Do you daydream about becoming your own boss? You aren’t the only one. In the UK alone, over 600,000 new startups were launched in 2015. The traditional job model looks like it has been overthrown, so if you want to join the revolution you should explore the offerings on the web that can help your startup.
START-UP STASH
Great so you are ready to start, but where do you start? Start-Up Stash is a complete compendium of tools to help you from idea generation and marketing to product demos and apps. It literally has everything to help you – use it!
SUMOME
So you have your ideas set. Use SumoMe to drive traffic to your businesses’ website. The analytics and sharing tools available will increase traffic and they work on ANY website. Reduce bounce rate by choosing good photos to make your website look the best, StockSnap is a free stock photo site.
Be active on this platform, when you meet someone connect with them on LinkedIn and see your network grow. Be consistent though, participate in communities, comment on blogs and don’t be afraid to use your InMail tool and reach out to people directly; it’s how I became a contributor for For Working Ladies.
HOOTSUITE
You need to make sense of and exploit social channels for what they are, an instant access to your business by consumers. Hootsuite combines Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more on one easy to use dashboard. Schedule content in advance, set up tags and reporting, with over 10 million users, they are doing something right.
SHAKE
Possibly the tool you will love the most. Shake is a tool where you can ‘create, sign and send legally binding agreements in seconds’. Securely stored online, this tool will help you navigate the tricky world of business law.
GMAIL
I’ve saved the best until last! Gmail is an INCREDIBLE tool to start you own business. You can run your entire business from your inbox. Use Google Docs to create any word, excel, office documents without having to pay for it to be on your computer. Then coupled with Streak, a (free) CRM system within Gmail, you have complete end to end view from sales to marketing and beyond.
Be careful not to fall into the Freemium snare, where it is free to start with but to upgrade will cost you; if used wisely these tools can get you up and running before you need to put your hand in your pocket.
Let me know what tools you used when starting up your business?
