5 Essential Digital Tools for a Thriving Small Business in 2025
Cover image by SumUp via Unsplash
If I had followed my father's wishes, I'd be arguing in a courtroom before a judge right now. But instead I pursued my dream of running a small home-based digital marketing agency. This year, I finally opened one by teaming up with a few childhood friends. Being fresh business graduates, everything was a challenge for us. However, one thing we were particularly careful about was making the right investment in digital tools to take our baby business to greater heights.
Not only did those digital tools/software help improve efficiency but incredibly boosted our business's performance. Below, I'll share those tools/software that are helping my business thrive.
Before I start, know that these tools/software are bandwidth-heavy, and require an active connection to work efficiently. For my small home-based business, I've subscribed to Spectrum Internet now because my previous ISP wasn't able to provide sufficient bandwidth to run these tools/software. You may also contact Spectrum customer service if you ever want to switch to a reliable and affordable internet service provider.
Now, let's dive into tools/software that are helping my business thrive:
Best Tools for Small Businesses
1. Asana - Best for Project Management:
Platforms Available On: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Features:
- Asana lets you break down tasks into multiple sub-tasks and assign them to your team. You can also place a completion deadline on these tasks.
- Asana also lets you automate routine and redundant tasks so you can spend the same time on high-priority and sensitive tasks.
- Asana can be integrated with over 200+ different tools and software.
- You can collaborate with external vendors, clients, suppliers, and others in a secure manner on Asana.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Asana offers hundreds of integration options with famous tools/software like Salesforce, Zoom, etc. | Asana may be expensive for larger teams. |
| You can easily monitor your team's progress on different tasks. |
Best Thing About Asana?
Although Asana has many commendable features, the best thing for me is how easy it is to keep track of all the tasks on the platform. With the help of Gantt Charts, Kanban Board, List, and Calendar View, I can always keep an eye on completed and pending tasks.
Pricing:
The following plans are offered by Asana:
- Personal Plan is free for individuals and small teams.
- Starter Plan costs $10.99 per user per month
- Advanced Plan costs $24.99 per user per month
2. HubSpot - Best for Marketing:
Platforms Available On: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Features:
- With simple drag-and-drop options, you can create a fully functional website for your clients with HubSpot website builder.
- From automating email marketing campaigns to building a responsive chatbot and efficient workflows, you can do it all.
- You can also efficiently manage multiple social media campaigns on different social platforms with HubSpot.
- You can review different marketing campaigns and get detailed performance insights with HubSpot.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| HubSpot can be integrated with over 100+ tools and software. | HubSpot's basic version may offer limited functionality. |
| Besides marketing, you may also get help from HubSpot to generate leads and close sales. |
The Best Thing About HubSpot?
Before using HubSpot, I always wanted a tool that could cover multiple social media platforms simultaneously. Simply because the clients wanted to market their business across different platforms. So, HubSpot's feature where I can manage multiple accounts and campaigns on different platforms is one of the most useful features I've come across for my business.
Pricing:
Besides the free version (up to 2 users) with limited features, HubSpot offers the following plans:
- Marketing Hub Starter costs $15/mo. per seat.
- Starter Customer Platform costs $15/mo. per seat.
- Marketing Hub Professional costs $800/mo. (includes 3 seats, $45/mo. for an extra seat)
- Marketing Hub Enterprise costs $3,600/mo. (includes 5 seats, $74/mo. for an extra seat)
3. FreshBooks - Best for Accounting and Finance:
Platforms Available On: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Features:
- FreshBooks can generate helpful financial documents like balance sheets, ledgers, and trial balances instantly.
- FreshBooks can also reconcile your accounting books once you connect the business account to the platform.
- You can customize your business invoice, for instance, by adding dates, payment terms, or business logos on FreshBooks.
- FreshBooks automatically maintains a record of payments received from customers via the FreshBooks' Invoices.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| FreshBooks takes extensive security measures to protect users' data. | FreshBooks' cheapest plan offers limited features. |
| You can integrate your payroll on FreshBooks. |
The Best Thing About FreshBooks?
One thing I like the most about FreshBooks is how easily and quickly one can generate financial statements from this platform. Be it to analyze the profits or study overhead costs, FreshBooks may eliminate your need to hire a costly accountant, as it did mine.
Pricing:
FreshBooks offers a 30-day trial period. Besides that, the following plans are offered by FreshBooks:
- FreshBooks Lite costs $7.60/mo.
- FreshBooks Plus costs $13.20/mo.
- FreshBooks Premium costs $24/mo.
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
4. Salesforce - Best for Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
Platforms Available On: Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
Features:
- Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM that you can remotely access from anywhere.
- With Salesforce, you can effectively manage your current and potential customers' details such as emails, phone numbers, social media profiles, or websites.
- Salesforces can generate detailed reports on how you can improve customer relationships and boost sales.
- Salesforce offers multilingual AI chatbots, called Einstein Bots that can be deployed across different support channels.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Salesforce offers a lot of customizability and you may personalize this software to your team's requirements. | Using advanced CRM features may be complex for some users. |
| You create omnichannel customer support for your customers. |
The Best Thing About Salesforce?
The AI-backed chatbots offered by Salesforce are super smart and reliable. With this tool, I was able to handle multiple customers simultaneously. Moreover, creating and integrating chatbots across different platforms is also a hassle-free process.
Pricing:
Besides a 30-day trial period, Salesforce offers the following plans:
- Salesforce Starter Suite costs $25 per user per month
- Salesforce Pro Suite costs $100 per user per month
- Salesforce Enterprise costs $165 per user per month
5. NordVPN - Best for Data Security:
Platforms Available On: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android.
Features:
- NordVPN can identify and intercept malware, viruses, and other security threats on the internet.
- With NordVPN, you can create a mesh net to share work files securely.
- The Double VPN feature provides an additional security layer to protect our data.
- NordVPN can secure multiple endpoints and devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, or desktops simultaneously.
Pros and Cons:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| NordVPN offers more than 7,000 servers in 118 countries. | Price fluctuations may be frustrating for most users. |
| NordVPN uses strong encryptions like AES-256. |
The Best Thing About NordVPN?
Most VPNs may slow down internet speeds because the incoming and outgoing data first goes through the encrypted VPN server. However, I have not experienced any slowdowns in internet speeds and always send/receive heavy files seamlessly while connected to NordVPN.
Pricing:
The following plans are offered by NordVPN:
- NordVPN Lite costs $8 per user per month (5 users minimum)
- NordVPN Core costs $11 per user per month (5 users minimum)
- NordVPN Premium costs $14 per user per month (5 users minimum)
- NordVPN Enterprise Offer costs $7 per user per month (50 users minimum)
Disclaimer: Pricing is subject to change.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Should we utilize free trial of any business tool/software?
Yes, it's advisable to utilize free trial of any business tool/software to analyze if it addresses your business needs.
Should we keep the customer support of any business tool/software in mind before purchasing it?
Yes, business tools/software need to be backed with reliable support so in case of any malfunctioning, you may always seek their help.
Are free business tools/software effective?
Free business tools/software can be effective but may offer limited features and functionality.