Top 8 Tools For Building A Strong Foundation For Your Biz!

As entrepreneurs, we should always be looking for opportunities to strengthen our business’ organization so it can run as efficiently as possible. There will always be new programs or processes you can implement that will help you stay on top of your day-to-day work. And if you’re just starting out, there’s nothing more important than ensuring you have a solid foundation of tools that you can use to optimize every part of your biz.

Here are my top eight programs I recommend for any entrepreneur whether they’re just starting out or needing a business refresh!

1. Project Management: Asana

Seriously, this program will change your business and your productivity. It allows you to build out project timelines, schedule tasks with deadlines to yourself, your team, and your clients, manage documents and data, follow the progression of projects and project milestones from multiple viewpoints, and create templates that can become standard operating procedures, all within a pretty, intuitive, easy to use interface. ⠀

If you don’t have a project management system, get one. It will allow you to map out projections, manage to-do lists and team members, and ensure that your projects are a success! ⠀

2. Scheduling: Acuity

I don’t know about you but I live and die by my calendar. Everything goes in it, time blocks, personal appointments, client meetings and weekends away. Basically, if it ain’t in my calendar, it ain’t happening! ⠀

Download Acuity, learn it, integrate it with your personal calendar and other apps (like Zoom!), and use it every.single.day.

I can’t say enough good things about this program and the wonders it has done for keeping my schedule and my client meetings organized!

3. Email Marketing: Active Campaign

No matter what you’ve heard: email marketing is NOT dead! Emails provide you with a low-cost, personalized way to share and sell to a highly engaged audience, not to mention the impressive stats they can produce. We are here for all of it! ⠀

And our favourite?

Active Campaign! ⠀

From an easy-to-use, intuitive interface to slick tagging and automation capabilities, paired with hundreds of integrations, we are kind of obsessed with this program.

If you don’t have an email marketing system, stop reading this blog right now and download one. If you already have one, ensure it’s streamlined to best benefit your business. And remember consistency in email marketing is the key!!

4. Legal Stuff: The Contract Shop

Before you sign your first client (or your next one), you want to ensure you have a solid contract in place and a program that allows your clients to sign with ease!

Not sure how to write your contract or what clauses to include? www.thecontractshop.com has fantastic templates to get you started. I also highly recommend that you have your contract vetted by a lawyer.

Once the contract is ready, you need a digital program that will make the signing process a breeze. #1 recommendation- HelloSign!

Alright, let’s get some signatures and make business happen! 

5. Invoicing: PayPal (Stripe, Square, Quickbooks are also great!)

An invoicing and payment system that can be automated is essential to your business’ success! There are hundreds of programs out there so whoever you choose, ensure that you are optimizing its functionality and understanding the work it can do FOR you! ⠀

You don’t need to be wasting time worrying if invoices are sending on time, or if you’re receiving the money you deserve for the incredible work you are doing. Implement a system and optimize it so you can stop spending time on unnecessary work and start making more moola!

6. Social Media Scheduling: Later

It’s no secret that social media is one of the greatest selling tools any small business has. So why not leverage it for all its worth? Wondering how to do that? A social media marketing plan and a social media marketing tool! ⠀

Our favourite one? Later! Use it to schedule, preview, plan, share, and manage your social platforms. And I highly recommend that you take things one step further by using the program’s analytics to help you reach the largest number of people you can in your target audience

The key to converting followers into clients? Consistency and authenticity! Show up everyday as yourself, provide as much value as possible, and they will buy!

7. Password Management: LastPass

Do you find yourself constantly having to reference multiple sheets and documents to find log-in information for your clients?

It’s frustrating, right? It doesn’t have to be! Cue LastPass! LastPass is a password management program that allows you to keep your and your client’s passwords secure, and readily available to easily use. No more lists of logins, no more searching docs, no more wondering what combo of username and password works on what platform. ⠀

8. Get Support!

I’m closing off this list with the most important one of all...actual support!! Like I’ve said before, you CAN do it all, and you CAN’T do it all. While being a one-person show is empowering, gratifying, and influential in your ability to learn, it’s also exhausting and detrimental to your business's ability to scale. ⠀

So get support! From a mentor or coach, from an accountant, graphic designer, web developer, copywriter, or a virtual assistant!