You have already come to terms that you will have to come out of pocket and that starting a business can be very costly. From finding the right talent, the perfect location, and everything in between. However, if you are looking to mitigate the costs of starting your own business you’re in luck. There are countless ways that you can save your hard-earned money during the beginning process of your business.
Free Business And Project Name Generators
Now before you launch your business you will have to choose the perfect name that best represents your business. Finding the perfect name can be challenging and take longer than expected. If the name you are looking for is taken you may need to get creative in the types of characters you are using. Creating a unique name for your business will not only differentiate your business from others that have a similar name but also will help potential customers find you.
To help you through this process you can use various tools that will not only help you find the best name for your business but also check if that domain has been taken. Using sites such as Domainr, Lean Domain Search, and Name Stall are just a few sites that can help you find the best name that fits you and your business. Now that you have found the perfect name and domain for your business it’s time to create your brand.
Free Branding, Logo, and Design Tools
At this point, you have your business idea, business name, and domain. However, you are far from complete. Now it’s time to consider your business’s brand and logo. Once again this is vital. Your brand and logo is what’s going to stick with everyone that comes across your company. You want to make something stand out that pleasing to the eye and ultimately leave a good impression for future customers.
Believe it or not, there is a psychology to choosing the most receptive colors for your business. Depending on your business and target market you will want to carefully choose the colors you use simply because those colors will be what people will associate with your brand. For example, orange and yellow promotes optimism and is used to create a sense of anxiety that can attract impulsive buyers to your store. However, colors such as green are associated with health, tranquility, and nature. Therefore, you must choose the colors that best align with your company and the services or products your company provides.
Free Coding Resources and Website Builders
Now that you have found the perfect brand, logo and color scheme, you’re going to have to create a place for your customers to get a better understanding of you, your team, and the purpose of your company. That being said, it’s time to create a website. Now if you have seventy-five thousand dollars to spare feel free to hire a professional web developer. However, if you don’t have that amount of money you may need to start thinking of alternative methods to build your website. If that’s the case you’re in luck.
There are various places you can go in order to build the perfect website for free or for a small fee. You can learn how to code yourself by using resources such as Codecademy, or use sites such as WordPress where you can use different customizable templates that best fits your business. When using these websites you will notice that there are free templates and templates that you can purchase. Believe it or not, these resources can be used by anyone, those that have little to no experience coding or by coding experts.
Keep in mind, some resources may offer more tools and require more technical skills than others. That being said, there are platforms that are best for simplistic one-page micro websites, and others that are more complex for building complete websites. Therefore, you should choose which platform is best not only for you and your expertise but also a platform that enhances your customer experience. Now that you have built the perfect website, it’s now time to fill your site with content.
This content should be catered and crafted for your target market. So before you begin to load content onto your site, you will need to do research on what type of content your audience is most receptive to. Once you have an idea of what content will work best for your business it’s time to create content.
Free SEO and Site Analysis Tools
Just like above, you can use various tools to help optimize your website and track important data points. In terms of SEO and site analysis tools, there are tools that are more technical than others. Using site analytics for SEO (search engine optimization) analysis tools can truly take your business to the next level. Therefore, by implementing SEO tools correctly you should enable your target market to find your company as easy as possible and have the ability to monitor all the traffic that is coming to your site without too many complications.
If you don’t have the money to hire a content marketing agency you may need to do this on your own. Don’t worry, there are plenty of tools to help you do this. Depending on the website platform you decide to use, there are plugins such as Yoast SEO Plugin, Facebook Audience Insights, and Keyword Tool that will help you monitor your websites traffic and optimize the content on your website to help your audience find you with a quick google search.
Free Writing and Editing Tools
At this point, you may not be an expert at creating content, but there’s no need to worry. Even though you expect to come out of pocket, there are various ways to prevent you from digging too deep and make a profit from the jump. For example, the content that you will need to produce to gain traffic to your site or blog can be written by you. Instead of hiring an expensive PR agency or an in-house team you can take care of all your editorial needs. If you aren’t the best writer there is no need to worry.
There is plenty of editing software that can look over your shoulder to make sure that everything is grammatically sound. Don’t be confused, this software can’t replace a professional. On the bright side, this will save you a tremendous amount of money in the early stages of launching your business. So once you’ve begun to generate consistent revenue, then it’s time to start thinking about hiring that PR agency or in-house team to take over your editorial needs.
Free Legal Docs
Before you hit the ground running, you will want to make sure that your business has implemented the right policies to avoid legal trouble. Instead of hiring a very expensive legal team or lawyer, use these tools and legal doc generators to help save money. Using websites such as Docracy or Termly can help you create simple contracts, small business forms, and policy generators in a timely manner. So instead of stepping foot in a local law firm, download these templates from the comfort of your home or office to make sure your company is running properly.
Free Management Tools
We all can agree that time is money. That being said, who wouldn’t want to optimize their time and increase not only their productivity but also the productivity of your team as well. Utilizing management software programs such as Asana, Notion, and Trello can streamline all your processes and ensure that nothing is missed. These software programs have user-friendly calendars and various templates can declutter your ordinary management system. These advances software tools can help you prioritize certain tasks to ensure that you aren’t spending too much time on menial tasks.
Fortunately, many of these web tools and software come with free trials or freemium pricing. In addition to these tools, you can even take advantage of free coupons from Yahoo and other established companies that pride themselves on helping entrepreneurs like yourself get their business off the ground.
At the end of the day running your own business can add a lot of unwanted pressure not only to you but your team as well. With every step and process, you may encounter some challenges, but by using these tools it will mitigate the stressors of starting your own business.
When used properly, these tools will help you spend your startup’s budget on what matters most — running your business, and putting your business you on the right track to success. To show you all the cost-effective ways you can save money and not break the bank, Wikibuy has compiled a list of 21 business freebies for you in the infographic below!
Read next: How Brands Can Use Social Media to Influence Consumers