For all small business owners, creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, or side hustlers, this one is for you. This is your go-to list for all of the helpful resources and tools you could ever possibly need to run your business!
For small business owners, creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and side hustlers, navigating the world of business can be overwhelming. Thankfully, with the right resources and tools, you can streamline your processes, boost productivity, and ultimately thrive in your entrepreneurial journey. Below is a carefully curated list of 50 essential resources, organized by category, to help you maximize efficiency and creativity in your business.
Trying to do it all or know it all while running your business just isn't realistic and will only lead to burnout. So all of the resources and tools below are here to make your life easier, and help your business run a lot smoother.
As remote working and small business life continue to evolve, small business software and tools can really empower your working processes to achieve results faster, stay organized, keep on top of tasks and get your business thriving.
Over the course of running Kelp Collective, and working with heaps of clients across various fields allover the world, I’ve discovered so many resources that are absolute game-changers for small business owners. So, I wanted to share the love and compile a list of some of the most helpful and beneficial resources that I've found along the way.
Whether you're just getting started in your business, or looking to streamline the way you're already doing things, this list has got you covered for all small business resources. The resources and apps are all divided into categories, to make it easier for you to scan through and find what you're looking for!
Project Management and Organization
Asana is a powerful project management tool that allows you to collaborate with your team, create to-do lists, and organise projects effectively. It’s perfect for visualising tasks, tracking progress, and ensuring everyone stays on the same page.
Trello offers a visual way to manage projects and tasks using boards, lists, and cards. Ideal for creative individuals, it provides a customisable platform for tracking work progress and organising ideas in a fun, engaging way.
Notion combines note-taking, task management, and project tracking in one versatile platform. This all-in-one workspace is perfect for small businesses and freelancers looking to keep everything organised and easily accessible.
A project management and remote team communication app, Basecamp makes it easy for people in different roles with different responsibilities to communicate and work together. It’s a place to share files, have discussions, collaborate on documents, assign tasks, and check due dates.
ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and project management tool suitable for businesses of all sizes and industries. Features include communication and collaboration tools, task assignments and statuses, alerts and a task toolbar.
Invoicing and Finances
QuickBooks is user-friendly accounting software tailored for small businesses. It simplifies managing cash flow, tracking expenses, and sending invoices, making financial management a breeze for busy entrepreneurs.
Xero is a cloud-based accounting solution that connects seamlessly with your bank, allowing you to manage your business finances from anywhere. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy to track income and expenses efficiently.
An online accounting platform with business services for small businesses, Sage accounting is a set of small business management tools that offers accounting, payroll, payments and time-tracking tools for small businesses and sole traders.
Payment Platforms
Stripe is a versatile payment processing platform that enables businesses to accept payments online with ease. Its customisable APIs allow you to create a seamless checkout experience for your customers.
Square provides a complete solution for payment processing, inventory management, and sales tracking. Its user-friendly interface makes it an excellent choice for small businesses looking to sell in-person or online.
PayPal is a trusted platform for online payments, enabling businesses to send and receive money securely. With low transaction fees and extensive global reach, it’s an ideal choice for international transactions.
Website
Shopify Shopify is the leading eCommerce platform, perfect for small businesses looking to create an online store. With its user-friendly interface and extensive app marketplace, you can easily customise your storefront and manage sales.
Squarespace is a beautifully designed website builder, ideal for creatives looking to showcase their work. With customisable templates and built-in SEO features, it’s great for establishing a professional online presence.
Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder that makes it easy for anyone to create a stunning, customisable website without coding knowledge. Its intuitive design features are perfect for small business owners and creatives alike.
Weebly is a website and eCommerce platform. Using a drag-and-drop website builder that enables users to create professional websites with no coding knowledge. It's one of the simplest site builders on the market.
Woocommerce is a free plugin to create an online store on WordPress. It provides a full range of complete e-Commerce features. With this plugin, users can easily display products for sale and can be customized on the online selling website.
The drag-and-drop, no-code website builder for photographers and creative professionals. Showit is super useful if you want to have more freedom and control over design customizations.
CRM Management
A comprehensive client and business management system designed for freelancers, creative entrepreneurs, and small businesses. Dubsado offers tools for managing the entire client journey, from lead generation to project completion, with an emphasis on automation and customisation.
An all-in-one business management platform designed for creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners. It streamlines your workflow by integrating key processes like project management, invoicing, client communication, and contracts all in one place.
Email Marketing
A leader in email marketing, Mailchimp offers a user-friendly interface for managing email campaigns. Its robust analytics tools help you track engagement and optimize your strategy over time.
Flodesk focuses on making email marketing beautiful and straightforward. With stunning templates and intuitive design features, it’s perfect for creative entrepreneurs who want to enhance their brand presence through email.
Spelling and Grammar
I could not live without Grammarly! Installed as a plugin on Chrome, it edits and corrects your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and more with your personal writing assistant, grammar checker, and editor.
The easiest way to automatically convert text to title case (AMA, AP, APA, MLA, Chicago), sentence case (with proper noun handling), uppercase, or lowercase. Try it out!
Communication and Collaboration
Slack is a popular communication tool that brings your team together in one platform. With organised channels, direct messaging, and integration capabilities, it creates collaboration and enhances productivity.
Zoom is an essential tool for virtual meetings and webinars. Its high-quality video conferencing capabilities make it easy to connect with clients, team members, and collaborators from anywhere.
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is a suite of productivity tools that includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, and Calendar. It’s perfect for small businesses looking to collaborate in real-time and streamline communication.
Flock Flock is a business collaboration hub that helps you get more done, faster, with direct and group messaging channels, video conferencing, secure file sharing, shared notes, company directories, and custom team mailing lists.
Creative Communities
Uncommon Club is a vibrant community designed to connect creative entrepreneurs. It offers networking opportunities, collaborative projects, and resources to help you grow your business alongside like-minded individuals.
ilovecreatives is a community that supports and empowers creative entrepreneurs through networking events, resources, and collaborations. It’s a great platform for finding inspiration and connecting with fellow creatives.
The Creatives Help Desk is a supportive community offering resources, workshops, and mentorship for creative professionals. It’s a valuable space for networking and sharing insights with others in the industry.
Stock Images
A premium stock photo and video platform for creatives who are tired of seeing the same overused, uninspiring images across the web. Unlike traditional stock photo sites, Death to the Stock Photo offers high-quality, authentic visuals created by talented photographers, curated with a focus on creativity and originality.
A unique stock photo platform specifically designed for marketers and business owners who want to avoid using duplicate or overused images in their content. With a database of carefully curated, under-the-radar images, Dupe Photos helps brands break away from the typical stock imagery found on mainstream platforms.
Time Management
Toggl is a simple time-tracking tool that helps you monitor how much time you spend on various tasks. It’s perfect for freelancers and small business owners looking to optimize their productivity.
Calendly simplifies scheduling by allowing clients and colleagues to book appointments based on your availability. It’s an efficient way to eliminate back-and-forth emails and save time.
Fully automated time tracking software, Rescue Time works as a revolutionary productivity assistant in your task bar providing focused work time, work focus goals, automatic time-tracking, distraction blocking, and more.
Social Media Management
Planoly is my favourite social media management tool, it’s specifically designed for visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest. With Planoly, you can easily schedule, plan, and analyze your social media posts, making it a perfect choice for creative entrepreneurs and small business owners!
Later is a visual social media scheduling tool that makes it easy to plan and manage your Instagram posts. Its drag-and-drop interface is user-friendly and designed specifically for visual content.
Marketing Tools
Headline Studio is a headline analyzer that helps you craft compelling titles for your content. Great headlines drive clicks, and this tool provides insights to help you improve your writing.
Moz offers powerful SEO tools to help businesses improve their online visibility. From keyword research to site audits, it’s an invaluable resource for small business owners looking to enhance their search rankings.
Design and Editing
Canva is a user-friendly graphic design tool that allows you to create stunning visuals for social media, presentations, and marketing materials without needing design expertise.
Adobe Creative Cloud provides access to industry-leading design software, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. It’s essential for anyone serious about creative design and multimedia projects.
Creative Resources
Creative Market is an online marketplace for community-generated design assets. The site sells fonts, graphics, illustrations, mockups, icons, templates, web themes, stock photography, and other digital goods for use by web creatives.
Behance is the world's largest creative network for showcasing and discovering creative work. It is an excellent tool for showcasing your work to potential clients and finding inspiration.
Dribbble is a self-promotion and social networking platform for digital designers. It serves as a design portfolio platform, jobs and recruiting site and is one of the largest platforms for designers to share their work online.
For artists and designers, Society6 is an online marketplace that offers a wide range of products created by independent artists from around the world.
Online Marketplaces
The original online marketplace for handmade, vintage, custom, and unique gifts, Etsy is a great platform to use if you have a small creative product-based business as it's global, easy to use and widely used by customers.
Faire is an online wholesale marketplace for retailers and brands. The platform provides powerful sales, marketing, and analytics tools, so sellers can simplify their wholesale business and focus on making great products.
Podcasts
A podcast dedicated to empowering freelancers with tips, stories, and strategies to thrive in their careers.
This podcast offers actionable advice for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and improve their productivity.
This podcast opens up on the honest reality of what it takes to scale a leading, purpose-led brand - directly from the folk who have done just that.
This curated list of resources provides small business owners, creative entrepreneurs, freelancers, and side hustlers with the tools and support needed to succeed in today’s competitive landscape. From project management and invoicing to marketing and creative communities, these resources are designed to help you thrive in your business journey.
I hope this list has inspired you and provided valuable insights into the best tools for enhancing your business operations. Some of the links contain affiliate recommendations for platforms that I highly recommend and personally use!
L x
Laura Mackenzie
Creative Virtual Assistant at Kelp Collective
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