Startups

Essential Startup Tools and Resources

Every startup founder struggles initially in acquiring and maintaining capital. Whether, you put in your own money, borrow, or acquire funding early on, your primary goal in the start remains the same. And that is, lowering down costs as much as possible. You try to control your cash burn rate, and at the same time meet targets. This is where Startup Tools and Resources come in. These tools and resources help decrease costs, save time, increase productivity, and make the company look smart and organized. From Project Management to CRM, there’s a tool or resource for basically everything. Let’s look at a few favorite and popular ones.

1. Slidebean

This is one of my favorites on the list. Slidebean is an AI presentation platform that lets you design amazing presentations without breaking a sweat. You put in the text and images, Slidbean takes care of everything else from display to the arrangement. It generates a myriad of designs for you to choose from in just under a second.

So whether it is the presentation for the big VC meeting, or you just want to create a pitch deck for your startup, Slidebean is the place to go! They have an extensive library of templates to choose from, including pitch decks of famous companies like Facebook, Airbnb, Uber, etc. Moreover, they even offer their pitch deck services at a very reasonable price.

Related: To avail Slidebean services click here.

Also Read: The Story of Slidebean

2. Social Champ

Social Champ is a popular social media marketing automation & management software platform for startups, small and medium businesses. It is used by people all over the world. It is a very effective tool to drive traffic, increase engagement, and save time on social media. Using Social Champ you can schedule posts, analyze performance & get content suggestions.

I have personally used Social Champ, and I can totally vouch for it. It has media social media management so much easier for my startups. It also has very affordable pricing plans starting from just $10/month.

Click here to get Social Champ for your startup.

3. MailChimp

MailChimp is one of the most popular startups founded during a recession and is the best email marketing tool on the market. If you are looking to run a successful email marketing campaign, MailChimp should be your go-to place!

This tool for startups allows digital marketers to utilize a reliable emailing service to deliver emails directly to any user’s inbox. It’s one of the many highly recommended tools for startups. MailChimp has a freemium plan, while paid plans start from $9.99/month.

4. Trello

Next up on the list of Startup Tools and Resources is a simple yet extremely effective tool, Trello. It is a very efficient project management system that allows you to assign and keep track of the tasks of your startup team remotely.

Trello lets you work more collaboratively and get more done. Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. I have personally used it for as long as I can remember, and it is truly a blessing.

5. Wukla (for legal documents)

Wukla is a Pakistan based startup that operates in the legal domain. It resolves the need for legal contracts and other documents through intuitive and thorough legal documents creation technology, all hassle-free. With this creative tool, you can customize legal documents and have them delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Pakistan. Moreover, for purposes of legal assistance, Wukla has compiled a directory of advocates, which aids users to pick an attorney for legal advice.

Above all, Wukla is seamlessly integrated with Paksign enabling you to make and sign documents on the go. This one of the most unique startup tools on the market, and a must-have if your startup is based in Pakistan.

6. Canva

Canva is arguably the most effective online design platform on the market and may give Adobe Photoshop a run for its money in the near future. Whether you want to make a logo, a social media post, or a promotional banner, Canva has it all! Also, you can select a template, or you can create your own from scratch by using their drag-and-drop features.

With a library of more than a million fonts, images, and icons, you can come up with an array of visually appealing content. It is extremely easy to use, and you can use it without having any prior design skills.

7. Due

Due is one of the most important tools that startups must-have. With Due, you never have to forget anything. You can keep a track of all of your payments in one place, and not miss any deadline in the future. Hence, you can operate more efficiently and improve your cash flow.

Due enables you to replicate invoices sent to clients and manage outstanding requests and payments. Thus, the solution helps you to save time and organize your finances smartly. Most importantly, the platform is completely free to use!

8. Slack

Slack is a great team collaboration tool with millions of users using it for their startups. It is basically a workplace communication software that enables all the people in a startup to communicate with each other and share data and files. Also, the name “Slack” is actually an acronym for “Searchable Log of All Conversation and Knowledge”.

9. Hubspot for Startups

Hubspot CRM is a very effective tool and is widely used all over the world by startups. It centralizes your contact list, and also automatically registers customer interactions. Moreover, it extracts the data from the web to generate information about your potential customers.

Hubspot offers a free version while their paid plans start from $50/month. It’s one of the best startup tools for startups to better engage with their customers.

Read: CRM for Startups

10. Zapier

Zapier moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work. It takes care of all the boring parts of the job saving a startup valuable time and money. Moreover, you can integrate multiple essential apps with Zapier like Gmail, PayPal, MailChimp, Shopify, etc, and then automate the manual tasks.

Simply connect your apps, and automate your workflows.

11. Visme

In the words of the company’s founder Payman who we had a chance to chat with, “think of Visme as Powerpoint marrying a design tool (such as Canva), it’s intuitive and easy-to-use but also packed with some power. Best of both worlds”.

Visme has been in development for over 7 years and undergone continual upgrades and refinements. It is created to be versatile easy but yet powerful and used by content creators from all walks of life. Visme is an all-in-one content creation tool that allows users to create good looking visuals in the form of engaging presentations, infographics, documents, videos, and graphics. It does not matter if you are a designer or not. Visme combines simplicity, flexibility, and interactive features within a single platform, giving users everything they need within an easy-to-use online interface.

That is what the founder of the company aims for. Payman Taei is on a mission to empower the world to communicate visually. One of the reasons why he came up with the idea of Visme. Get on it now, and create your content right in your browser and use it online or offline.

Read: Visme – A Powerful Design Tool

12. Resource Guru

Resource Guru is another project management tool on this list, helping busy teams stay on track with projects. It offers a fast and flexible way to schedule people and work for all kinds of projects in big and small companies. Project managers and team leads use it to increase productivity without exhausting employees. It’s especially valuable for resource management in agencies of all sizes. This tool tracks your time and what you can bill for. You learn where you’re not using resources enough and where you’re providing too much, which can hurt your profits.

This was Startup Tools and Resources, hope you found it informative. Have you been using any of these for your startups? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below. Also, if you have any questions feel free to drop us an email at PACE BUSINESS.

Sarim Siddiqui

Sarim is the founder of PACE enterprises currently comprised of two divisions, PACE events and PACE Business. He is a certified Digital Marketer and works as a Digital Consultant, Content Strategist, and Search Engine Optimization specialist. He is passionate about educating on business and startups, as well as helping small businesses achieve their digital goals. You can find him on Instagram @sarim112 or LinkedIn, or reach out to him at sarim@paceofficial.com.