10 best business tools

Starting a business can be tough. There’s all sorts of things to do, and in the early days at least, you may well be the only one doing them. Luckily, there’s a plethora of tools out there that can give you a productivity boom – even when starting on a shoestring. From business communications tools to project management platforms and key hardware, there’s a bevvy of choices you can make to help your startup succeed.

Here, we’ve got a round-up of the top business tools that are going to help you get on track, so you don’t just hit your targets, but smash right through them.

Read on to learn about the business tools of today, and find out what’s worth purchasing to help get your business shipshape.

A business communications suite

Every element of your business success comes down to effective communication. Whether that’s nailing a video call with a key would-be investor, sending timely and professional email responses to your customers, or even managing the diaries and events of your own in-house staff.

Choosing the right platform for your business comms is one of the most critical decisions you can make. We all remember the panic of those first weeks of lockdown during the pandemic, when everyone started installing the free version of Zoom to do everything from yoga classes to company-wide announcements and client calls.

Lockdown is, thankfully, far behind us, and that means no more rushed choices for email, VoIP, calendars, documents and video calls. Smart businesses plan all of this with one set of tools to let staff seamlessly plan their day and collaborate without the friction of having to hop from one login to another.

In terms of what’s best, it’s hard to argue with the merits of Google Workplace. It’s a single professional suite that gives you everything from collaborative office docs (all safely saved in the cloud, not on individual devices) and effortlessly simple video calls and Gmail-powered business email.

Even more excitingly, Google is building AI into its suite of tools, thanks to the Google Duet function. It can do everything from help you craft an instant email response, to build a slick-looking slide deck for you, following a few prompts.

Pricing for Google Workspace is simple and approachable, keeping the platform competitive in a world where Microsoft 365 remains an alternative.

Swipe right to see more

0 out of 0

• backward
• forward

CHEAPEST PLAN
Business Starter	Business Standard	Business Plus	Enterprise
Cost £5 per user, per month for a one-year commitment	Cost £10 per user, per month for a one-year commitment	Cost £15 per user, per month for a one-year commitment	Cost Contact sales
Features Custom and secure business email 100-participant video meetings 30GB storage per user Security and management controls	Features Custom and secure business email 150-participant video meetings and recording 2TB of storage per user Security and management controls	Features Ediscovery and retention 500 participant video meetings and attendance tracking 5TB storage per user Advanced endpoint management	Features S/MIME encryption As much storage as needed Advanced security, management and compliance controls Noise cancellation and in-domain live streaming

Find the best Google Workspace plan for your team Compare Costs

Website Builders

Over a third of people look online before deciding whether or not they’ll pay a business a visit and invest in their product or service. A business website is your first opportunity to impress your audience and entice the buyer – without a website, you could be missing out on some spectacular sales opportunities.

It’s for this very reason that website builders are a small business game-changer. They can help you get your business online quickly and easily, all for a fraction of the cost involved in hiring a professional web developer.

For example, to hire a professional, you’re looking at forking out something in the region of £30 – £50 per hour (depending on the size of the job) – and that’s not even taking into consideration the cost of a domain, maintenance, and updates.

Taking a DIY approach to website building has never been easier, or cheaper. With a website builder like Wix, Weebly or Squarespace, you get a free trial, and can then pay as little as £8.50 per month for a business website.

Worried your website building skills aren’t up to scratch? Fear not – website builders provide a wide variety of good looking templates and tools to make building your own website a real doddle.

For a more comprehensive breakdown and full-fat comparison of the best website builders for small businesses, take a look at our dedicated page, which really gets into the nitty gritty of the website builders out there, helping you to make the best choice for your business.

Project management tools

The day-to-day can get hectic – especially when you’ve got so many aspects of a business to oversee. Having a tool that gives clear targets and direction to any project can help you stay on track. That way, you deliver on time, and there’s not a mad rush in the process.

Gone are the days of the post-it note reminder, stuck precariously to a desk. In the digital age, even your diary has to be digitised. And what better way to make sure you and your teams’ schedules are aligned than by using an online project management tool?

Accessible via both desktop and mobile – so you can keep track of the important tasks no matter where you are – project management tools are invaluable to those striving for business success through a balancing act of tasks. Tools to consider include:

Trello (free and user-friendly)

Monday.com (full project management Work OS)

Swipe right to see more

0 out of 0

• backward
• forward

Apple iPhone 15 Pro	Apple iPhone 14 Pro	Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4	Google Pixel 8 Pro	Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Best handset deal Vodafone £46 per month (+ £59 upfront) EE £55.27 per month (+ £30 upfront) O2 £42 per month (+ £30 upfront)	Best handset deal Vodafone £41 per month (+ £39 upfront) EE £62 per month (+ £30 upfront) O2 £61.24 per month (+ £30 upfront)	Best handset deal Vodafone £62 per month (+ £49 upfront) O2 £83.25 per month (+ £30 upfront)	Best handset deal Vodafone £37 per month (+ £49 upfront) EE £51 per month (+ £8.33 upfront) O2 £47.91 per month (+ £30 upfront)	Best handset deal Vodafone £58 per month (+ £49 upfront) EE £61.28 per month (+ £30 upfront) O2 £72.35 per month (+ £30 upfront)
Best SIM only deal BT Mobile £9 per month O2 £10 per month EE £13 per month	Best SIM only deal BT Mobile £9 per month O2 £10 per month EE £13 per month	Best SIM only deal BT Mobile £9 per month O2 £10 per month EE £13 per month	Best SIM only deal Plusnet £8 per month BT Mobile £9 per month O2 £10 per month EE £13 per month	Best SIM only deal BT Mobile £9 per month O2 £10 per month EE £13 per month

Choose the phones and plans you need to compare the best mobile contract costs for your small business Compare Plans

CRM Software

As the old adage goes, “the customer is always right.” And, whether you buy into this idea or not, the fact remains that maintaining happy and healthy customer relationships is essential to the smooth running and success of your business.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is the secret to a successful and sustained business/consumer interaction. CRM tracks, records and refines your communication with clients, helping you to optimise your sales tactics and target those who are most likely to buy.
A CRM provider is able to give you a 360-degree view of every customers’ data across one simple interface – great for scheduling communications, retargeting marketing, and creating killer campaigns.

Customer data can come in many forms, and a CRM system will monitor and manage this information effectively via a database used to track a variety of things. The sort of data that can be tracked varies from system to system.

For example, the software of your choice might monitor:

• Customer information
• Sales figures
• Team information
• Goals and targets
• Business information

Ultimately, the data collected will depend on the system you choose and the information you need.

Providers such as Insightly, Zoho, or Salesforce might be familiar sounding brands – but which is which, and who should you choose?

To help you make your mind up, and for a side-by-side comparison of CRM systems, take a look at our page on the best CRM for small businesses. Here you can find out which provider is best for budget, who’s got the easiest system to use, and which system to buy if you really want to drive those sales.

Digital marketing tools

In today’s digital age, 89% of UK adults say they’re regularly using the internet, while 9/10 UK households have internet access. This means that when it comes to marketing, every business has to be bringing its digital A-game, every step of the way.

‘Digital marketing’ is the process of promoting products or services using technology, mainly via the internet. It can include running campaigns for mobile, display advertising, and any other digital medium. Social media plays a part in this, as does Google, or any other search engine you use to run a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign.

Fortunately, the digital marketing minefield isn’t one you have to navigate alone. In fact, there are loads of tools out there that can help refine your digital presence, so you can market where it matters – and get on with running your business in the meantime.

The social media management tool Hootsuite, for example, has over 18 million users worldwide. It’s an exciting digital marketing tool that monitors multiple social accounts on one easy-to-navigate dashboard. This allows you to find and track your top keywords (making sure you’re at the top of the search pile), make multiple automated posts across various social media platforms, and respond to customers quickly and efficiently.

Merchant Accounts

A merchant account allows you and your business to accept credit or debit card payments, whether in person, over the phone, or online.

More than just a business bank account, a merchant account is crucial to the processing part of the transaction. However, where the money ends up afterwards is your choice (i.e. into a business or personal bank account).

A merchant account is a holding/current account that lets you process card payments. When a customer pays your business, the money goes into the merchant account to then be processed by your bank.

And when it comes to the modern consumer, card really is the new cash. Smaller and smaller purchases, like a morning coffee or newspaper, are being made on card – even black cabs have card machines in the back!

it’s clear that step by step, we’re edging towards a cashless society.

But, what does this mean for the everyday business owner? As we say, “out with the coin and in with the contactless.” You need to make sure your business is ready for any customer, whether they have cash or card ready in their hand.

The benefits of a merchant account are endless. Firstly, it will protect you from fraud – when payments are processed through the merchant account, fraud is detected and dealt with, so you’re never in the wrong. Secondly, they mean you can actually accept card; because if you’re currently working on a ‘cash only’ basis, you’re probably turning some very valuable customers away.

Keen to know more? Find out all about merchant accounts

Overall

By now, you should have an idea of what tools you and your business might need, and where you’re most likely to find them.

Follow the links throughout the piece for more in-depth accounts of each tool. We’ll make sure you’ve got all the resources you need to organise, grow, and promote your business successfully and efficiently.

From website builders to EPOS systems, the tools are there to help your business function at its best. It’s our job to make sure you find the best tools for the task.