Are you ready to launch your startup? Before you do, make sure that you are using the right software tools for startups that can help run and grow your company.
Launching a startup is tough. It is a jungle out there where startups need to survive and react quickly. And of course, they need to do it with extremely limited resources.
Akin business launching on a trip to the mountains for several days. To successfully navigate the terrain, one must travel light. Your hiking bag should only carry the essentials that you are in dire need of. This way, you can move with speed and agility until you reach the destination.
Similarly, founders need to equip themselves with essential tools for startups to navigate their way to success. They are mostly nothing fancy, but their efficiency is to boast for.
9 Software Tools for Startups
It is a fierce jungle out there, and you will fall prey to competitors if you are not ready. Without the right tools, a startup may end up having enormous startup costs with zero returns.
To help you with your pursuit of business success, we listed the top twenty software tools for startups. These tools are divided into three categories, which stand for different business processes.
Read on and choose your startup tools.
Communication
In business, communication should place top of the priority list. It is the glue that holds a startup together. Without a channel to exchange information and ideas, disruptions may occur. This ordeal may lead to startup failure.
To prevent miscommunication among your employees and clients, here are the essential communication tools for startups.
Zoom
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe, a lot of businesses ceased operations. For some, they shifted to remote processes.
Fortunately, Zoom offered great help for remote workers. This software for startups provides video conferencing services that enable users to conduct online meetings, chat, and mobile collaboration.
Zoom is accessible among startups due to its convenient feature of allowing up to 100 participants in a video call.
You can try Zoom for free and still enjoy hosting conference calls for up to 100 people and unlimited one-on-one meetings. However, the complimentary option limits a group meeting to forty minutes.
If you want to have longer town hall meetings, then sign up for the paid plans starting from $14.99.
Gmail
Internal emails are useful for all types of information. It is through emails that employees receive monthly newsletters, essential memos, company announcements, performance appreciation, and meeting requests.
For email messaging, Gmail is the software commonly used by startups. Gmail has features that make email sorting easier. You can also easily customize your email to fit your brand.
To top all that, Gmail is also free. You can use Gmail at its fullest without paying a dime.
Slack
Some messages do not need conference calls or are too short for emails, like text messages. But a text message is too casual for a startup. That is why team chat applications, like Slack, are developed.
Slack is a messaging app that is tailor-fit for a business environment. With Slack, a team can create a channel where invited team members can converse. All members of the channel can join and see what’s going on. Direct messages are also possible with Slack.
Other features of Slack include file-sharing, voice and video calls, and smooth collaboration.
If you opt for the Free plan, Slack can only archive 10,000 of the team’s most recent messages. You are also limited to ten third-party or custom integrations.
These constraints won’t be much of a hindrance for startups. But if you want to make the most of this useful tool for startups, you can also upgrade your plan. The Standard plan costs $6.67 a month, while Slack Plus is $12.50 a month.
Project management
Project management is a task that you cannot do manually. That is why project management is one of the most critical small business startup tools that every entrepreneur should have.
Here are a few suggestions that you can check out.
Trello
Trello is a Kanban-style project and task management application. It helps project managers organize and prioritize projects to avoid confusion in the workflow. Unlike other project management tools, Trello is more image-oriented.
It is well suited for designers, illustrators, or other teams that require visualizing. Trello offers a free version but expects a few limitations of its full features. For the paid plans, it ranges from $9.99 to $20.83 per user, per month.
monday.com
monday.com is relatively similar to Trello. However, this startup tool is more flexible. monday.com offers more features, customizations, and views. What makes monday.com stand out is its ease of use.
Project managers from different business industries can quickly learn and master this application. It can even handle complex projects. Similar to Trello, monday.com also offers a free version. Its paid prices range from $39–$79 per month.
DivvyHQ
DivvyHQ is a software entirely made for content creators. It outlines the whole content creation and marketing process. It has a complete task management feature from ideation, production, publishing, and promotion.
Divvy garnered a lot of recognition for the past years since its launch. The software is voted the #1 content marketing tool for four straight years. It also ranked highest for team collaboration tools and project management tools. There is no doubt the DivvyHQ is the best project management tool for content marketing.
Their pricing is at $19 per user a month, but you can try their free trial before you decide to commit.
MVP Development
Every entrepreneur knows the importance of the minimum viable product (MVP) in launching a startup. With the absence of an MVP, it will be harder for startup owners to seek funding.
An MVP can significantly lower the risk of investing in the wrong idea. You get early feedback on your beta product, which allows you to speed up time to market (TTM).
With that, you must choose the right startup software tools to build your MVP. Three tools in mind can help you achieve the product you wish to sell your clients.
QuickMVP
QuickMVP helps startups validate their MVP. This tool offers customer interviews where you can document and quantify what your potential customers need. With this data, you can improve your product to make it more sellable.
Other than that, QuickMVP also allows you to build a website for customer testing and feedback. Also, it has unit economics where it calculates vital business metrics such as profit margin and market size.
Justinmind
Justinmind is one of the leading prototyping tools for web and mobile applications. With the use of this startup tool, you can bring your idea to life. Justinmind can build interactive applications from scratch.
Justinmind offers two monthly plans, billed annually to the user. The Professional plan costs $19, while the Enterprise plan costs $39.
Balsamiq
Another MVP builder for your startup is Balsamiq. This software helps eliminate lousy UI and UX from the technology world. Balsamiq aims to build websites, applications, and software that are easy to use and quick to load.
Balsamiq users don’t need to worry about complex functionalities since it offers beginner to expert level tutorials and documentation on their support page.
Pricing for Balsamiq starts from $90 to $1990 per year.
How can Full Scale Help Your Startup
Communication, project management, and MVP building are indispensable aspects of a good startup. All the listed tools for startups are the top and most popular technology that a lot of organizations use.
Though tried and tested, these tools—especially the MVP builders—can only achieve the best results when used to their full potential.
The communication and project management tools are resources you can acquire and use freely within your organization. However, the MVP builders need an expert’s touch.
Full Scale can equip your startup to face fierce competition in the industry. We can help you build your brand and develop your MVP to have better leverage for funding.
There is no better time than now. Contact us and tell us your ingenious idea for a startup!
