In 2004, I opened the doors to Creative Conners after 4 years developing the initial product line.

In my basement…

With a dial-up modem…

And I walked to school, up hill, both ways, in the snow…

If you’re anything like me, you like making stuff so much that you are driven to start a business, but the tools to run a business are uncharted territory. I stumbled quite a bit in those early days, but fast forward 19 years and there are many cheaper, and better, software tools available. If you have an idea for a product(s) and want to make it yourself, this is a great time to go for it.

If I was starting from scratch today, I’d make a beeline for the tools in this list and skip some headaches. Is this the definitive, be-all end-all list? Heavens no. But these are solid choices whether you’re just starting out, or trying to level-up an aspect of your business.

Product Design

Fusion 360

Making a machine, furniture, electronics, or a consumer widget? You’re going to want a 3D CAD program to design your product. I love the affordable price tag, the easy(ish) interface, and the dead-simple cloud storage for file management of Autodesk Fusion 360. It also has a web viewer with link sharing so you can send designs to customers or partners without requiring them to use more than a web browser to collaborate.

But wait, there’s more. Fusion 360 also offers integrated CAM for machining/routing/lasering so you can move from design to manufacturing without leaving the software. And, it is now has optional tools for schematic capture and PCB layout if you make electronics. What used to require at least 3 different, expensive pieces of software is available for a very reasonable annual subscription with constant improvements (sometimes too many, lol).

Bookkeeping

QuickBooks Online

There are 2 kinds of business owners:

those that admit they hate bookkeeping
liars

I kid, I kid (not really). The only thing worse than spending time to keep your financials in order is not having your financials in order. QuickBooks Online from Intuit makes it about as painless as I can imagine, and it’s super-easy to invite other members of your team, your freelance bookkeeper, and your accountant to see the books. And beyond straight up bookkeeping, you can add on Payroll and Credit Card Processing.

For the love of all that’s holy, do not use the desktop version. Keep it the cloud, make it easy to share, and watch your numbers.

Marketing

Canva

You gotta promote your products. And that means making graphics and getting them in front of customers. For making graphics, Canva can’t be beat for its selection of serviceably good-looking templates and easy tools. If you can hire a graphics designer, great! But maybe save your nickels and start with some clean, professionally design templates until the marketing flywheel gets up to speed.

Mailchimp

To get those shiny new graphics to entice customers, you’re probably going to be doing some email marketing. Your email campaigns either draw leads into your sales funnel, or support customers with handy tips and tricks to get the most out of your product. Mailchimp is inexpensive (even free depending on your needs) and easy to use. Bonus, it’s now owned by Intuit, so it seems likely this is on convenient collision course to be a low-cost CRM.

Selling

Shopify

Setting up an online store with Shopify is fast and affordable. It offers easy integration with MailChimp so you can craft your marketing onboarding to customers of specific products for a great customer experience. Even the lowest tier of their service have the tools you need to sell your products, capture payments, and ship orders.

Team Management

Basecamp

Once your company is more than just you, communication becomes both the hardest part of running a business and the most critical aspect. If your staff isn’t all pulling in the same direction, you’ll find either nothing is getting done or way too much stuff is getting redone. Keeping everyone informed of your goals and the progress towards them eliminates wasted effort.

Basecamp is a project management tool, but unlike most competitors, it focuses on communication rather than Gantt charts. With message boards, chat, shared to-do’s, and document storage, it keeps your work organized and the goals clear. It’s quick to set up projects for product development, marketing campaigns, and workspace improvements. If you collaborate with freelancers or other companies, inviting them to your projects is straightforward and free

Basecamp has been adjusting its pricing model recently to make it more affordable for smaller companies, and more capable for larger ones at an increased price. It’s might not the value it once was, but I still recommend it without (much) hesitation.

Inventory & Production

Off the Shelf

When it comes to keeping track of parts lists, purchasing components and materials, pricing products, and scheduling production of customer orders it couldn’t be simpler than Off the Shelf. We’ve been building this software to run our manufacturing business for nearly 20 years, so it has a ton of proven features. Like many of the tools on this list, it punches way above its weight. It may not be the most traditional take on how to manufacture, but I can confidently say it will save you valuable hours every week by automating the tedious parts of production so you can focus on what inspired you to start a small business — making great products!

With a free 30-day trial, an all-inclusive $100/month price, and painless integration with QuickBooks, Off the Shelf is simpler than any other MRP and sucks way less than trying to manage the intricacies of manufacturing with a pile of spreadsheets. And, if it doesn’t have exactly what you need, just speak up. We’re improving the software all the time to help small manufacturers run their business better.

6 SaaS Tools to Start Your Small Manufacturing Business