Written by Drew Adams

Anyone who has ever been an entrepreneur knows that growth requires tools for small businesses to run efficiently. At the beginning of your journey, those tools were simple: Microsoft Word, simple Excel spreadsheets, and any messaging app. This is a great start! These tools are (mostly) free and get the job done when you’re working on a small scale. But I’d imagine you’re here because you’re feeling the squeeze. You have too many tasks or orders to track in Excel. You lose track of your to-do lists that you’re keeping in a notes app. It can be frustrating when the business seems to outgrow your organization. Enter these three tools for small businesses that  Let’s Venture uses every day! Today we’ll talk through tools for organization, finances, and communication. Let’s jump in!

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Tools for Small Business: Asana

One thing that we talk about here at Let’s Venture is process. Process is key! You need all the time you can get to grow your business, bring on new clients, and lead your teams. Enter Asana! Asana is a self-proclaimed “work management” platform. It is designed to help keep teams on track and organized throughout a variety of different projects and initiatives. I have used Asana in my previous roles as a project manager, and I brought it to Let’s Venture and Between The Pine (my wife’s photography company, check it out here!). You have lots of options for how you want to organize your tasks and projects. By not forcing you to use one view or style, Asana appeals to all types of small business owners. Best of all, you can use the free version indefinitely to make sure you find value in it before buying!

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Tools for Small Business: Quickbooks

There are few things more important in small business management than financial management. With taxes, billing and expense tracking, it can be nearly impossible to run your finances without a dedicated tool that helps you stay on top of things. Quickbooks can be the tool that gives you the organization that you need! Every transaction for our companies goes through Quickbooks to ensure we are tax compliant, and this helps our accountant easily close the books each month and year. Honestly, having Quickbooks can actually save you money each year. Keeping your finances organized will pay for itself, and Quickbooks is the tool to achieve that organization!

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Tools for Small Business: Slack

We’re living in an increasingly virtual world, with an ever-increasing number of methods of communication. When growing your small business, communicating with contractors, team members, or employees is a necessity. At the Let’s Venture School, Slack is our preferred method of communication. We use Slack for group insights, sending links, and virtual meetings. This tool has changed the way we do business. From quick access to information, to ensuring everyone is on the same page, Slack gets it done. It’s been easy to integrate new team members and using it is simple.  If you’re considering a platform for centralizing communication for your business, look no further than Slack!

Tools for small businesses are essential to not only growing your business, but keeping it running smoothly. From finances, to organization, to communication, these tools cover the whole spectrum of small business needs, and they can help you take the next step in your entrepreneurship journey. Give these tools a look: one of them might be just what you and your team needs to succeed!