Ultimate List of Small Business Resources
This blog may include affiliate links.
Running a small business is anything but easy and outsourcing your business tasks can get expensive. You may seem to find yourself wearing a lot of hats and it tends to get a little overwhelming. But I’m here to help! I have PERSONALLY used or seen the work these companies and people have provided first hand and I back this list of small business resources 100%!
Many of the links provided will give you freebies, free trial periods, or goods!
VINYL CUTTING
Transfer Tape - 12 x 100 roll, 12 x 300 roll, 24 x 100 roll, 24 x 300 roll
(Buying outside of the US? Click on your country -> United Kingdom, Canada & Mexico)
Vinyl (glossy) - (12x12 inch sheets) White , Black / (12 inch rolls) White, Black / (24 inch rolls) White, Black
Colored Vinyl, Textured Vinyl, Heat Transfer Vinyl
Vinyl Cutters - Silhouette (12 inch deck), Commercial Cutter/Plotter (24 inch deck)
Vinyl Tools - Scissors, Tools, Tweezers, Cutting Mats, Squeegee
BUSINESS EQUIPMENT
Electronics - Laptop, Printer, ipad, ipad pencil, 2 TB Harddrive
Office Furniture - Desk, Chair, Lamp, Small Organizer, Large Organizer
3D Printing - Printer, Tools, PLA
Laser Engraving & Wood Cutting - Glowforge, Bulk MDF Board
SOCIAL MEDIA
Later - A scheduling app for Instagram, Facebook etc. (My favorite & cheapest)
Planoly - A scheduling service for Instagram.
Tailwind - A Pinterest scheduling service that will 10x your traffic. It also has an Instagram option. (I only use the Pinterest portion and Tribes)
CraftKit - Emails your Etsy buyers with custom emails instead of the generic ones and includes email list sign-up along with product recommendations. (link provides three months 1/2 off)
Mailchimp - Email subscriber management and scheduler. (My favorite as it is free until 2k subscribers)
IFTTT - A trigger service you set up to copy your social posts to all platforms, have daily reminders sent to you, and can even make your home “smart”.
SELLING PLATFORMS
Etsy - A handmade marketplace. (Get 40 free listings by using this link)
Amazon - The largest online marketplace.
Amazon Handmade - A handmade marketplace brought to you by Amazon.
Amazon Merch - Upload your designs and have Amazon fulfill orders and send you a royalty on every sale.
eBay - One of the oldest online marketplaces.
Teepublic - Upload your designs and have Teepublic fulfill orders and send you a royalty on every sale.
Redbubble - Upload your designs and have Redbubble fulfill orders and send you a royalty on every sale.
Shopify - A website building service created for eCommerce businesses. Many plugins are available.
Squarespace - A website builder and hosting service that is easy to use.
Creative Market - Sell your creative goods.
PRINT-ON-DEMAND COMPANIES
These companies sync up with your shop to fulfill your orders and they ship direct to your customer under your label. Find out more about these here.
Printify - The best print-on-demand company you could ask for. (I use this for 95% of my products)
Printful - One of the largest companies with very easy-to-use tools and shop syncing.
Print Aura - Up and coming company I hear good things about.
Corjl - This is a customizable digital download platform. Meaning if you sell something that you can create a template for and when customers purchase they can do their own edits and download then this is the platform for you. This also works with custom designs that you can print later.
BULK PRINTERS
If you’re looking to buy in bulk and store at your location to ship as orders come in these are the companies for you.
999SpyGlass - Custom embroidered hats.
Prints Charming Co - Custom stickers, shirts, pin back buttons and event banners.
Stereo Print - Custom printed apparel.
ParkHopperSupply - Bulk wood and vinyl.
SEO HELP
SEO means Search Engine Optimization and it’s the use of keywords to be found on the internet (in search engines).
Google Trends - This helps find what is trending on Google search.
Marmalead - This service helps you optimize your Etsy shop to be more readily found in search. The Listing Grades and Storm features are most helpful.
E Rank - This service helps you optimize your Etsy shop to be found easier on Etsy. (The only part of this I use is the misspelling feature that is free!)
GRAPHICS
Canva - Free (and paid) make your own graphic program.
Adobe Suite - Programs like Photoshop, Illustrator and more.
Creative Market - A marketplace you can find weekly freebies as well as buy mockups, logos and basically anything you can think of.
Pic Monkey - A simple photo and graphic editing website.
SHIPPING SUPPLIES
Tape - Roll Tape, Packing Tape
Poly Bags - 10x13, 12x15.5, 14.5x19
Address Stamper - (My favorite)
SHIPPING COMPANIES
To save money I HIGHLY recommend not going directly with USPS, FEDEX OR UPS. The following companies have bulk accounts and pass savings onto you. Using Etsy Shipping or Paypal Shipping is simple and typically plugs into your shop however it’s not always the cheapest.
Pirate Ship - The cheapest FREE company that integrates with your shop and is SO easy to use.
Go Shippo - A paid label company that works well with Shopify.
Stamps.com - A paid stamp printing company that only integrates with USPS.
*If you ship things snail mail it is always better to buy BULK rolls of stamps from reputable sellers on Ebay. You do have to spend more but the savings are incredible. I typically save $200 every time I order from there as opposed to direct from USPS.
BUSINESS SUPPLIES
If you need supplies printed for your business getting them professionally done from the start will make such a difference.
Melissa Joy Creative - Car and storefront business signage.
Ace High Printing - This company is the cream of the crop and fellow small business. They print things like labels, banners, backdrops, table cloths, business/ rack/ door cards, brochures, drum covers, scrims, posters, prints, vehicle wraps, fleet lettering, vinyl signage, and indoor wraps.
Vistaprint - If you HAVE to use a “big box” printer I use them. The quality is not always on par, but if something is wrong they typically replace the order.
Quality Logo Products - This company creates a HUGE variety of promotional products that are printed with your logo and can be sold or given away at trade shows or events. These items vary from lip balms to pens to stress balls and more!
MEDIA HELP
Convertio - Convert any file type into another file type.
Epidemic Sound - Royalty-free music.
GifRocket - Turn a video into a gif.
Handbrake - Take a large video and slash the size of it to make it play quicker online.
ImageOptum - Take a large photo and slash the size for quicker load times.
PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEOGRAPHY & SOUND EQUIPMENT
RANDOM BUSINESS HELP
Dotcal - An appointment scheduler that has a both free and paid version that integrates with Google Calendar, Outlook, and more! use code MELISSJOY50 for 50% off
Quickbooks - The best-rated accounting software that integrates with Turbo Tax.
Wave - A free accounting software. (Highly raved, but I can not ever get it to work.)
Craftybase - A quick calculator that helps you price your items on Etsy and Ebay considering fees.
Google Analytics - Track all of your traffic and how they use your sites for free.
Bitly - Shorten weblinks to make them cleaner and simpler.
GET HELP ON PROJECTS
Upwork - Find independent contractors for specific tasks.
Fancy Hands - A monthly virtual assisting service.
Etsy on Sale - Auto-renew your Etsy shop products with this trigger service.
Grammarly - Grammer and spelling correction as you type.
