Starting a Business? Here's the Tech You Actually Need

You’re starting a business. You’ve read articles about tech stacks. There are hundreds of tools. Where do you even begin?

Here’s the honest guidance I give new founders.

Day One Essentials

You need exactly four things to function:

1. Business Email

Get a domain email. [email protected] matters.

Options:

  • Google Workspace ($6/user/month) - Simple, includes Drive and Meet
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($6/user/month) - If you prefer Outlook

Pick either. Just not a free Gmail or Outlook.com address for business.

2. Basic Accounting

Track money from the start. Please.

Options:

  • Xero Simple Start or QuickBooks Simple Start (~$15-25/month)
  • Wave (free, adequate for very simple businesses)

Get your accountant’s input. They’ll work with you at tax time.

3. Business Banking

Open a dedicated business bank account. Separate from personal. This is basic business hygiene.

Many Australian banks have digital business accounts. Westpac, CBA, or online-first options like Up Business.

4. Basic Online Presence

A way for people to find you. Options based on your situation:

  • Simple: Google Business Profile (free, shows in search)
  • Single page: Carrd or Linktree ($0-10/month)
  • Full website: Squarespace or Webflow ($12-30/month)

You don’t need a custom-developed website on day one. A clean template is fine.

First Three Months

Once you’re operating, add these as you need them:

Customer Communication

If customers contact you frequently:

  • For small volume: Your email works
  • Shared inbox: HelpScout, Freshdesk, or Front
  • Chat widget: Crisp (free tier exists) or Intercom

Don’t add complexity until you have consistent volume.

Invoicing and Payments

If you invoice customers:

  • Your accounting software probably includes invoicing
  • Stripe or Square for payment processing
  • For subscriptions: Stripe Billing or Chargebee

Basic CRM

If you’re tracking leads and deals:

  • HubSpot Free CRM
  • Pipedrive (~$15/user/month)
  • Even a well-structured spreadsheet to start

Add a CRM when you have leads to track. Not before.

Cloud Storage

Beyond what comes with Google Workspace or M365:

  • You probably don’t need more yet
  • If you do: additional Drive/OneDrive storage is cheap

First Year

As you grow to a small team:

Project/Task Management

When work needs tracking across people:

  • Trello or Asana (free tiers)
  • Notion (free tier)
  • Even a shared task list

Add when coordination becomes hard. Not before.

Team Chat

When you have 3+ people:

  • Slack Free
  • Or just use Google Chat/Teams included in your workspace

Basic Automation

When you’re doing repetitive tasks:

  • Zapier Free (limited but starter)
  • Make Free

One or two automations to eliminate the most annoying manual work.

What You Don’t Need Yet

I see startups buying tools they don’t need:

Enterprise CRM. Salesforce for a 3-person company is absurd. HubSpot Free does everything you need.

Marketing automation. If you’re not doing email marketing at volume, you don’t need automation platforms.

HR software. Until you have 10+ employees, spreadsheets and docs work for HR.

Project management complexity. Portfolio views and resource planning for a 5-person team? Overkill.

Expense management tools. For small teams, just use your accounting software or even a spreadsheet.

Fancy analytics. Google Analytics is free and sufficient until you have real traffic.

The Cost Question

Early-stage businesses should minimize subscription overhead.

A reasonable tech stack for a new business:

  • Google Workspace: $6/month per user
  • Accounting: $25/month
  • Domain and hosting: $20/month
  • CRM: Free
  • Project management: Free

Total: Maybe $50-75/month plus per-user email costs.

You can scale up as revenue justifies it.

The Upgrade Path

As you grow:

Revenue to $500k/year:

  • Upgrade accounting tier
  • Maybe paid CRM (basic tier)
  • Paid project management
  • Consider marketing tools

Revenue to $2M/year:

  • Proper stack for your team size
  • Integration between tools
  • Maybe IT support

Beyond:

  • Time for serious tech stack planning
  • Consider MSP or IT person
  • Think about systems integration

Each stage has different needs. Don’t buy for the stage you hope to reach.

Common Mistakes

Buying everything at once. Start minimal. Add when you feel pain.

Choosing based on features you might use. You won’t. Pick for current needs.

Annual contracts early. Monthly is more expensive but gives flexibility as you learn.

Building custom too early. Template websites, standard tools. Custom later.

Not starting with accounting. Catching up later is painful. Start clean.

The Decision Framework

For any tool decision:

  1. Do I need this right now to function?
  2. What’s the simplest/cheapest option that works?
  3. Can I upgrade later if needed?
  4. What happens if I don’t get this?

If you can’t clearly articulate why you need something, you probably don’t need it yet.

The Summary

Day One: Email, accounting, banking, basic web presence.

First Months: Add tools as specific pain points emerge.

First Year: Build out stack as team and complexity grows.

Always: Prefer simple, cheap, upgradeable. Avoid enterprise pricing until you’re enterprise-sized.

Focus on your business. The tech stack serves the business, not the other way around.