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6 Tools Your Business Should Invest in for 2014 Software and platforms make it cheap and easy for your business to address everything from marketing, to brand management to human resources.

By Mikal E. Belicove

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Illustrations by Scott Roberts

Q: What tools should my business invest in for 2014?

A: Start with a shopping list like one you'd scribble down for the grocery store. On this list, you've got your weekly staples, plus the items you'll need for a dinner party three days from now.

For a business, staples include maintenance and support payments on existing software licenses; subscriptions for cloud software apps; computer hardware support and maintenance fees; network and internet-access costs; and scheduled computer and phone upgrades.

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