You’ve got a friend or family member who’s working hard in their own small business and you want to get them a Christmas gift that would be both awesome and practical. 

Look no further! I’m presenting you with 11 Virtual Gifts of Christmas For Small Business Owners.

To really help bless the gift receiver, it’s good to do a little homework. Casually bring it up in conversation, that one virtual/tech/software thing they could use that would help them run their business.

It’s never too late to buy them any of the following because 100% of the gifts I’m about to list you can find and buy online! Without further ado, because if you’re like me, you’re still not done with your Christmas shopping!

1. Accounting Software

Keeping track of finances, invoices, receipts, refunds, credit charges, cash withdrawals, etc., etc., etc. is tough if you’re just using a spreadsheet or a good old ledger. It’s even tougher for those who aren’t born accountants or math wizards. An online accounting software (or one they can download right onto their computer) could be a serious time and sanity saver!

QuickBooks Online is, well… online, so the user can access it anywhere, anytime with their laptop, tablet, or mobile phone! A software that can go anywhere they go, perfect for traveling business owners! Not only that, but you can pick which kind of business owner you are, and QuickBooks customizes itself to your needs! It will do the accounting “auto-magically” (loving me those puns!), can connect to your bank or credit cards, and backs up everything so you never lose your progress! There are more features, but I’ll let you drool over them yourself, or let your business pal do that here!

FreshBooks was the 2nd highest rating accounting software, so naturally it’s on our list. It creates professional looking invoices, capture expenses as you go, tracks time for effortless billing, accepts major credit cards (for clients who want to pay by way of credit), and generates reports the user can see numbers and stats at a glance.

If you’re not sure which is best, ask your friend to do a trial of each to see which they prefer. I know that ruins any ‘surprise’ factor, but better to buy them something they’ll really love and use than something that confuses them.

2. Communication

If your business pal is looking to branch out internationally, is oftentimes away from family or friends, or is having a hard time getting the team to communicate in one place, the following suggestions are the perfect gift!

Skype can be used for free video calls, and plain old voice calls, but if you want to use Skype to call someone on their landline, or integrate your account with your Outlook calendar then you need a subscription. If this sounds like your business buddy, A Skype gift could be the answer to their problem!

Slack is for teams, or where multiple people can come and ask someone (or a designated group of people) questions, and discuss. It’s perfect for coaches and consultants if they’re not into voice calls. It’s also good for teams because you can send direct (private) messages to a colleague or to an assigned group (marketing, logistics, sales, etc.), and also integrate other apps you use right into your Slack account!

Grasshopper hopped to mind (I love cheesy puns!) because it allows a business owner to register their own toll-free 1-800 number! Then they can assign other numbers to different departments of their business, and work from just about anywhere! It’s been rated really well across major publications like CNN, Forbes, and Wall Street Journal, to name a few.

3. Task/Note Keepers

Whether in a meeting, or a spark on inspiration hits, having an app where you can immediately store your notes can be crucial to some business owners who have another dozen things to think about.

Evernote is free, but if the gifted needs …, and LOVES making notes of all things, Evernote Plus or Premium is ideal.

Wunderlist (Now “Microsoft To Do”) is also free, this is another great gift option.

4. Online Cloud Storage

Articles or blogs, personal pictures or business-related (hello free stock photos!), invoices, contracts, agreements, calendars, spreadsheets, these are all things you can save on your personal computer BUT cloud storage is a practical investment if:

A) you don’t want to bog your device down with files piling on files
B) you don’t want to lose your files in case your device crashes, gets lost or stolen
C) you want to easily share files with others online without having to load/attach them making an email or file really big (long uploading and downloading).

I use Dropbox and I super duper love it, and it syncs with just about everything I have, laptop, android, and iOS.

However, plenty of people love Google Drive which works just as well. It’s all up to personal preference and the integrations your small business owner needs, so asking will make sure you get them what they need.

The premium versions (with 1TB of storage vs. a couple GBs) of these cloud storages are what come with a price, but having your files safe and sound always is the only reason you’ll need to make this investment worthwhile.

5. Blogging Platforms

If your friend’s business doesn’t have a blog, they’re missing out on prime opportunities to gain more exposure and establish their expertise in their industry. Now don’t go buying someone a blog subscription without asking, they might receive it and cock their head to the side, give an awkward grin with a long drawn ‘thanks’ that sounds like it has a question mark at the end.

Buy your business builder a blog if they’ve been raving about how they want to start expanding their reach. For whatever reason, they haven’t yet, but if you buy them a year’s subscription surely they wouldn’t waste it!

Try Squarespace for someone who doesn’t have a lot of time to mess with design and code. Every template is eCommerce ready if you need it, and you can even get a business email right from the settings! Super easy to set up and their templates are gorgeous!

If you’d prefer to hire a designer, or you know to code and can make your own site than WordPress is super customizable, plus they have a plugin for just about every single thing you’ll ever need (if you like thousands of options).

6. Social Media Management Tools

If your friend already HAS a blog, then they’re one step ahead of many business owners who don’t, so you best give them a pat on the back along with their gift. But blogging is not “make it and they will come,” no. It requires engagement, networking, being active on social media, etc. Don’t let them get caught up in hours on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn. With a social media management tool they can schedule their posts in bulk and then focus for the rest of the day or week, depending on how well planned they’ve got it.

Any of the following will do depending on the need:

Hootsuite (Free 30-day trial too!)

Buffer (Free, Awesome, Small Business, Medium Business, or Large Business Plan)

IFTTT (If I do this, then IFTTT is actioned to make another action. Time saver and so many integrations too!)

SocialOomph (Incredible amount of features)

SocialFlow (they do most of the work for you!)

SproutSocial (Deluxe, Premium, or Team Plans)

Meet Edgar (More exclusive because you request an invite, but it’s only $49/month and works with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn)

TailWind (Specific To Pinterest)

CoSchedule (We use this and love it and even wrote a review about it here)

7. Microsoft Word

I used Open Office for the longest time because I just couldn’t afford to buy Microsoft for myself. But it’s useful for a countless amount of business related tasks. Presentations, documents for agreements, contracts, article writing, spreadsheets for calendars or inventory and so much more. Absolutely worth it, a gift ANY small business owner will use weekly, I assure you!

8. eCommerce Platforms

If your business pal wants to move online then eCommerce platforms might do them well depending on their industry and target buyer. This is another item where you’d really want to ask them before purchasing their membership because there is so much to consider!

9. Stock Photos

For the business owner who blogs. There are plenty of sites with free stock photos, but there are also literally millions of blogs. If your biz bud wants to set themselves apart from the pack, investing in a membership to a stock photo platform with special, unique not-often-used images will be a wise choice. A few I found nice were 123rf, Shutterstock, and Fotolia.

10. Connected Women FREE Membership

Sign that business owner up with us here at Connected Women so they can make the most of content, events and offers. Best of all, it’s FREE!

Sign them up here.

11. Delegate or Automate FREE digital book, by Connected Women’s Gina Romero.

It’s perfectly normal for every business owner to feel overwhelmed once in a while. But, as projects continue to pile up, you know it’s already time to delegate those small tasks and focus on the important ones that require your attention. Which is why #ConnectedWomen’s Gina Romero wrote this book to ease up and simplify the process of finding the perfect person to delegate these tasks to, remotely. Best of all, it is FREE. Get it here.

Happy shopping, and Merry Christmas!

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