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Tech Stack for Founders: Succeed in Your Business Start-Up with These Tools
Chantal Seiter3/1/2023
Helpful tools and tips for your business formation
Table of contents
- The business idea has hit like a bolt of lightning and your euphoria knows no bounds: The excitement is great - totally understandable! Instead of falling into blind activism now, however, you should rather structure yourself well and take care of your business plan.
- The "," is a service of Lexware that accompanies founders in the initial phase of their start-up. For this purpose, the all-rounder for business software not only has a business plan tool in store, but also supports for example in the search for funding and in the creation of the first invoices.
- Revenue Streams
- What also helped them get started are a whole range of practical tools. But in the end: trial and error wins. You get to know the most suitable software for your To-dos by using it yourself. Most providers offer free base or test versions.
- involve.me
- Lisa and her team have tried out a lot of tools. "You always start somewhere and then notice in the process: 'Ah, I need a tool.' It is already valuable to understand the relevance of tools from the start," advises the founder. What Lisa would have liked to have known about on day one is "," by Dropbox for sending documents: “That is a true gamechanger, especially in fundraising, because you get all kinds of insights there." With the tool, you can send Pitch Decks without having to worry about file size and get an overview of values like opening rates or how long individual slides are viewed.
- And once these first, really big steps are done, you can find out how to best continue in ","Part two of Tech Stack for Founders",". Happy founding!
- Die Tool-Tipps der Gründer*innen im Überblick
- Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn
In our article series Tech Stack for Founders, we present you practical tools for your start-up. From pre-planning to marketing, you get helpful software solutions for your new business. Plus, there are also tips from real entrepreneurs.
You have a business idea and you're wondering what's next? Your online store would enrich the internet, you're sure of that? No matter what you have in mind: In this article, we'll give you helpful tools, such as ",", that will make your life easier on the path to being an entrepreneur. So that the first steps with your start-up are successful, entrepreneurs also share their most important tips with you. Good luck! awork Business planning is half the life
The business idea has hit like a bolt of lightning and your euphoria knows no bounds: The excitement is great - totally understandable! Instead of falling into blind activism now, however, you should rather structure yourself well and take care of your business plan.
If you want to make cool products or need a team, you often can't avoid financing, as the TV show "The Lion's Den" has taught us at the latest. A business plan provides important persuasion work for potential investors, your bank or the employment agency (keyword "," start-up grant ","). In addition, it can help to realistically assess your business idea, identify financial hurdles and analyse the market.
What belongs in a business planThere is no universally applicable guideline for the structure of a business plan. However, some points are relevant for potential financiers and have been proven with banks. In the end, however, you write the business plan for yourself - so you should rather see what seems tedious at first glance as a chance to position yourself well from the start.In order for your idea to survive out there, you should clarify questions about business idea and distribution in the business plan. And a financial plan is also part of your business planning. A division into the following sections, for example, makes sense:
1. Summary (Executive Summary)
Here you present your business idea briefly and concisely and give the readers a quick overview before they dive deeper into your business plan. In the summary - which you should write at the very end - you should also mention important figures.
2. Text part
The text part is the first centerpiece of your business plan. In it, you describe your business idea and everything that goes with it in detail. This includes, among other things, an introduction of the founders themselves, the product or service, an overview of the market and competition, and planned marketing measures.
3. Number part
Although the text part is the first centerpiece of your business plan, the number part is the more important one: It is crucial for potential financiers. The number part gives information about your financial plan and thus about your capital requirement in the start-up phase and about financing. You also provide a forecast of planned revenues and costs that your company will incur in the first three years.
4. Appendix
At the end of your business plan, you provide all important documents to the readers. These include a CV in tabular form and - depending on the business and legal form - technical documents, reports and contracts.
Here you’ll get help with creating your business plan
As extensive as business plans are, they are also important in most cases. To ensure you don't forget anything when writing, there are detailed instructions and templates for creating a business plan on the net, e.g. from the "," founder platform ",".
Marie Brandenburg and Sebastian Wenning also relied on the founder platform: They founded their candle start-up "," Vandlez "," in 2021 without external financing, but not without a plan: “We have written a business plan with a template from the founder’s platform,” says Marie. “They have a lot of examples and templates for pitch decks. That was super helpful.”
If you need input for your business plan or guidance in general, you should also inform yourself about start-up programs. In many cities and online, there are funding programs, groups and events for exchange with other founders. You will also be supported in refining your business idea and get valuable tips.
“I was lucky that I got into programs from Media Lab Bayern relatively early,” says Wolf Weimer. He founded "," Articly "," in 2020, an app that lets you listen to newspapers. At Media Lab Bayern, Wolf has refined his idea with the support of the coaches and the community and written his business plan. “There was also a bit of start-up capital,” says the founder. “In general, accelerator programs are very useful.” These are intensive programs that are supposed to bring start-ups quickly to success and are usually limited to a few months. There is often also financing or even real salaries.Writing a business plan - with these tools it worksThere are templates for business plans as numerous as the sand at the sea. Developing it can be easier with a business plan tool. It guides you step by step through all important sections of the plan, including financing assessment.
Business plan tool from the founder platformThe founder platform is operated by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection and the KfW banking group. Here, founders and those who want to become one will find helpful tips for their steps from the idea to the final founding of the company.Once your idea is in place, you can start the next section with the "," and create a basis for argumentation for funders (and yourself).
Cuttles Startup Builder
The "," is a business planning tool made in Denmark, with which you can easily write your business plan - also with several users. The interactive app guides you through all important sections. In the Cuttles Academy, you will find additional guides that help you create your business plan.You can try Cuttles for seven days for free. Then it starts from 8 € per month in the basic version.Lexrocket Business Plan Tool
The "," is a service of Lexware that accompanies founders in the initial phase of their start-up. For this purpose, the all-rounder for business software not only has a business plan tool in store, but also supports for example in the search for funding and in the creation of the first invoices.
You can write your business plan with Lexrocket for free. For the later unavoidable accounting you get free access for the first 12 months from the foundation to ",".
Business plan tools can definitely make it easier for you to get started in the founding phase. Tobias Hagenau, co-founder of the work management tool ",",". thinks: “Nothing beats a good template.” Especially in the SaaS area, the details are so diverse and often have to be adapted individually that the business plan tools usually lack dynamism. However, it depends on your business. At the end, a business plan tool might still be the right choice for you. We also have more tips for the "," founding of a software company "," on OMR Reviews.
Your business plan is already in place, but you need a better overview of your finances? Then you should check out our (tool) tips for the "," making a financial plan ",".
The Business Model Canvas: Time for pre-work Gründerplattform Businessplan-ToolBefore you immediately start writing your business plan, some preliminary work in the form of a Business Model Canvas can help to concretize and optimize your idea. This way, you quickly find out what you actually want to present to the readers of your plan and whether your idea has a hand and foot. For some business models and especially if you don't need investors, a BMC may also be sufficient. For the creation, you deal with nine categories around your business:
Value Proposition
→ What benefit do you bring to your customers? Cuttles Startup BuilderCustomer Segments
→ Who is your target group?
Key Partners
→ Who will your company cooperate with in the future? LEXROCKET ToolboxKey Activities
→ With which activities can you fulfil your value proposition? Lexware OfficeKey Resources
→ What are the most important resources that help you fulfill your value proposition? aworkCustomer Relationship → How can you build a relationship with your customers?Channels
→ Via which channels you can reach your customers?Cost Structure → Which costs do you have to consider for your business?
Revenue Streams
→ What is your pricing model?
- Creating your Business Model Canvas is easier and more flexible digitally than with pen and paper. This way, you also have the opportunity to brainstorm place-independent with founding partners or other supporters.Creating a Business Model Canvas: especially easy with whiteboard tools
- There is a plenty of practical "," -tools, in which you can find templates for your Business Model Canvas as well. Some of them are "," , "," or "," FigJam of Figma ",". They are not only suitable for the first steps, but actually for always. On the huge (!) digital whiteboards, you can let off steam, distribute post-its, create roadmaps and keep the overview of your plans. Marie and Sebastian use Miro to record their vision board for Vandlez and structure their B2B business. The awork team uses FigJam for brainstorming and team workshops, for example to organise thoughts or create mood boards. The best part: the basic versions of the tools are free and should be sufficient at least for the start.
- Miro is probably one of the best known whiteboard tools. Here you will find practical templates for all possible applications - or you can just let your imagination run wild.Business idea approved? Missing is the website
- It actually lies on hand, but: for your start-up to be findable, you should take care of a meaningful web presence. What you offer your customers of course plays a role. From a simple landing page to a huge online shop, everything is possible here - what's decisive is that you use the right tools.You can create your website or your online shop particularly easily with a website builder. It provides the most important features you need for a functional site. So, you can implement a lot even without programming knowledge. And there are also many different software solutions and "," shop systems "," for establishing online shops.
- How you set up your online shop or your website depends strongly on the target group and business. So, think about the scope, design and how to address your customers before setting up. A good aid and versatile templates are e.g. "," and the builders from "," and ",". With the all-in-one solutions, you can create both websites and online shops as well as usually a domain. Alternatively, you can choose an external domain provider and connect your domain with the website or shop systems. What is important for your start into e-commerce, we have also discussed in our ","Tool Talk about shop systems for SMEs",".The website and shop tools that founders use
- Wolf also created the first landing page for Articly with a builder tool and still swears by it: “I've been with Wix from the beginning,” he says. The Vandlez shop of Marie and Sebastian runs over ",". For this, Marie has tirelessly familiarised herself with the tool and even taught herself programming basics. Shopify can also be expanded with many tools and integrations. Marie presents her favourites in the ","second part of Tech Stack for Founders",".The three founders of awork initially relied on a classic for their website: “We started with WordPress and are still there but are now switching to Webflow,” says Tobias. He and his co-founders have already successfully developed a tool and brought to the market before awork. They know their way around in the SaaS industry and are not afraid to change a tool when it seems sensible. And that's something Tobias advises entrepreneurs in general: “We regularly change our entire tool stack. The tool landscape is developing so fast that it is often more sensible to change a provider than to rely on the further development of software. As a rule, tools do not get better, but better tools come out,” says the founder.
- Lisa Rosa Bräutigam relies on a slightly unknown solution that has proven to be suitable for her business model. She founded "," nuwo "," in 2021. With her “Home Office as-a-service k”, she supports companies in ergonomically equipping their employees in the home office. For the actual B2B business, which ultimately also targets the employees of the companies via a kind of webshop, Lisa uses ",". Here, a little more programming effort was necessary than with other tools. “But it's good for our requirements,” she says.These tools founders use for their design
- Thanks to the many templates and customisation options that the builder systems offer, you don't have to be a Design Pro to create an appealing website. However, a successful appearance of your start-up requires a little more: it's important to have an appealing logo that you can use on the website, documents and social media channels.Marie and Wolf use Canva for their Vandlez and Articly designs respectively. “I created the first logo and design in Canva,” says the Vandlez founder. “The tool is optimal for coarse planning of the CI. We still make the rough designs on Canva.”
The screen design for awork and the app design for Articly are created in ",". The prototyping for the newspaper app is over "," and ",". Wolf presented his idea for Articly on Twago at the time and found an agency on the platform that took care of the technical implementation. Such agency and freelancer platforms can be helpful points of contact if you need support for certain tasks. He books his voice actors for the narration of the newspaper articles for Articly via "," or ",". Marie and Sebastian also rely on the cooperation with freelancers for Vandlez, whom they find, for example, on ",".Tool tips from the founders at a glance
Admittedly: Starting a company is often associated with a lot of effort and requires a lot of dedication. If you are passionate about something, you should be courageous and pursue your idea. On the way to your own company, you are not alone: in ","-groups, accelerator programs and start-up incubators, experienced coaches and a community come together who support each other and can help you establish your own business. The founders in our article have benefited from such communities - and still do.
What also helped them get started are a whole range of practical tools. But in the end: trial and error wins. You get to know the most suitable software for your To-dos by using it yourself. Most providers offer free base or test versions.
Articly's tool stack for the startWhiteboard
for design Miro
for the website MURAL, and for app design and prototyping
for design Miro
for the website MURAL, and for app design and prototyping
The screen design and the prototypes for Articly are created in Figma, Moqups and Marvel. Photo: Articly(Jetzt kostenlos anmelden)At Articly, your team is not only from Wolf, but also from Lukas Paetzmann, by the way. The Google Workspace keeps everything together. "Google is our backbone", says Lukas. With the Business Suite, you get emails, calendars, online meetings, docs, presentations and many more features in one ecosystem.
Articly also uses these tools:
involve.me
Penta","Vandlez's tool stack for the start
Almost from day one, Marie and Sebastian also use Microsoft 365 for their to-dos like emails, appointments or online meetings via Microsoft Teams. “It offered us more than the Google Workspace,” says Marie. STRATO SmartWebsiteVandlez also uses these tools: Wixnuwo's tool stack for the start Squarespace as headless WebhostingPIM for design for file sending
Lisa and her team have tried out a lot of tools. "You always start somewhere and then notice in the process: 'Ah, I need a tool.' It is already valuable to understand the relevance of tools from the start," advises the founder. What Lisa would have liked to have known about on day one is "," by Dropbox for sending documents: “That is a true gamechanger, especially in fundraising, because you get all kinds of insights there." With the tool, you can send Pitch Decks without having to worry about file size and get an overview of values like opening rates or how long individual slides are viewed.
for documentation WordPress for presentations WebflowThe awork team consists of about 35 people. That has to be set up well in terms of tools. But that was not a problem for the experienced founders. Rather, Tobias and his colleagues rely on a whole range of technical solutions: “Modern work is simply not possible without sensible tools,” the founder believes. “We first introduce a tool and then realise that we have understood the category.” In this way, according to him, you can get to know your needs and requirements best.
awork also uses these tools:Sometimes you win, sometimes you learnThe path of a founder rarely runs straight. It is important that you keep the faith in your idea and are not afraid to try something new. The tools presented here can support you in positioning yourself as well as possible from the start and getting the most out of your business. CrystallizeIn addition to this general overview, it also helps to network and exchange with other founders. Lisa did this for her business nuwo via LinkedIn, for example. And Marie continues to rely on her networks: “Everyone struggles at the same places. You can listen to and help each other,” says the Vandlez founder, who is also in groups specifically for female founders. You can also find helpful events on ","Meetup"," or ","Eventbrite",". It is certainly clear: Many were in your position before and most are willing to give something back to their start-up community.
And once these first, really big steps are done, you can find out how to best continue in ","Part two of Tech Stack for Founders",". Happy founding!
Dank der vielen Templates und Anpassungsmöglichkeiten, die Baukastensysteme dir bieten, musst du kein Designprofi sein, um eine ansprechende Website zu erstellen. Für einen gelungenen Auftritt deines Start-ups braucht es aber noch ein bisschen mehr: Wichtig ist beispielsweise ein ansprechendes Logo, das du auf Website, Dokumenten und Social-Media-Kanälen einsetzen kannst.
Marie und Wolf nutzen für ihre Vandlez- und Articly-Designs beide Canva. “Ich habe das erste Logo und Design in Canva erstellt”, sagt die Vandlez-Gründerin. “Für die Grobplanung der CI ist das Tool optimal. Die groben Entwürfe machen wir auch immer noch auf Canva.”
Das Screendesign für awork und das App-Design für Articly entstehen in Figma. Das Prototyping für die Zeitungsapp erfolgt über Moqups und Marvel. Seine Idee für Articly hat Wolf damals auf Twago vorgestellt und über die Plattform eine Agentur gefunden, die die technische Umsetzung in die Hand genommen hat. Solche Agentur- und Freelancer-Plattformen können hilfreiche Anlaufstellen sein, wenn du Support für bestimmte Tasks brauchst. Seine Voice Actor für das Einsprechen der Zeitungsartikel für Articly bucht Wolf beispielsweise über fiverr oder Upwork. Auch Marie und Sebastian setzen für Vandlez auf die Zusammenarbeit mit Freelancern, die sie zum Beispiel auf Malt finden.
Die Tool-Tipps der Gründer*innen im Überblick
Zugegeben: Die Gründung eines Unternehmens ist oft mit viel Aufwand verbunden und erfordert eine Menge Hingabe. Wenn du aber für etwas brennst, solltest du mutig sein und deine Idee weiter verfolgen. Auf dem Weg zum eigenen Unternehmen bist du außerdem nicht allein: In Slack-Gruppen, Accelerator-Programmen und Start-up-Inkubatoren kommen erfahrene Coaches und eine Community zusammen, die sich gegenseitig unter die Arme greifen und dir dabei helfen, dein eigenes Business auf die Beine zu stellen. Von solchen Communitys haben auch die Gründer*innen in unserem Artikel profitiert – und tun es noch immer.
Was ihnen außerdem für den Start geholfen hat, ist eine Reihe praktischer Tools. Am Ende gilt aber: Probieren geht über Studieren. Die passenden Softwares für deine To-dos lernst du am besten kennen, indem du sie selbst nutzt. Dafür gibt es von den meisten Anbietern kostenlose Basis- oder Testversionen.
Articlys Tool Stack für den Start
Das Screen-Design und die Prototypes für Articly entstehen in Figma, Moqups und Marvel. Foto: Articly
Bei Articly, dessen Team seit Kurzem übrigens nicht mehr nur aus Wolf, sondern auch aus Lukas Paetzmann besteht, hält außerdem der Google Workspace alles zusammen. “Google ist unser Backbone”, sagt Lukas. Mit der Business-Suite bekommst du E-Mails, Kalender, Online-Meetings, Docs, Präsentationen und viele weitere Funktionen in einem Ökosystem.
Diese Tools nutzt Articly außerdem:
Google Workspace
Slack
Notion
Zapier
Typeform
Lexware Office
Firebase
AdjustVandlez Tool Stack für den Start
Quasi seit Tag eins nutzen Marie und Sebastian zudem Microsoft 365 für ihre To-dos wie E-Mails, Termine oder Online-Meetings über Microsoft Teams. “Das hat uns mehr geboten als der Google Workspace”, sagt Marie.
Diese Tools nutzt Vandlez außerdem:
Microsoft Teams
Xentral ERP
Asana
SE Rankingnuwos Tool Stack für den Start
- Crystallize als Headless PIM
- Figma fürs Design (Jetzt kostenlos bei Figma anmelden)
- Docsend für den Dateiversand
- sevdesk
- Google Workspace
Lisa und ihr Team haben jede Menge Tools ausprobiert. “Du fängst immer irgendwie an und merkst dann im Prozess: ‘Ah, ich brauche ein Tool.’ Da ist es schon wertvoll, wenn man die Relevanz von Tools von Anfang an erkennt”, rät die Gründerin. Was Lisa gern schon an Tag eins gekannt hätte, ist Docsend von Dropbox für den Versand von Dokumenten: “Das ist ein wahrer Gamechanger, gerade auch beim Fundraising, weil man da alle möglichen Insights erhält.” Mit dem Tool kannst du z. B. Pitch Decks versenden, ohne auf die Dateigröße achten zu müssen und bekommst einen Überblick über Werte wie Öffnungsraten oder darüber, wie lange einzelne Slides angeschaut werden.
Diese Tools nutzt nuwo außerdem:
HubSpot Sales Hub
Webflow
sevdesk
DATEV
Penta
unpingaworks Tool Stack für den Start
- WordPress bzw. Webflow für die Website
- Notion für die Dokumentation
- Pitch für Präsentationen
- Google Workspace
Das Team von awork besteht aus ca. 35 Leuten. Da muss man sich tool-mäßig gut aufstellen. Für die erfahrenen Gründer war das allerdings kein Problem. Vielmehr setzen Tobias und seine Kolleg*innen auf eine ganze Bandbreite technischer Lösungen: “Moderne Arbeit geht einfach nicht ohne sinnvolle Tools”, findet der Gründer. “Wir führen erstmal ein Tool ein und merken dann, dass wir die Kategorie verstanden haben.” So kannst du ihm zufolge deine Bedürfnisse und Anforderungen am besten kennenlernen.
Diese Tools nutzt awork außerdem:
awork
Figma
Zoom
Personio
Intercom
PipedriveSometimes you win, sometimes you learn
Der Weg als Gründer*in verläuft selten geradlinig. Da ist es wichtig, dass du den Glauben an deine Idee behältst und keine Angst davor hast, Neues auszuprobieren. Die hier vorgestellten Tools können dich dabei unterstützen, dich möglichst von Beginn an gut aufzustellen und alles aus deinem Business rauszuholen.
Neben diesem allgemeinen Überblick hilft es außerdem, dich zu vernetzen und dich mit anderen Gründer*innen auszutauschen. So hat es Lisa für ihr Business nuwo z. B. über LinkedIn gemacht. Und auch Marie setzt nach wie vor auf ihre Netzwerke: “Jeder struggelt an den gleichen Stellen. Da kann man sich gegenseitig zuhören und helfen”, sagt die Vandlez-Gründerin, die auch in Gruppen speziell für weibliche Gründerinnen ist. Hilfreiche Veranstaltungen kannst du zum Beispiel auch über Meetup oder Eventbrite finden. Klar ist jedenfalls: In deiner Position waren schon viele vor dir und die meisten sind bereit, etwas an ihre Start-up-Community zurückzugeben.
Und wenn diese ersten, richtig großen Schritte erstmal geschafft sind, kannst du in Teil zwei von Tech Stack für Gründer*innen nachlesen, wie du am besten weitermachst. Happy founding!
Author
Chantal Seiter
Chantal ist Redakteurin bei OMR Reviews. Wenn sie gerade mal nicht in die Tasten haut, betreibt sie Café Hopping oder erkundet neue Städte. Am liebsten beides zusammen. Vor ihrem Start bei OMR Reviews hat die Eigentlich-Kielerin in Kreativagenturen und als Freelancerin gearbeitet. 2022 hat sie außerdem eine Weiterbildung zur Fashion Stylistin abgeschlossen.
Dieser Artikel erscheint auf OMR Reviews – der führenden DACH-Plattform für B2B-Software-Bewertungen, Software-Vergleiche, Agenturen, Business Services und B2B-Tech-Content. Mit mehr als 80.000 verifizierten Bewertungen und 12.000+ gelisteten Tools hilft OMR Reviews Unternehmen dabei, passende Software-Lösungen und Dienstleister fundiert zu recherchieren, zu vergleichen und bessere Entscheidungen zu treffen.
