As a start-up, there are so many things to consider as you dive into the business world and launch your new business idea. The online world is full of helpful advice, programs and applications. It’s also full of bad advice, programs and apps that can hinder more than help. So how do you know which advice to follow or which programs and applications are going to help you? We have taken the time to sift through the online communities and bring to you a selection of the best of the best after being tried and tested by our team.
The 10 tools we have selected for this month are as follows:
GlassDollar
The process of fundraising can be pretty rough for early-stage start-ups. Stop chasing introductions and let GlassDollar connect you directly to top investors that match your startup. A simple to use website that connects you to an in-depth database of Angel investors and VC’s.
All you have to do is input all the information about your company or startup and GlassDollar will begin connecting you with the best possible matches of potential investors. These investors already have a track record in investing in companies in your industry.
Each investor is searchable. They have a profile dedicated to what they do and who they have invested in, within the GlassDollar application. This allows you to gauge if they are indeed the correct partner for you before any contact is made.
Hotjar V1
Do you know what visitors are doing on your website? Are they following the path you designed for them to follow? Why are they leaving? How are they interacting with your site?
is an all-in-one analytics and feedback application that gives you all the insight you could ever want to know. It takes the guess work out of understanding what users want, care about and interact with on your site by visually representing their clicks, taps and scrolling behaviour.
Identify usability issues by watching recordings of real visitors on your site as they click, tap, move their cursor and navigate across pages. Find the biggest opportunities for improvement and testing by identifying which page and at which step most visitors are leaving your site. Understand what your web and mobile visitors want and what’s preventing them from achieving it by targeting time or event based questions.
All of this and much much more make Hotjar the ultimate fine tuning tool for any company’s website.
Notify
Have you ever wondered if people are talking about your start up, company or app online? What are people saying about you that you aren’t even aware of? Notify keeps tabs on things for you.
Be notified in real time when someone is looking for your company’s service, helping you acquire more customers. Keep tabs on your competitors and help devise killer strategies to stay ahead of the competition by understanding what customers think about them. Find news articles, blogs and tweets about your business and start building relationships with authors who have the ability to take your business to new heights by their online influence.
Never wonder about what people are saying about you online ever again with this nifty little app.
Fieldbook
Fieldbook takes the power of a spreadsheet to a whole new level. With the power of a database wrapped up into the ease of use of a spreadsheet, without the degree required to understand how to use it.
Dump your information into Fieldbook like you would on any spreadsheet and watch the magic come to life. Projects and clients, pizza and toppings: Your data is related. Use those relationships to navigate your data and eliminate duplication. Advanced filtering, sorting and grouping let you find things quickly and focus on what’s relevant to the task at hand.
Build your book together or share forms to collect information. Fieldbook allows various file format imports, integration with other apps, as well as adding attachments. Add formulas and reports and view complex records with full-screen detail view.
Hey Press
One of the most time consuming things about PR is finding relevant journalists to contact to help give your business some much needed press attention. If you can even find their details, that is.
Hey Press will take all your headaches away with its searchable database of tech journalists. Simply enter a keyword to see the most relevant journalists for that topic – along with the articles they’ve written and their contact details. What could possibly be simpler?!
Not only does it help you garner attention, but Hey Press can be used as a very comprehensive database for research as well. With its hundreds of thousands of articles by thousands of writers, it could save you hours of precious time when doing research.
Eero
As their punch line so beautifully says, “Because life is too short for bad Wi-Fi”. And we couldn’t agree more!
Eero uses multiple access points and TrueMesh technology to cover every nook and cranny of your home in powerful and reliable WiFi. It works with your existing modem and any internet provider to deliver a consistently strong signal everywhere you need it.
The Eero unit works like a normal router would while its tiny signal extenders plug directly into any outlet to expand network coverage to every spot in your home — even hallways, bathrooms, and basements.
No more dead spots, buffering on constant reboots with this wonderful little piece of tech.
Final
Final is giving the power back to the people when it comes to who is controlling their credit cards. Their goal is to shift the credit culture towards consumer friendliness.
No longer will merchants have the power to decide how and when you are charged. The consumer has the “Final” say, handling all transactions in real-time, giving you an accurate reflection of your current bank balance. But it doesn’t end there.
With credit card fraud on the increase, Final have a brilliant system whereby you don’t have to cancel and reapply for new cards should this happen to you. They simply resign your existing card a new profile and refresh all your information with existing merchants.
Having total control over your credit card and blocking how merchants are able to access your credit line will go a long way to giving consumers peace of mind.
Tetra
Have you ever forgotten something important during a phone call because you were too busy concentrating on multiple things at the same time? Tetra uses AI to take notes on phone calls, to help you focus, remember the details, and keep your team in sync. It really is as easy as 1…2…3…
- Call through the app. High definition VoIP connects you to your recipient with crystal clear audio quality, all over WiFi or 4G.
- Tag important moments. Save highlights and action items with a single tap, to skip busy work and never miss a follow up again.
- Get notes and share. Keep everyone on the same page by sharing Tetra notes with team members, even if they couldn’t make the call.
Not only does Tetra give you the transcript of the conversation but it also allows you to review the audio of the conversation should you need to. Never worry about missing anything on a call again.
Writefull
If you are a blogger, Writefull is the perfect tool to take your writing to the next level. It gives feedback on your writing by checking your text against databases of correct language.
You can use Writefull in any writing tool – from MS Word to Gmail. Simply select a piece of text, hit the short-key to activate Writefull, and choose one of its many options.
Check how often your selected text is found in the language database, and see how it is used in context. Find out which words are used most often in a gap in your selected text. See which synonyms of a given word are used most often in your selected text. Along with a whole host of other things to help improve your writing.
We would love to hear your feedback on this month’s 10 tech tools for start-ups, creatives and savvy users. If you have tried any of the above applications, feel free to let us know your thoughts so our readers can learn from your experience.
