get locked out of an account again with a password manager like 1Password. It also functions as an authenticator for securely logging into your websites. Pricing starts at US$ 2.99 per month.
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Blinkist
Reading books by other entrepreneurs and subject matter experts is a great way to get inspiration. But, if you don't have a lot of time to read every day, Blinkist can help you learn the key points of your to-read list using summaries and voice memos.
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Udemy
If your new business is basically a team of one, you might need to learn how to do everything from marketing to accounting all by yourself. Online classes on Udemy can help you learn all the skills you need to manage it all, and they start at $19.99. You pay by course so you won't have to worry about any recurring monthly fees.
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Fiverr
Outsourcing certain tasks with a freelance platform like Fiverr can take a huge load off your shoulders without the commitment of hiring an additional employee. The talented freelancers on the platform can do everything from building a website to managing social media. It's free to sign up and you only pay for the gigs you order.
