7 ESSENTIAL FREE TOOLS FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS

Surprisingly, little has changed on this list since the last version in 2016. Whereas I eagerly learn about new tools that come my way - I’ve lost count of how many times I see ‘this will replace emails’ when actually, emails work just fine. In fact, they work better today as improvements and additional tools have come into play.

Twitter the app works best for engaging and live posting. I never need to edit a photo anywhere else as the app does it best

Social Pilot - has become my favourite app for easy scheduling for up to accounts (the paid version allows multiple photos per post and multiple account management)

Canva - my go-to place for design since it launched is much improved. I design all my training slides on it and it remembers my brand colours. It still the best design tool for non-designers.

Evernote - there’s no need to change my notes app as this seamlessly updates between my web and mobile version

Wave - I use the app to upload receipts and the web version to create invoices and keep track of all finances

Mailchimp has moved brilliantly with the times and is still the best newsletter tool

Onedrive works most smoothly to store all my docs in the cloud although Google Drive still an excellent free version. (A small amount of storage is free, then there are a few paid-for plans that come with Office 365)

A mention for the best paid-for tools

Squarespace - I’ve lost count of how many websites I’ve designed on it, how many clients I’ve helped to use it and even delivered a few training sessions on it. Nothing matches it for ease of use. Plus I get to pass on 20% discount to all of my clients.

OneNote - part of Office 365 is the best project planner I know. It’s the best place to start for anyone you know that is loathed to give up paper notebooks (that can be lost/damaged) as it looks like a notebook.

Share your tips with me: @RickieWrites