Top 10 Tools for Entrepreneurs

Sometime ago youngentrepreneurs organized a poll to find out the top tools for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs send in what they consider were the top tool for them as entrepreneurs and finally the site pick eight tools to be the top tools for entrepreneurs.

The youngentrepreneurs list was quite insight for me and here I am going to list those tools and add two tools I think should also be on that list.

Tool #1. Books / Magazines. This top’s youngentrepreneur list and I think that should be experted. Here are a few Reading material: BRW (Business Review Weekly) magazine, How to Win Friends and Influence People (Dale Carnegie), A New Earth (Earkhart Tolle), Loosing my Virginity (Richard Branson). I also recommend reading some classic books such as Competitive Strategy – By Michael Porter, Blue Ocean Strategy – by Chan Kim, Gentleman, A Timeless Fashion – by Roetzel, Market Based Management – by Roger Best

Tool#2. Websites. Interactive Business Planner is great. IBP: New User Registration It’s a really good business plan wizard. Each section is broken down into bite-size pieces, has clear explanations and an example excerpt from a business plan. It’s provided by the Government of Canada but I don’t think there is any reason it wouldn’t be useful to anyone else. SMEtoolkit is another great site for entrepreneurs.

Here are some tools I find to useful as an entrepreneur and think you will find them useful:

- Management Methods | Management Models | Management Theories – I find it useful as a quick reference/refresher tool.
- Docstoc.com. Free legal forms and business templates – It’s a great repository to quickly find free templates for business documents (e.g. b-plans, legal templates, etc.).
- Online Project Management, Group Collaboration and Document Sharing ~ Huddle – Have found it useful for collaborating on projects.
- Scan, copy and fax with your camera phone or digital camera – Sort of an odd tool, but can be useful for digitizing information you put on a whiteboard.

Most people have also find great ideas for their business from my blog: http://www. askentrepreneurs.blogspot.com

 

Tool #3. Pen and Paper. This is simply a can’t do without tool for every entrepreneur. Remember the saying,” The pen is mightier than the sword.” 

 
Tool #4. Business Cards. Customized Multimedia Business Card and Way To Wealth Marketing System are great tools for entrepreneurs.
Tool #5. Network / Peers. Networking with other entrepreneurs and sharing ideas with them is a must for today’s entrepreneurs.
Tool #6. Mentors. Having a mentor can make a huge difference to your results. Ideally make it someone you can meet with in person on a regular basis which helps keep you under pressure to achieve.
Tool #7. RSS Readers. Google Reader for quickly skimming through industry news and events.
Tool #8. Blogs. This is fast becoming a necessary tool for entrepreneurs. Check out my blog on quotes: http://www.whynotaskmillionaires.blogspot.com
OK, that’s the top eight tools from the youngentrepreneurs site. Here are the other tools that have been great for me.
Tool #9. Google. This my personal top tool.

 
Tool #10. Media. I don’t know how any entrepreneur can do without this.




So, there you have it, my top 10 tools for entrepreneurs.