PapaLoDown's Favorite Tools For The Hustle
Using the right tools in your business is essential for business growth, while at the same time, it’s giving yourself a raise in the process! The more organized and efficient you are in running your business, the more time you can focus on what you’re good at while living a balanced work/life flow! Here are our favorite “Tools for the Hustle”.
Freshbooks - Proposals & Invoices
Need help with sending out proposals, invoicing, and accounting? Basically, all the admin tasks that usually aren’t fun to do. Freshbooks makes it easy to manage all administrative tasks within a user-friendly interface. Both the mobile app and the desktop version have been beneficial and easy to use. What’s most important, is that you can see all your business financials in one place. It indicates to you how much money you’re bringing in, how much expenses you have, and how much you’re paying yourself.
Under the Freshbooks subscription plan, I’ve also set up a ‘proposal template’, making it faster for me to follow up with a proposal after a meeting with a client. Sending invoices and receiving online payments has been easy to set up, update and maintain as needed. I feel financially in control of my business using the Freshbooks platform, and I see the results as my business steadily grows every year.
Whatever tools you decide to go with, having an accounting system set up and synched with your bank accounts, and monitoring expenses is a must if you want to grow and be more profitable.
Bench - Bookkeeping
I found Bench.co through my relationship with Freshbooks, and have felt so much more empowered as a business owner and entrepreneur knowing all my expenses and financials are in order. It also keeps me at ease to know that there is a professional team behind it that delivers amazing customer service. Investing in bookkeeping is an important part of stepping your game up. But don’t make the same mistake I did and work with a bookkeeper that is negligent and costs you thousands of dollars to fix the mess they put you in. Check out Bench.co for affordable rates and you’ll see a huge return on investment!
Gusto - Payroll Services
When you’re ready to grow your business with employees (even if you’re the only one,) payroll services can be a pain to go through on your own. With Gusto, it’s super easy and makes me feel like I’m in control of my business. This all-in-one HR platform provides the tools you need to hire, pay and manage your team. They have great customer service, and useful articles to troubleshoot any questions you have about being tax compliant, setting up benefits, and so much more.
Monday - Project Management
This tool has been a lifesaver this year and has helped us level up in how our team manages multiple projects at a time. It’s also helped us create campaign templates and develop systems to streamline our entire operations process.
Using the Monday project management tool has provided our clients access to their campaign info; allowing our team to be transparent with the progress of their campaign.
Acuity - Scheduling & Payments
This tool helps you master your calendar and block out time for all the things in life, both business and personal. The tool we use to make it easy to manage our calendar, and make it convenient for our clients, or prospective clients, to find a time to meet with us is Acuity.
It syncs to your calendar and also allows you to take payments for services (syncs with PayPal), and allows you to create forms for clients to submit answers when they book an appointment with you. You can also offer class passes, gift certificates, and several other admin tasks that make working with people as a service provider much more organized, streamlined, and professional.
You should also research other options out there, as these “Tools for the Hustle” are suggestions that are based on our own experience, and may not work for everyone.
Whatever tools you decide to use in your hustle, consistency is one of the key ingredients to making it all work.
What else can you do to streamline your business? Need feedback on your website? Want to map out your 2020 marketing calendar? Need feedback on a project from a publicity and marketing expert?