According to WBENC, a group of over 400 of the nation’s largest and most successful corporations, there are 13 million women-owned businesses in the U.S.—and counting. This represents 42% of all American businesses. Additionally, women-owned businesses have grown 114% in the last two decades, and roughly one-third of businesses worldwide are owned by women. Data from the National Women’s Business Council also shows that women-owned small businesses are growing at a much faster rate than small businesses owned by men.
The small business and entrepreneur landscape is certainly changing, and with more women grappling with consistent inequalities in the typical corporate world (the wage gap, lack of parental leave, for example) it is clear that starting your own business, becoming your own boss and being in charge of your schedule is becoming an increasingly more attractive lifestyle than the 9-5 grind.
With this in mind, many business owners can also get ahead by taking advantage of the many free resources and tools that make life more efficient. Our friends at Clarify Capital understand starting a business can be costly, and Chief Marketing Officer Nishank Khanna has compiled a great list of 20 free small business tools that can help streamline business workflow, communication, and productivity. You may already be using a number of these in your life, and now you can add to your list, thanks to advancing technology.
Project Management Tools
Fifty-seven percent of small business owners are investing in new technology to handle time-consuming project management tasks. If your team is spending an immense amount of hours on non-billable work, these management tools can help reclaim your time.
1. Asana
Asana’s basic work management features help teams and organizations (up to 15 people) plan, manage, and automate work for free. Here, your team can view and organize projects via tasks, lists, timelines, and more. Automation features like project status notifications and calendar event creation help make sure nothing slips through the cracks.
Best of all, you can integrate apps within your dashboard and share overviews across organizations with information on workloads, budget, timing, and more. Use it to plan, organize, select due dates, and keep everyone on the same page.
Key Features:
- Automated notifications (customizable)
- Time tracking integration
- Unlimited file storage
2. Trello
A more visually collaborative tool, Trello helps small businesses and big organizations alike organize and prioritize tasks in a fun and flexible way. Its board-style platforms (10 per workspace) contain task lists, progress lists, and more with drag-and-drop features. You can even add details like comments, attachments, and due dates into the board conversation section.
Trello integrates with numerous apps like Google Drive, Dropbox, MailChimp, and more. Sync everything on your computer, phone, and tablet for on-the-go work updates as needed.
Key Features:
- Interactive workspaces
- 2-factor authentication security
- Unlimited storage
3. Monday.com
Use Monday.com to manage all of your team’s projects and processes. You can display all tasks and due dates across boards (up to three), which have customizable columns or “tickets” to fit your workflow needs.
Show and add a person per task, filter tickets by subject and teams, and easily drag and drop tickets as needed. Every item even has its own conversation section to help stay focused. Switch to the app for notifications on the go.
Key Features:
- Data visualization of workloads
- 200+ custom templates
- Unlimited docs
4. Smartsheet
Smartsheet is a cloud-based work platform that enables you to create, plan, and manage work in one intuitive interface. The free version is limited to one user, but you can share it with up to two editors. Display tasks and milestones as a grid, calendar, or card view to fit the way you work, and easily share tasks with people both inside and outside of your organization.
Answer questions and provide clarity to your editors by commenting on content directly in the sheet. You can also set up automated workflows like reminders and updates. Smartsheet integrates with numerous business tools like Slack, Salesforce, and Dropbox, and you can compile all of your sheets into easy-to-build reports.
Key Features:
- 100 automations per month
- Dashboards and reports
- Help/Learning Center with 24/7 community support
Marketing Tools
From creating and publishing content to managing different accounts, digital marketing can also be very time-consuming. That said, they’re tasks not to fall behind on, where poor marketing can hurt your business. These next free tools can help.
5. Buffer
An all-in-one social media management tool, Buffer lets you manage Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest on one single platform (up to three for free). Not only that, but it helps you analyze previous posts to see what is working to strategize when, what, and how often to post.
With Buffer, you can plan and prepare social media campaigns, increasing your reach, engagement, and traffic. Use it to engage with posts that need immediate attention and respond to important comments. Then, repeat the cycle by analyzing and comparing new posts.
Key Features:
- AI assistant
- Landing page builder
- Planning and publishing tools
6. Tailwind
Tailwind is an all-one platform to create and schedule content for Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Save time using its “create” feature to generate dozens of branded, ready-to-post social images and videos. Tailwind also helps you get better results with analytic features to increase reach and engagement.
Though the free subscription only sets up one account, you still have access to all of the essential tools at basic levels and permissions. Use the hashtag finder for suggestions of popular tags to boost post visibility and the smart.bio custom link for Instagram to turn your followers into new customers.
Key Features:
- 10 ghostwriter credits per month
- Basic analytics
- Smart.bio custom link
7. Mailchimp
Mailchimp by Intuit lets you personalize and simplify your email marketing. Generate custom, automated emails using prebuilt templates tailored to your brand, and send them in bulk via email campaigns. It also lets you view email campaign reports and analytics to learn about your customers and tweak your outreach strategy.
Key Features:
- Prebuilt email templates
- Email support
- Up to 500 contacts
Design and Branding Tools
When it comes to branding, professional graphic designs are a must. However, hiring a graphic designer can be expensive, depending on the size and needs of your firm. Luckily, there are free tools to create the graphics you need without design experience.
8. Canva
Canva’s graphic design tool comes with thousands of professional templates and layouts to use and customize for your brand, even with the free version. You can create logos, business cards, social media posts and more quickly and easily with drag-and-drop features. Explore the platform using its search and browse feature, specifying by size, theme, purpose, and more.
Canva lets you add teams via an invite link and set permissions to view, comment, or collaborate. Best of all, there is automatic saving after changes, so you don’t lose anything. Download and share directly to your integrated social media platforms, organize projects and ideas in folders, and easily access everything from the desktop through the mobile app.
Key Features:
- Thousands of free templates
- Drag-and-drop editing features
- Instant share through integrated social media accounts
9. Adobe Express
Adobe Express lets you freely design like a professional without being one. You can quickly and easily create designs and standout content from thousands of their templates. Instantly customize social media posts, invitations, website landing pages, and more using drag-and-drop features. If you’re on the go, Adobe Express is available on mobile devices too.
Key Features:
- 25 generative credits per month for special effects
- PDF file editor
- Thousands of static and video templates
10. Lunacy
A software with photo hobbyists in mind, Lunacy by Icons8 is a collaborative graphic design software for web and UX/UI design. No internet? No problem. As a native app for Windows, IOS, and Linux, Lunacy works offline when you need it.
You can access thousands of graphic features through the parent company, Icons8, to design and even convert photos into cartoon graphics. Use tools like text generation snippets and fonts embedding to speed up your design workflow.
Key Features:
- Built-in graphics
- Offline mode
- Language localization
Website Analytics Tools
How do your business services and performances compare to competitors? There are free web analytics tools, such as the two listed below, that can show all of that and more.
11. Google Analytics
Google Analytics (GA) is a free web analytics platform accessible to anyone with a Google account. Use this service to easily track your business’s website performance. GA collects data from your websites and apps to create reports, providing insights into your business.
Popular for small- and medium-sized businesses (especially retail websites), GA collects website visitor insights to help you determine the top sources of user traffic. You can also customize goal completions, such as when customers add products to carts or submit their contact information. Analyze your customer demographics and other helpful information with GA’s digestible data visualization tools.
Key Features:
- Web performance tracking
- Data insights and visualization
- Automated reports
12. Ahrefs Free Tools
Ahrefs, a subscription-based SEO platform, also offers free SEO and webmaster tools (AWT) to website owners. Take advantage of the keyword generator, SERP checker, backlink checker, and more to develop the best SEO strategy for your firm.
With AWT, you can perform site audits to scan your website for technical issues and organize them into a simplified yet comprehensive report. There’s also an option to set up automated email alerts about real-time performance.
Key Features:
- AI writing assistance
- Real-time performance reporting
- 5,000 crawl credits per month
CRM Tools
With Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, your business can nurture client relationships and take customer service to the next level. The following free CRM tools can help you navigate the complexities of customer data.
13. HubSpot
From call tracking to company insights, Hubspot’s CRM software allows you to go beyond contact management. With features to view real-time sales pipeline tracking, you can analyze the activity, connect with contacts, and do more to streamline the process across teams.
Organize your records and tickets to the next stage within the pipeline using drag-and-drop features. With automation reporting and hundreds of integrations, your customer relationships will thrive.
Key Features:
- Live chat
- Email reply tracking
- Multi-language content creation
14. FreshDesk
FreshDesk by FreshWorks is a cloud-based customer service software enabling you to streamline all of your customer inquiries and provide support across multiple channels. It organizes inquiries as tickets, calls, and chats to manage within a single interface and enables you to offer self-service.
With automations to support workloads across channels, you can efficiently assign, prioritize, and track tickets, calls, and chats. Your business will save time with this omnichannel support solution, integrating with the popular apps and tools you need.
Key Features:
- Ticket trend report
- 24/7 email support
- Integrated ticketing across emails
Video Conferencing Tools
In this digital age, reliable virtual communication is a must. Fortunately, many video conferencing platforms are free for your convenience. Below are the top video tools to consider.
15. Google Meet
One of the many G-Suite apps, Google Meet, lets you hold live video sessions and share your screen for more interaction. Use your desktop or mobile device to share video and presentations in real time through Google Classroom, Calendar, and Gmail. With safety and security features to control live sessions, you can hold meetings and conferences at ease.
View all attendees and their Google account profiles and contact info, with flexible options such as muting, recording, and pinning the main speaker. Change layouts and backgrounds based on your industry and profession. Best of all, Google Meets is free for anyone with a Google account.
Key Features:
- Optional, live closed captions
- Instant and scheduled meeting links
- Up to 100-person meeting groups
16. Zoom
Offering free, unlimited meeting sessions during the pandemic, Zoom outshined many virtual conferencing platforms. This unified communication platform lets you host virtual meetings, conferences, webinars, phone calls, team chats, and more. Meet via desktop or via mobile app and leverage control functions like mute and camera off upon entry.
Zoom’s interactive emoji and chat boxes within meetings are also a fun way to keep attendees engaged. Its free version does have a limit of 40 minutes per meeting, but you can easily renew the session and hop right back in where you left off. Integrate your schedule with Google Calendar and many more in the Zoom app marketplace to suit your needs.
Key Features:
- Up to 100 attendees per meeting
- Whiteboard features
- In-meeting note-taking features
Security/Data Protection Tools
When it comes to personal information and file sharing, security for your business data is one to prioritize. Thankfully, with the following tools, you don’t have to spend a heavy price on the protection you need.
17. Bitwarden
No more forgetting (or losing lists of) passwords. Bitwarden is a password manager and vault app that stores all of your passwords in one secure place. It allows you to save and autofill usernames and passwords on any website when needed.
All of your personal information — usernames, passwords, pin codes, addresses, and more — go into its “virtual safe.”
Bitwarden also conducts regular security audits, reporting on any recent data breaches to keep you informed. Though the free version only allows one user, it saves and syncs unlimited passwords to an unlimited number of devices and lets you share vault items with one more user.
Key Features:
- Unlimited passwords
- Advanced two-step authentication
- Username data breach report
18. Avast Free Antivirus
Download Avast Free Antivirus on Macs, PCs, and mobile devices to detect and block viruses and other malware. It quickly scans your devices for Wi-Fi security weaknesses, finding intruders in your network. Avast also provides an extra layer of ransomware security, protecting your photos and other important files from hackers.
Key Features:
- Real-time virus and threat detection
- WiFi security scans
- Additional security layer
Accounting Tools
Money handling, invoicing, and tax preparation are only a few of many accounting tasks needed for small businesses. Financial responsibilities can be daunting, even with an accountant on the team. These next free accounting tools take care of these needs and more.
19. Wave
Wave is a bookkeeping software that makes the process easy for non-accounts to organize and manage their finances successfully. It’s a one-stop money management platform for small business owners. Wave’s suite of free tools — invoicing, accounting, and banking — can be used separately or together for maximum control of finances.
Use Wave to pay all business invoices instantly online. You can manage all of the tools via its user-friendly dashboard, which also shows cash flow, profit and loss, and a breakdown of expenses for the month. Invite guest collaborators, customers, and vendors to keep everyone up to speed.
Key Features:
- Automated reminders
- Customized invoice templates
- Unlimited income and expense tracking
20. Zoho Books
Zoho Books, a byproduct of Zoho software for business operations, is a free online accounting app that manages cash flow and simplifies business workflows. Automates the entire invoicing and billing process. You can record each customer transition in their currency and language, as well as customize invoices as needed. Send automatic reminders before invoice due dates as well as automated thank you notes to customers once payments are processed.
During tax season, Zoho Books even helps prepare the paperwork. The platform automatically calculates taxes and combines them into reports in compliance with tax submission guidelines. You’ll also receive automatically generated business financial reports via email, with the option to send them to company investors and shareholders.
Key Features:
- Automated services
- Multilingual invoices
- Customer portal
Additional Free Resources
In addition to the tools above, here are a few more honorable resources that help maximize productivity and modernize your business workflow:
- Slack: A virtual collaboration space for team messaging, video calls, file sharing, and more.
- Google Drive: Store, access, and share files with teams across multiple devices, as well as manage the access controls.
- Coursera: Access free online courses, like professional skill development and business operations.
- ChatGPT: Use this artificial intelligence (AI) language tool to generate website copy, video scripts, and market research ideas for your business.
To learn more about starting a small business, joining the women who make up the fastest growing demographic of small business owners in the United States, and getting the support you need take a look at the full resource list over at Clarify Capital.
