20 Free & Paid Small Business Tools for Any Budget

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Free and paid tools for small businesses save time, streamline operations, and, importantly, save money.

From my experience running a small business, I know it doesn’t always feel productive to invest time and money into a new tool, but the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

I know how overwhelming it can be to choose the right tools, so I’ve compiled a list of 20 free and paid tools for small businesses. There’s something for every budget, and where I’ve tried and tested them, I’ve given you my unbiased review.

Table of Contents

Why Do You Need Small Business Tools?
Types of Tools for Small Business
How I Curated the Best Free Tools for Small Businesses
20 Free Tools to Help You Run Your Business

Why Do You Need Small Business Tools?

Small businesses need tools. The early days of building a business are a scramble, and small teams do many tasks.

The more pressure you can relieve on yourself and your team, the better. There are a host of benefits to using tools, but here are the top four.

Increased Productivity

Tools are a cheap way to improve operations, automate work, and “outsource” tasks you don’t want to do.

With your newfound freedom, you can put your time into work that a) helps the business and b) fulfills you.

With focused time without niggling tasks, everyone will feel more motivated to work. Plus, tools will take some tasks in their entirety off your to-do list so you can focus on the heavy-hitting work.

Cost Savings

Sometimes — even though I’m writing this article — I also find it hard to part with hundreds or thousands of hard-earned cash to spend on a tool.

The trouble with this mentality is that it’s short-term thinking. The money out is measurable, but the money saved from tools can be harder to qualify.

It’s worth making an effort to examine a tool’s savings to vet its worth. You must consider hidden benefits, such as happier staff who can automate tasks they dislike, leaving them more motivated for what they love.

Scalability

If you want to scale your business, tools will help.

Increased productivity alone will help, but tools will force you to create processes that can be shared with team members. If you can onboard new team members or clients into your operations quickly and smoothly, you can grow faster.

Additionally, tools like cloud services can scale as you need them, allowing you to store data without risking big migration projects or paying for space that you don’t need yet.

Improved Decision-Making

Many tools are designed to help you make decisions. Tools, especially those including AI, can analyze large data sets and compile information that you can use to steer your business.