You don’t need twenty apps to run your business. You need a few well-chosen ones that your team actually uses.
The digital tools we recommend most to entrepreneurs are Canva for design, Notion for projects and documents, Zoho for customers and sales, Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini as AI assistants, Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for email and files, Google Analytics to measure your website and Slack for team communication. All of them have a free plan or an affordable entry tier, and they’re the ones we use every day at Tebiko.
Below we cover what each one is for, when it’s worth it and how to combine them without overcomplicating things.
Canva: design without being a designer
Canva lets you create social posts, stories, store banners, presentations, flyers and even short videos from templates you can adapt to your brand.
Why we recommend it: you can save your logo, colors and fonts in a brand kit so everything you design looks consistent, even when someone different makes it each time.
Who it’s for: any business that posts on social media or needs visual materials often. It has a free plan and paid plans with more templates, the brand kit and AI tools.
Tip: build your own templates for your most common formats (promotion, launch, testimonial). You’ll save time and your brand will look the same everywhere.
Notion: your office in one place
Notion is a workspace for documents, databases, tasks and wikis. In one place you can keep your to-do list, content calendar, team processes, meeting notes and project information.
Why we recommend it: it replaces several scattered tools (notes, spreadsheets, task managers) with a system that adapts to how your business works. At Tebiko we run our entire internal operation in Notion.
Who it’s for: founders and teams who feel their information is scattered everywhere. It has a free plan for personal use and paid plans for teams.
If you’d like a system built around your team, we’re Notion experts.
Zoho: customers, sales and operations
Zoho is a suite of business apps. The best known is Zoho CRM, for tracking leads, following up on deals and not losing opportunities, but it also covers forms, invoicing, inventory, support and more.
Why we recommend it: many of its apps connect to each other, so you can start with a CRM and add pieces as you need them without switching vendors. At Tebiko we use Zoho for our forms and client follow-up.
Who it’s for: businesses that sell services or high-ticket products where follow-up matters. Several of its apps have free plans for small teams.
Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini: an assistant to think and write with
AI assistants like Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini help you draft emails and product descriptions, summarize documents, prepare proposals, analyze spreadsheet data, brainstorm or work through technical questions.
Why we recommend them: they take hours off repetitive tasks and help you get started when you’re staring at a blank page.
How to use them well:
- Give them context. Explain who your customer is, your brand’s tone and what you want to achieve. The clearer you are, the better the result.
- Always review. Check facts, prices and any claim before you publish it.
- Don’t share sensitive customer information unless you’re sure how the tool and your plan handle it.
Which one to pick: all three have a free version and paid plans with more capacity. Try them on your real tasks and keep the one that works best for you; many teams use more than one.
Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: professional email and files
An email address on your own domain (you@yourbrand.com) builds far more trust than a free one. Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 give you professional email, calendar, cloud storage, documents, spreadsheets and video calls.
Which one to choose:
- Google Workspace if your team works mostly in the browser, collaborates in real time and already uses Gmail, Drive and Google Meet.
- Microsoft 365 if your team relies on desktop Excel, Word and PowerPoint, or your clients work in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Both are excellent; what matters is picking one and getting the whole team working there. At Tebiko we use Google Workspace.
Google Analytics: measure what happens on your site
Google Analytics tells you how many people visit your site, where they come from (Google, social, ads, email), which pages they view and how many end up buying or contacting you.
Why we recommend it: without data, you’re deciding blind. With Analytics you can see which campaign worked, which page has problems and which channel deserves more investment.
Who it’s for: any business with a website or online store. It’s free. Connect it alongside Google Search Console, also free, to see which searches bring people to you from Google.
Tip: set up your key events (purchases, form submissions, clicks to call or chat). Measuring visits without measuring results doesn’t tell you much.
Slack: team communication
Slack organizes team conversations into channels (sales, projects, clients, support) instead of mixing everything into personal group chats.
Why we recommend it: it separates work from personal messages, keeps an organized history by topic and connects with many other tools for automatic alerts (for example, when an order or form comes in).
Who it’s for: teams of three or more working on several projects at once. It has a free plan with limited history and paid plans.
How to build your toolkit without overload
- Start with the basics: professional email, one place to organize tasks and a way to measure your website.
- Add one tool at a time. Give your team a few weeks to adopt it before adding another.
- Avoid duplicates. If you already manage tasks in Notion, you don’t need another project manager.
- Connect what you can. Many of these tools integrate with each other and with your online store, which saves manual work.
- Review what you pay every quarter. Small subscriptions add up.
Quick reference
| Need | Tool | Free plan? |
|---|---|---|
| Design for social and your store | Canva | Yes |
| Projects, documents and processes | Notion | Yes |
| Customers and sales (CRM) | Zoho | Yes, on several apps |
| AI assistant | Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini | Yes |
| Email and files | Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 | No, but entry plans are affordable |
| Website measurement | Google Analytics | Yes |
| Team communication | Slack | Yes |
The essentials
The best tools for running a business aren’t the newest ones, but the ones your team uses every day without thinking about it. Start with a few, connect them and let them grow with you.
If you’d like help organizing the technology behind your business, Tebiko offers digital business consulting and Digital Ops to keep your operation running better every month. And if you sell online, start by choosing the right platform with our guide to the best platforms to sell online.