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Staying stuck in a 9-to-5 is the worst nightmare for most corporate employees. A few years ago, when I felt like my day job was draining me, I took the leap of faith and quit to start my own business.
Now, I know starting a business from scratchcan seem like a big deal. You need capital, a noteworthy product, and a solid marketing campaign. However, in the digital world, it is as simple as starting a new Instagram account or opening a new Facebook page.
This ease and accessibility have eventually created fierce market competition. Today, it is much easier to start a business but very difficult to keep it afloat, especially if you are a startup with a limited budget. Just like my business, most startups do not have enough money to hire people, which eventually affects their productivity and work.
So, what is the answer?
Well, there are tech tools that make running a business much easier. Moreover, if you have money to spare for AI-based business tools, you can also automate repetitive tasks.
If you are a business owner and still trying to figure out the best tools for business, then keep reading. This write-up will cover some of the best tools that can help you run a business.
Top Tech Tools for Small Business
· ChatGPT
This app needs no introduction. Most of us have used it already. From students to teachers, marketers, and business owners, ChatGPT is used everywhere.
As a business owner, ChatGPT can help you get rid of all the extra time and effort you spend on creating detailed emails, marketing material, and other details. Moreover, you can use this app for marketing, writing drafts, copies, blogs, and emails for clients, and much more.
This app can also be used for customer support and translation, especially if you are offering your services to people from other ethnicities. Large-scale businesses in the USA generally offer customer support in multiple languages because they have a huge labor force. For instance, one of the largest ISPs in the US, Optimum, offers a dedicated hotline for their Hispanic customers at Optimum servicio al cliente en español. Since small businesses mostly do not have this luxury, they can rely on ChatGPT for various outputs for customer support, such as bilingual email responses, live chat scripts, or translated FAQs.
· Canva
For running a business and launching a marketing campaign, design plays a very important role. However, hiring a professional designer is expensive, especially for a startup witha limited budget. This is where a simple drag-and-drop design tool like Canva comes in.
With the help of Canva, you can design everything in no time. This tool also has professionally designed templates that are free and can be edited as per your liking. The best thing about Canva is the AI-prompt feature that will help you design a complete post from a prompt. Moreover, it has a bulk design option so you can copy and paste a prompt, and Canva can automatically create a lot of designs as per your requirement.
· Buffer
Another very fun and useful tool, Buffer, helps with social media marketing. With the help of a Buffer, you can schedule all the posts simultaneously. So, if you have bulk posts for the whole month ready, this dashboard will help you speed up your work.
Apart from post scheduling, this dashboard also offers better insight into the paid marketing campaigns. You can compare the performance of different posts, check engagement, and other analytics as well. Buffer is an excellent solution for social media marketers who are handling multiple accounts across different channels simultaneously.
· CapCut
Now, I know Canva has video editing tools and templates that you can use for business purposes. However, Canva is just for beginners who have no idea how to utilize professional video editing tools.
If you are looking for an easy video editing app for Instagram reels and YouTube shorts, CapCut is the perfect tool for you.With the help of this tool, you can find simple and easy-to-use templates for video-editing. You just need to add your raw footage and pick a background music from their sound library. Apart from this, you can also record a voice-over in your own voice, choose a sound from YouTube, or just add any other song of your choice.
· MailChimp
Email marketing is one of the best ways to boost sales and raise awareness for your business. Even as a small startup, if you get to collaborate with other brands, email marketing can help you strengthen your brand.
MailChimp is an excellent email marketing tool, especially for small businesses facing budget restrictions. This tool also has a free version with limited features and 1000 monthly emails, 500 contacts, and a 500-email daily limit. In case you have never tried email marketing for your brand before, MailChimp can help you try different segments, contacts, and other details.
Running a business is not just about marketing; it is also about maintaining a steady supply chain and ensuring that operations run smoothly. The above-mentioned tools are just about tech products and marketing, so, reader is encouraged to explore other tools that can be ideal for operations, supply chain, and other aspects of business.
