20 Low-to-No Cost Tools for Scaling Your Startup

My best definition of a startup is found in the book, The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries. He says, "A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty."

In other words, three essential elements make up a startup business:

• A startup is a human institution. A human institution refers to a group of people “that have come together in significance for a common social purpose and maintain collective focus on the human relationships (within and beyond their limits) that have helped them to flourish.”
• A startup is designed to deliver a new product or service. A startup’s product or service must be a new innovation.
• A startup thrives under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Regardless of the size of the company, the industry, or the sector of the economy, Ries argues, any business that is creating a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty is a startup.

With that definition in mind, this article will unveil 20 brilliant carefully-curated low-to-no-cost tools for a radically successful startup business. You will get useful tools for various functions, from choosing a business name and registering a domain to managing teams to getting your accounting, marketing, and customer relations together.

Here is a quick arsenal for an incredible startup Showtime! 

Best Low-to_No-Cost Tools for Startups

1. GoDaddy: Domain. Website Builder. Office 365. Email marketing

GoDaddy makes registering Domain Names fast, simple, and affordable. If you have a smart business name in mind but are unsure whether the web address is still available for the taking, simply log on to GoDaddy and look it up. They also provide you with options you can choose from, with a suite that helps you build a website, create a work email, and so on.

2. GitHub: A web-based Git repository hosting service

GitHub is a web-based repository hosting software that brings teams together to work through problems, move ideas forward, and learn from each other along the way. It is used by over 1 million teams worldwide.

3. Slack: Where work happens

Slack is a cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools and services. It’s where the people you need, the information you share, and the tools you use come together to get things done. The beauty of this tool is that you can create different channels to streamline team conversations with ease.

4. Asana: Use Asana to track your team’s work & manage projects

Asana is a Project Management and Collaboration Tool which helps keep teams organised, connected and focused. It is one of the most popular project management tools and offers convenient integrations.

5. Moqups: Online Mockup, Wireframe & UI Prototyping Tool

Moqups is a stunning HTML5 App for creating high-fidelity SVG mockups, wireframes, and clickable prototypes. It lets you create website and app prototypes without any technical knowledge.

6. Canva: Amazingly Simple Graphic Design Software

Canva makes design simple for everyone. It helps you create designs for Web or print: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more. With Canva, you can create beautiful designs yourself!

7. AngelList: Where the world meets startups

AngelList is a website for startups, angel investors, and job-seekers. Its goal is to introduce entrepreneurs to sophisticated investors and simplify the process of early-stage business. An AngelList profile is also an important visibility platform, the platform has a mission to democratize the investment process.

8. Buffer: Social Media Management Platform

Buffer is an intuitive social media management platform trusted by brands, businesses, agencies, and individuals to help drive social media results. You can enhance your social media management with Buffer, it puts all your different social handles in one place — help you manage faster, smarter, and safer.

9. RocketReach: Find anyone’s email address, phone numbers, social links

RocketReach Email Lookup lets you find email addresses and phone numbers given name, company, or LinkedIn URL of anyone and everyone. Their google chrome extension is even integrated with LinkedIn, making it easier to know client e-mail address to connect.

10. Wave: For all your Accounting

WaveApps is an easy invoicing on the go. It helps you send unlimited customized, professional invoices, for free! You can also link your bank account to the platform for easy bookkeeping. This is an incredibly useful tool for startups, and it’s used by over 2 million people around the world.

11. HubSpot: Inbound Marketing & Sales Software

HubSpot is an inbound marketing and sales platform that helps businesses attract visitors, convert leads, and close customers. It includes tools for social media marketing, email marketing, content management, analytics, landing pages and search engine optimization, among others.

12. MailChimp: Marketing Automation — Sell More Stuff

MailChimp is a popular online email marketing solution that lets one manage contacts and send emails. It helps you design email newsletters, share them on social networks, integrate with services you already use, and track your results.

13. Medium: Read, write, and share stories that matter

Medium is a place to read, write, and interact with the stories that matter most to you. Every day, thousands of voices read, write, and share important stories on Medium. You can integrate it into your website, freeing you from the trouble of building a blog at the early stages.

14. Unsplash: Beautiful Free Images

Unsplash is a website dedicated to sharing copyright-free photography under the Unsplash license. The website claims 25,000 contributing photographers and generates an estimated 1 billion photo impressions per month.

15. ReadyforWork: Upskill Your Team, Hire Bright Talents

ReadyforWork offers an Al-assisted education solution with a market-aligned curriculum, clear career path, and tools to prove their skills to prospective employers. ReadyforWork sets itself apart from the competition because of its intense focus on deep education with project-based programming. The platform is a two-sided marketplace. It helps learners understand how they stack up against their competition, gives them resources to level up and become of higher value when looking for gainful and meaningful work, and gives employers access to an emerging talent pipeline for a global workforce --with data-driven mechanisms to assess that talent.

16. Google Analytics: Start analyzing your site’s traffic

Google Analytics is a freemium web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. It shows you the full customer picture across ads, videos, websites, social tools, tablets and smartphones.

17. Keep Google: Save to Google Keep in a single click!

Google Keep is a note-taking service developed by Google. With the Google Keep Chrome Extension, you can easily save the things you care about to Keep and have them synced across all of the platforms that you use — including web, Android, iOS, and Wear. Take notes for additional detail and add labels to quickly categorize your note for later retrieval.

18. JotForm: Online Form Builder & Form Creator

JotForm helps you create online forms the easy way. Whether you’re looking to generate leads, collect order payments, conduct customer surveys, find applicants for a job, or register guests for an event, JotForm’s easy-to-use form builder lets you build a customized online form to fit your exact needs in minutes.

19. Grammarly: Free Grammar Checker

Grammarly is an English language writing-enhancement platform. Grammarly’s proofreading and plagiarism-detection resources check more than 250 grammar rules. The grammar checker instantly eliminates grammatical errors and enhances your writing. Grammarly is trusted by millions every day.

20. Smartsheet: Less Talk, More Action

Smartsheet is a software-as-a-service application for collaboration and work management. It is used to assign tasks, track project progress, manage calendars, share documents, and manage other work. It has a spreadsheet-like user interface to help teams collaborate, plan projects, and manage tasks.

Wrapping Up

Scaling your startup doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. With the right mix of tools, you can streamline operations, enhance productivity, and drive growth without breaking the bank. From project management and analytics, the resources we've explored offer robust solutions catering to various aspects of your business. Learn more about SFAN's ReadyforWork digital career accelerator.