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Game-Changing Software Solutions to Power Your Startup

Scott Gerber
Scott Gerber
business.com Member
Jul 20, 2015

These software options cover your customer service base.

Startups and small businesses need more bang for their buck, so founders are picky when it comes to choosing core operational software.

These high-performing options have user-friendly interfaces and offer multi-purpose features.

Some may even fully integrate with your current systems and apps.

The following entrepreneurs from YEC hand-picked these software as being superior to similar versions on the market.

MailChimp Features Screenshot

Image via Mailchimp

1. MailChimp

My company has used every email marketing platform under the sun through various client campaigns and MailChimp hands down is my favorite. We generate a good amount of our leads via our email campaigns, and everything from their split-testing to list segmenting capabilities are so simple to use. We try to get all of our clients to use MailChimp simply because it's so easy for them to grasp. – Jonathan Long, Market Domination Media

2. Basecamp

Basecamp is at the center of everything we do. Without it, our team would have a much harder time keeping up with tasks, to-dos and important dates. Basecamp alleviates the need for literally dozens of emails a day and makes it super easy for everyone on the team to stay on the same page without interrupting others to ask questions. – Brittany Hodak, ZinePak

Related Article: How to Improve Workplace Communication to Further Success

3. Trello

Trello is the easiest way for our team to collaborate. It's simple, intuitive, and gets the job done. We can quickly add a new hire to our boards, and they will pick it up almost immediately. We use Trello in almost every aspect of our business: hiring, managing clients, business development and of course software development. – Dan Sapozhnikov, AdGate Media LLC 

Image via Shopify

4. Shopify

We love Shopify. Setting up our website was a breeze, tech support is amazing and the integration to countless apps makes it the gold standard for web-based retail. Our sales seamlessly integrate to our shipping software and QuickBooks, and lead generation integrates to MailChimp and Klaviyo. The mobile app is also amazing! It's an entrepreneur's dream. – Josh Sprague, Orange Mud

5. Searchmetrics

Searchmetrics is one piece of software that our company uses on a daily basis to come up with content that ranks and that people are searching for online. We focus our content around it, which gives purpose to every article we write. It's seriously one of the best software that I've ever used for content. – John Rampton, Due

Related Article: Content Marketing: 5 Tips for Better Brand Content

6. Ryver

Ryver is hands down the most useful tool I use. It covers the need for documented collaborative communication that software like Slack and HipChat are known for, but it also has many of the functions of Basecamp. Plus, it has an interface that is very user-friendly. It feels like a combination of Twitter and Facebook. That, all in one spot, makes for a winner in my book. – Christie Kerner, Launch MiE

Help Scout Screenshot

Image via HelpScout

7. HelpScout

Here at Edgar, we love HelpScout for facilitating excellent, fast responses for our customers. HelpScout is easy and intuitive to use and has some really cool features like data on average response times and customer ratings. As a CEO, HelpScout makes it really easy to check the performance of my customer service team in a few clicks. – Laura Roeder, MeetEdgar.com

8. Google Apps for Work

Google Apps for Work handles most of our IT needs. With features like email, file storage, chat, secure user authentication and more, Google Apps for Work provides a one-stop "hub" to build our internal infrastructure. It's superior to competitors like Microsoft 365 due to the range of third party applications available and its integration with Google services, which are best in class. – Nanxi Liu, Enplug

Related Article: Investing In the Future: How to Turn IT Expenses Into Investments

9. Asana

We looked at various tools for project management, especially with remote employees, and Asana is best. As the CEO of a digital agency that consults Fortune 500 companies, I need to be able to quickly look at a dashboard of projects and understand the status of projects without having to ask each team member. Asana allows me to do all this and more. – Ania Rodriguez, Key Lime Interactive 

uservoice screenshot

Image via UserVoice

10. UserVoice

Customer feedback is the single most important thing to our development cycle, and there's no better way to gather, organize and respond to that feedback than with UserVoice. In addition, their built-in support desk allows this to be our one-stop customer service dashboard that has elevated our customer experience. – James Simpson, GoldFire Studios

11. New Relic

New Relic, a software analytics company, is a great tool for any company that utilizes software in its business model. We use it to quickly diagnose any IT issues we may have and fix them to ensure fluidity in our product and services. – Sathvik Tantry, FormSwift

Image Credit: Chainarong Prasertthai / Getty Images
Scott Gerber
Scott Gerber
business.com Member
Scott Gerber is the founder of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses. Gerber is also a serial entrepreneur, regular TV commentator and author of the book Never Get a “Real” Job.