In this day and age, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of desktop and mobile tools available to help startups and small business owners establish themselves, develop a cutting edge, become more visible, save money and break even. Some of these apps, hard and software innovations, and other solutions are paid for. Many others, however, are free of charge, helping newcomers with limited resources to compete with their established counterparts. Our East Africa Ambassador Daniel Muraga from Kenya has dug deep to find the best free digital solutions with the highest impact in terms of helping entrepreneurs succeed.

Growth Supply

One of the best websites start-ups and small business owners have at their disposal is Growth Supply. This endless online resource provides heaps of information on free apps, software, and other digital/online solutions. These are divided into five categories: business, marketing, design/code, productivity and learning. The list is continually expanded as more freebies become available.

Medium

Another powerful online resource collection website is Medium. This platform lists no less than 300 mobile and desktop applications, software programmes and other tools for startups and businesses that are operating on a budget.

Afrinection

Afrinection gives start-ups and business owners from Africa access to insightful commentary and dialogue via its Forum and Blog and enables them to create meaningful connections via its Network. When it comes to setting up and running your business, and growing it, your network (and growing it) is a key asset.

Wordpress

Establishing a meaningful online presence is important. Creating and hosting your website and/or a blog has become more important than ever. Wordpress.org and Wordpress.com are two of the most popular platforms to achieve this. With WordPress.org, you host your own blog or website.WordPress.org is where you'll find the free WordPress software that you can download and install on your own web server. The best thing: you don’t have to be a coder, as you can use free themes and plugins to create a beautiful website or blog. We suggest linking your site with popular social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Afrinection for an even bigger impact.

Due

One of the main questions start-ups struggle with revolves around getting paid without being charged the earth. Most banks and online payment platforms tend to charge high commission fees. Whilst Paypal will remain one of the most popular and safe payment gateways, Due provides more services than being able to send and receive money. It, for instance, features invoicing facilities, time tracking tools, credit card processing and many more features – all free of charge for free.

More solutions

Coming up with a business name is difficult, but not when you use Naminum, a company name generator that was designed to make name-storming sessions smoother and easier. Lean Domain Search helps generate a domain name for your site in split seconds, and to design your logo free of charge Logaster is the place to be.

Content can make or break your business. If writing is not your strongest skill, use Grammarly to make your blog and website content flawless. Store or back-up your content using Hive, the world’s first free cloud-based back-up provider. In the same breath, Google provides a number of free business tools, including Google Drive, Google Docs, and Mail.

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About the author: Daniel Muraga from Nairobi, Kenya, is Afrinection's East Africa Ambassador. He is an experienced writer and avid social media buff with a passion for Africa, entrepreneurship, IT innovation, and driving the continent forward. 

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