If you have an internet connection and you’ve been planning for a while now to launch your startup, you’ve probably heard about the possibility of launching a startup with $100 budget. Still, free is much better, right?
Launching and building a startup is considered a daunting task by many entrepreneurs. And while it is an uphill battle, the struggle is totally worth it. Starting an enterprise and your journey as an entrepreneur is way easier than actually succeeding.
In my opinion, this is as good a time as any to start a business. With the boom of mobile devices, the world is nowadays in a continuous state of connectivity. Thus, we can safely say that Moore’s Law applies nowadays and then some, given that computing is cheaper and faster than ever. And one of the best news is that there are countless free and useful tools that are there to help you launch and develop your startup business.
And while there are thousands and thousands of tools and products at your disposal, here are just some I’ve found to be extremely useful when launching a startup.
So let’s get started:
1. Have you ever heard of Startup Stash? This is a great starting point. As the tagline on their website says, it is “A curated directory of resources & tools to help you build your Startup”. On their About page they say that “Startup Stash is the easiest way to find resources and tools that can help you while building your startup. Get inspired and build awesome stuff using the 400 resources and tools that are indexed on this site.”
2. If you are in need of a logo ASAP, you should probably use Logaster. It will usually take less than a couple of minutes. Also, it’s quite useful during Startup Weekends and even Hackathons. I remember a friend of mine recommended this site for creating the logo for my startup and it actually turned out better than I envisioned it would.
3. If you want to build an online presence for your startup, you will need to find both a domain name and social profiles for your baby. And this is where The Name App comes in. It’s a free name generator that can prove to be extremely helpful when you are trying to find ways of building a solid online reputation.
4. Gimp, a lot like Photoshop..but free. If you need a simple image-editing tool, you don’t need to invest in programs like Photoshop. GIMP is a basic open-software photo editor which provides users with a pretty good suite of image manipulation free of charge.
Yes, Photoshop does have more functions in comparison with GIMP, but the price is pretty high and the licensing rules are quite strict. And you need to be practical. Ask yourself whether you are actually going to use its advanced features. Average users rarely do this, if ever.
During the early stages of a startup, GIMP is a rather good alternative because it allows users to perform tasks such as image-resizing, image-format converter, image composition or even photo retouching – and all for free.
5. If you’re out of ideas and want to get your creative juices flowing, make sure to check Content Idea Generator, which does exactly that: comes up with titles for blog posts and presentations. A lot of times this tool has helped me when I had writer’s block.
6. Create, sign and send legally binding agreements in seconds. Shake does exactly that. It’s a simple and effective tool to use.
7. Creating engaging images for your social media profiles is a must. Add a witty quote and you’re set. This is a great way of engaging your fans and followers. And with Pablo by Buffer, you are able to create awesome images for free. It’s extremely quick and easy to use.
8. And if you are looking for pictures for your text when using Pablo by Buffer, you could go ahead and check out Pixabay and Stock Snap.io. They are website where you can find free amazing stock photos that can be used when creating websites.
9. One of the best ways to grow traffic is SumoMe. Nowadays, everybody is using it. It’s amazing for creating lists, heat maps and even popup emails.
10. Type Form is an online platform that provides free plans for creating forms, surveys, payment forms and others. It’s an outstanding way to display forms on the web and mobile.
