A HUGE List of Free Resources to Help Run Your Home-Based Business

February 27, 2018 62 Comments This post may contain paid and/or affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy for further information.

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By Holly Reisem Hanna

Leaving the security of a steady paying job to launch a new business can be a scary endeavor. Even if you've planned and saved six months worth of living expenses, often it takes months to start generating income from your business.

And guess what?

Even if you don't have money coming in, your business still incurs expenses to run smoothly. But don’t despair, there are tons of free tools, resources, guides, and printables, so you don't have to break the bank.

Here's a massive list of free business resources so you can focus on making money instead of spending it.

1. Free Website.

Since you won't have a brick-and-mortar location, the heart of your home-based business is your website. Having a site allows people to window shop your services and products, it helps them find you via the web, and it conveys valuable information. Personally, I think it's in your best interest to own your website (purchase your domain name and hosting), but if you can't afford a website right off the bat, I suggest using a free option until you can afford to switch to a more robust platform.

A few things to note about free platforms. Usually, you're limited to a small number of web pages, you'll have limited bandwidth and storage, and often you'll have a sub-domain. If you can spare $2.95 a month, I highly recommend setting up your own website with WordPress. Not only is it affordable, but it's also extremely simple to set up and use, and it will give you a professional looking website.

2. Free Online Productivity Tools.

You'd think as much as I'm online, that I'd rely heavily on online productivity tools, but I don't. As you'll see below, I like to use real-world tools to help me stay organized. But if you prefer online time management tools – here's a great list to keep you on track.

Cozi – Simple family organizer
ClickBook offers free online appointment scheduling
Doodle – Scheduling application that will sync all of your calendars together
Evernote – Virtual to-do list
Google Calendar – Online calendar
RescueTime – Time tracker
Todoist – Task manager
Toggl – Time tracking app, free for up to 5 users

3. Free Printables.

I'm old school when it comes to planning and organizing. For all of my personal and business activities, I use a physical planner, calendar, notebook, and tons of printables. From grocery lists and daily to-dos to packing lists, chore charts, and business goals. If you're looking for free printables to organize your business and life this list has you covered.

Dave Ramsey – Budgeting forms
Dave Seah – Productivity tools
Frugal Fanatic – Budgeting, debt reduction, worksheets
Mainstream Mom – Meal planning, organization, and budgeting
momAgenda – Planning, checklists, and tracking sheets
Money Saving Mom – Meal planning, household management, and weekly goals
Productivity Flourishing – Planners and productivity worksheets
Thirty Handmade Days – Downloadable budget binder
Travel Mamas – Packing lists
SimpleMom – Checklists, charts, and more

4. Free Finance Tools.

When I first started my business, I used a spreadsheet for all of my income and expenses. Not only has the process manually intensive, by it made tax-time a nightmare. Save yourself the frustration and use a professional platform. The resources listed below offer invoicing, budgeting, planning, bookkeeping, and accounting solutions.

BudgetSimple
H&R Block – Free tax preparation checklist and free online tax filing for 1040EZ, 1040A, and 1040 with Schedule A
Intuit QuickBooks – Free 30-day trial
Mint
PearBudget
Wave

5. Free Business Templates.

When you're running a business, you'll find yourself searching for all types of forms and templates that you don't even know you need until a particular situation arises. When the time comes, here are some great resources to have bookmarked.

Frugal Entrepreneur – Business documents, templates, and forms
SCORE – Business planning, financial, marketing, and management templates

6. Free Content and Project Management Systems.

When you're a service provider (virtual assistant, freelance writer, graphic designer, etc.), you're going to have multiple projects and clients to manage. The best way to stay on top of everything is by using a content or project management system to keep you organized.

Airtable – Free spreadsheet and data table management tool
FreedCamp – Free project management tool
Trello – Online collaboration and management tool
Wrike – Task and project management tool

7. Free Marketing Tools and Platforms.

It's been said that you should spend at least 20% of your time marketing your business. With hundreds of ways to market your business, you should be able to find a formula that works for you. Here are a few free platforms and resources worth checking out.

BoardBooster – Pinterest scheduler (500 pins a month for free)
Clearstream – Free SMS marketing (25 messages per month)
Craigslist – Free online advertising
Facebook – Free social media marketing platform
Free Press Release – Submit your press release for free
EZ Texting – 250 free SMS marketing messages per month
Hootsuite – Manage your social media marketing efforts in one place
Hotcards – 100 free business cards (pickup at their Cleveland Headquarters is free, shipping elsewhere is extra)
HubSpot – Free email signature
Instagram – Free photo sharing media platform
LinkedIn – Professional social networking website
MailChimp – Free email marketing for up to 2,000 contacts
OneSignal – Send out unlimited push notifications for free
Pinterest – Visual marketing platform
SendInBlue – Free email marketing, up to 9,000 emails a month
Survey Monkey – Allows you to gather feedback, collect data, and analyze survey results
Tailwind – Pinterest and Instagram scheduler (free month)
Twitter – Free social media marketing platform
Vero – Instagram-like social media platform (free for the first million users)
YouTube – Video marketing

For more budget-friendly marketing ideas, check out these articles:

8. Free Administrative Tools.

You may already have Microsoft Office on your computer, but if you don't, the yearly subscription can be pricey. Here are some other options that work great and they're free.

Cute PDF – PDF conversion tool
GoogleDocs – Word processing, spreadsheets, forms, slides, and more
OpenOffice – Word processing, spreadsheets, multimedia presentations, and more
PrimoPDF – Create PDFs for free

9. Free Communication Tools.

It's funny when you work in an office setting you don't even think about all the different methods you use daily to communicate with others – the technology and systems are already in place. However, when you run your own business, you'll quickly learn that you need a whole host of tools. Luckily, there are lots of free and reliable options.

FaxZERO – Fax documents for free, up to three pages, two times per day
FreeConferenceCall.com – Conference and video calls, up to 1,000 people for free
Google Chat – Talk to other people over the internet for free
Google Hangouts – Video chat
Hot Recorder – Record calls for free
IFTTT – A free tool to get all of your apps and devices communicating effectively with each other
LetterMeLater – Schedule emails to be sent in the future
Mikogo – Desktop sharing tool, ideal for web conferencing, online meetings, or remote support
Skype – Free call, video chat, and instant message for Skye to Skype users
WebEx – Free video conferencing free for up to three people
Zoom – Video and web conferencing service (free up to 100 individuals)

10. Free Design Tools and Stock Images.

As an entrepreneur, you'll take on many roles. Quite frequently that role is a graphic designer. But no worries, you don't need any special training to create professional-looking images, presentations, and marketing materials; these tools are both free and easy to use.

Burst – Free stock photos
Canva – Simple design platform and photo editor
COLOURlovers – Color ideas, palates, patterns, and trends
Dreamstime – Stock photos and images
FontSquirrel – Free fonts for commercial usage
FreePhotos.cc – Free stock photos
Morguefile.com – Free stock photos for commercial use
OpenShot – Free video editing software
Pexels – Free stock photos
Pixabay – Over 600,000 free images and videos
ResizeImage.net – Resize images without losing quality
Unsplash – Free stock photos

11. Free Tools and Resources for Bloggers.

If you run a blog, there's no doubt that you'll need some specialized tools to make your blogging efforts easier. Here are some that I use and recommend.

7 Surefire Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight – Free mini e-book on how to make money blogging
120 Awesome Blog Post Ideas – 120 topic ideas for writing fantastic content
Askimet Plugin – Stop spam comments on your blog with this free plugin
Blogging Success – My free 28-page e-book that covers blog writing, getting traffic, and monetization methods
Blogger Assessment – A free quiz that tells you if you have what it takes to be a successful blogger
Capitalize My Title – Title case capitalization tool for blog posts and subject lines
CoSchedule – Free headline analyzer
DisclosurePolicy.org – Generate a free disclosure policy for your blog
Google Analytics – Free website traffic stats
Grammarly – Free editing software
Gravatar – Create a globally recognized avatar, helps brand your blog identity
Rafflecopter – Free software for running giveaways
Random.org – Randomly choose winners for your giveaways and contests
SmallSEOTools – Plagiarism checker for guest blog posts
The Blog Structure Blueprint – A free tool to organize your blog
Yoast – Free SEO optimization plugin for your blog

Are you ready to make money from home this year, but you're not sure what direction to take? Here are a bunch of FREE online courses that can help take the guesswork out of what work-at-home career path you should take.

One last note about business freebies. There will come the point where your time becomes more valuable than saving a few bucks. So as you grow, invest in the proper tools that will ultimately save you time and money; as freebies often have limitations.

Good luck with your new business!

Do you have a free resource or business tool that you can't live without? Drop us a note below, we'd love to hear what you're using.

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Originally published November 25, 2009. Content updated February 27, 2018.

This page includes affiliate links. Please be aware we only promote advertising from companies we feel we can legitimately recommend to our readers. Please see our disclosure policy for further information.

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