What are the top 3 social media platforms to start a small business?

The most important and recommended platforms are

1. Facebook

2.  Instagram

3. Youtube

You may want to select Twitter or Linkedin , depending on the country and the business sector. 

Social Media presence is very important for any kind of business. The business should be on all available Social Media platforms. The most important & top platforms are

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. LinkedIn

4. Instagram

5. Youtube

6. Google + ( It helps you in SEO )

i think facebook, twitter, Instagram

i think it depends on which community you are targeting

It depends on the intended target audience and business model, and of course, your cache of creative resource. Youtube, Facebook and Instagram are fundamental, till we get more out of Snapcat.

No go for Twitter in Singapore, it's not available on some phone services so cannot Twit from mobile phones - which defeats the purpose of the software in the first place.

First of all, it depends on the targeted community (Age group, gender, nationality, city ...etc).

Second, In Egypt, specially in the past few years, most of the small businesses, projects, and freelancers, used Facebook as the top social media platform, because it is having the widest range of users. After Facebook, comes Twitter & Instagram, because of their  easy interface, and user friendly applications.

As mentioned in other posts, this really depends on your target segment and target market. If your goods are more relevant to Individual consumers then you should go with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. However if your product is more specialized and is used in a particular industry then LinkedIn and Google is highly recommended. Whichever platform you use, you have to make sure sure that your marketing campaign is tailored according to the country and consumer behavior and should address their want and needs.

Facebook obviously.

I would go also for a blog which is a best way to show how professional and creative you are, what do you do in more detailed manner. And some products will not sell itself but showing the results which it can bring is best way to convince people.

Nobody mentioned Pinterest which is getting more and more popular and could be a good idea to show issues related to product/brand/business nature. (Telling about geography - in India Instagram is not so popular like Pinterest.) 

Hello every one

For MENA and GCC area, I'll recommend

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

Thank you