The Ultimate List of Small Business Software

Running a small business in today’s world can be daunting. Having the right tools for the job can make or break your business and save your sanity. Right now, it is a great time to be an entrepreneur, but you will be required to wear many hats to be successful. Having access to good small business software will help you wear those hats with confidence!

If you don’t know where to start, here are several great programs to consider. 

Email Marketing

MailChimp offers several plans from free up to $299 a month (with several much more affordable options in between!). You can easily get by with the free plan when you are first starting out. The free plan includes seven marketing channels, one step automations, basic templates, marketing CRM, surveys, website generation, and custom domains. You can always move up, and their prices are very affordable. 

iContact offers a free 30-day trial, and then their lowest subscription is $50 a month. iContact has great customer service and offers professional looking email campaigns. Their basic $50 a month subscription includes a drag and drop editor for easy design, HTML editor, template library, stock image library, targeted follow-ups, email, and automation reporting. 

Social Media Management

By and large, Hootsuite is considered by to be the best for watching social media allowing you to monitor and link all of your social profiles. It is loved by professionals and small businesses alike. Their motto is “Social is your superpower!” They offer a free 30-day trial and then the lowest price is $29 a month. With this you get 10 social profiles, unlimited scheduling, and one user. 

Loomly is another good social media management platform. They have a 15-day free trial. Their lowest price is $25 a month (paid for in yearly increments). They offer two users, 10 social accounts, ad budget cap, and unlimited content. 

Feedback Generation and Surveys

GoogleForms allows you to create surveys and forms as easily as creating a document. They are quickly becoming the standard in the industry. They do not offer a free trial, but their base program is very affordable at $6 a month. GoogleForms is part of G Suite, which is another good program to consider. 

SurveyMonkey is very popular and has been for many years. They allow you to sign up for free, but they do not offer a free trial. Their lowest plan runs $25 a month. You can easily create surveys, quizzes, and polls for any audience, gather feedback via weblink, email, mobile chat, social media and more. Survey Monkey automatically analyzes your results and allows you to export their results easily into a spreadsheet. 

Website Building

WordPress has been around for a long time and they have thousands of free and premium themes to help you get started. It not only offers website creation, but blogs and e-commerce. They have 24-hour support via email and chat. Their prices run from free to $45 depending on your needs. 

Wix has a very easy to use platform and features a drag and drop editor, beautiful professional web design and allows you to get a live site going in minutes! They provide 24-hour support via phone and email. They also offer a free account, or you can get more bells and whistles for about $13 to $49 a month.

Squarespace is an all-in-one website building solution that allows you to make professional and compelling websites for your business. They have a plethora of templates and provide a comprehensive list of resources to help build your business. There is no free account option and prices run $12 to $40 a month. 

Online Payment Tools

PayPal is the premier online payment tool go-to for many people, both personally and professionally. They have been in business since 1998. You can accept in person credit cards as well as online payments through them. It is easy to access your money either through their debit card which you can apply for or direct deposit into your bank account. In most instances, you will have immediate access to your funds. 

Square Payments Processing. Not only can you accept online and in person payments with their app, you can also create an ecommerce store with them. They will send you a free reader which you can attach to your phone. It usually takes 24-48 hours for your money to transfer into your account.

Shopify will also allow you to build your entire e-commerce store and website easily integrating payments. Again, you can take payments in person or online. They also have a free 14-day trial. As with Square, it takes 24-48 hours to have access to your funds.

Print Marketing

Vistaprint has been in business since 1995. Often thought of as primarily a business card printing company, Vistaprint has so much more to offer. They have great marketing materials, digital marketing (including website and e-commerce), search engine management as well as signage, brochures, and other awesome promotional products.

Moo offers business cards, postcards, flyers, stickers and other marketing materials with a little more of an edgier design. They are affordable yet feel very high end.

Legal Document Generation

LegalZoom allows you to get the help of a lawyer, register a trademark, create a will, or maintain compliance as a corporation. You can either work directly with one of their independent attorneys or use their self-guided legal services. They charge a flat fee for services, so you are never surprised.

Calendars and Booking

Calendly is considered one of the top booking software platforms available. Calendly can connect with up to six of your calendars to automatically check availability. Their basic plan is totally free and allows you to integrate with Google Calendar, Office 365, Outlook, and iCloud. You can schedule unlimited events. You can also add Calendly to your website. They do have plans that offer more including MailChimp, PayPal, and Zoom integration. 

Accounting and Bookkeeping

In general, QuickBooks is considered the best accounting software for small businesses. They have been in business for 28 years helping small businesses track and manage their funds. They are used by over 7 million customers worldwide, and they also offer a 30-day free trial. 

The team at Accounovation, a technology-driven, process-focused, and people-powered accounting f