What are some great online tools for startups? Why?

[Startup Questions]

This is a question asked by an anonymous member at our most recent event in London.

[James]

Running a startup can feel like you're constantly juggling a hundred different tasks at once. From managing finances, marketing, team collaboration, to customer engagement, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s why finding the right online tools is essential. They can help streamline your workflow, save you time, and make your journey as a founder a lot more manageable, especially in the fast-paced world of 2024 and 2025, where efficiency is more critical than ever!

Here are some great online tools for startups that can make all the difference:

1. Trello

Starting off simple, Trello is a brilliant project management tool. Running a startup means managing projects across different departments, whether it's product development, marketing, or customer service. Trello’s intuitive boards, lists, and cards help you track everything from big-picture goals to day-to-day tasks. In 2024, when remote working is more common than ever, the ability to easily share tasks with your team and visualise progress is priceless. It helps you stay organised without overwhelming your team.

Why it's great: It's flexible, visual, and perfect for managing both solo and team-based projects.

2. Slack

In 2024, seamless communication is key to running an agile, dynamic startup. Slack is the go-to communication platform that brings all your team’s conversations together in one place. It cuts down on endless email threads and keeps everything organised. You can create channels for different projects or departments, making it easy to collaborate whether your team is working remotely or in the office.

Why it's great: Slack is easy to use, integrates with hundreds of other tools, and keeps communication fast and efficient.

3. Xero

Managing your startup’s finances can be one of the most tedious and stressful parts of running a business. But with Xero, accounting becomes a lot easier. This cloud-based tool lets you manage invoices, payroll, expenses, and more—all in one place. Especially in the UK, where taxes and VAT can be tricky, Xero’s ability to sync with your bank account and generate reports instantly is a lifesaver.

Why it's great: Xero is user-friendly, perfect for non-accountants, and offers robust financial reporting to keep your business healthy.

4. Notion

Notion has become a startup favourite in 2024 because of its versatility. Whether you're creating a team wiki, documenting SOPs, planning content, or managing databases, Notion can do it all. It’s highly customisable and can replace several other tools by centralising information, notes, tasks, and collaboration into one platform. For startups needing a flexible, all-in-one workspace, Notion can reduce the clutter of too many tools.

Why it's great: It combines note-taking, project management, and knowledge sharing in one tool—making it ideal for scaling businesses.

5. Canva

Whether you're creating marketing assets, pitch decks, or social media posts, design can be a huge time sink for startups. That’s where Canva shines. Canva allows non-designers to create professional-looking graphics, presentations, and social media content easily. For startups in 2024 and 2025, where content creation and branding are crucial to standing out, Canva is a game-changer.

Why it's great: Easy-to-use design software with thousands of templates—perfect for creating stunning visuals without needing a design team.

6. HubSpot

Building customer relationships is key to growing any startup. HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that helps startups manage their marketing, sales, and customer service operations in one place. It’s incredibly useful for tracking leads, automating marketing emails, and staying on top of your customer pipeline. In 2024, where personalisation is king, HubSpot's automation tools are essential for nurturing leads and keeping customer engagement high.

Why it's great: Offers a complete suite for marketing, sales, and service—allowing you to automate processes and focus on building customer relationships.

7. Asana

If Trello doesn’t quite cut it in terms of detailed project management, Asana is another fantastic tool for managing tasks, timelines, and workloads. In fast-growing startups, keeping everyone on track can be tough. Asana’s project management tools allow you to create tasks, assign them to team members, and set deadlines, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The visual timelines and task dependencies make it easy to manage larger, more complex projects.

Why it's great: Asana is ideal for startups that need more structured, detailed project management and tracking.

8. SEMrush

For any startup that wants to grow online visibility in 2024 and beyond, SEO is essential. SEMrush is an all-in-one marketing toolkit that helps you improve your SEO, run PPC campaigns, analyse competitors, and more. With SEO playing a huge role in lead generation and brand awareness, SEMrush gives you the insights you need to optimise your digital presence.

Why it's great: A powerful tool for startups looking to improve their SEO, analyse competitors, and run successful digital marketing campaigns.

9. Zoom

In the post-pandemic world of 2024, virtual meetings are still very much the norm. Zoom remains a key tool for startups to connect with team members, clients, and partners across the globe. Its reliability and simplicity make it a must-have for running efficient online meetings, whether you're presenting a pitch, running a team meeting, or holding a webinar.

Why it's great: Zoom offers seamless video conferencing, webinars, and collaboration tools for both internal and external communications.

10. Google Workspace

For a complete office solution, Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is indispensable for startups. With tools like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and Google Meet, you can manage everything from email to document collaboration in one place. It’s especially useful for remote teams, allowing seamless document sharing and collaboration. The integration across Google’s ecosystem makes this a must-have for productivity.

Why it's great: Offers a full suite of productivity tools for emails, document creation, storage, and meetings—all synced in the cloud.

These tools are more than just software—they're lifelines for startups trying to make their mark. Whether you're just starting out or looking to scale, these platforms will help ease the tedious work, giving you more time to focus on what matters: growing your business and making an impact.