Running a small business on your own isn’t easy. Especially when you work from home and don’t have access to resources, funding and company training. So finding and learning how to use affordable business tools is key.
As a entrepreneur and business owner who started my business on zero budget and investment, I made it a mission to find quality products that I could use that were affordable for a start up but more importantly could grow with me as my company developed and expanded.
Below are the tools that I have incorporated into my business that have significantly improved my productivity and business management. They are all tools that have really helped to streamline much of my business and allow me to focus more on being a Content Marketing Strategist and less on the daily administrative needs required to run the business. I give a brief description for each tool and how I use it to help keep me sane. I also provide links for you to view the software yourself. All links are affiliated links which means you will receive a discount towards the product if you decide to sign up and that I will receive a percentage off my subscription as well. Win win!
By far this is my most used business tool yet. Clickup is a project management tool that can be used collaborative with your entire team. ClickUp brings your team together to plan, track, and collaborate on any project — all in one place. And even if you only have a team of one, you can still use it to manage all of your clients, personal tasks and more. With Clickup you have access to several features that are all very useful. Here is a quick list I wanted to give an extensive list of all the features but honestly there are so many this post would take days to read. So I will focus on the features I utilize the most. On a daily basis I use Clickup to do the following
Task management per each project, marketing content planner, document creation & sharing, collaboration between clients, track time spent on each assignment and store social media analytics.
This is a great tool that can be used and adopted to any industry or business type.
Direct Link to look into Clickup
While there are several options available to you to manage your business finances, some at a lower cost than Quickbooks, From tracking everyday expenses to being ready for tax time, QuickBooks can help you run your business smarter from anywhere you’re working.
I have found this to be the wisest investment by far. I actually tested and tried a few other tools before deciding to make the move to Quickbooks to manage my personal and business finances. What I discovered was that not only did Quickbooks have more features that were needed, the higher price also brings you added security and stability. In fact one of the tools I used to use was recently bought out which resulted in some significant changes which would have caused me to loose some significant data. And Quickbooks integrates with many more other tools which is very helpful when using other payment options for eCommerce businesses.
Here is a direct link to check out Quickbooks
(I use QuickBooks Online to manage my business. Use my referral link to get up to 50% off and a $50 Visa® Card to help with your business needs when you sign up!)
The next tool that I am so excited and glad that I discovered is HoneyBook. With Honeybook you can manage projects, book clients, send invoices and get paid within the app. The project management isn’t as robust as something like Clickup or Asana when it comes to task management, however when it comes to client facing collaboration and communication it is amazing. I use it to submit proposals, finalize contracts, send out client questionnaires, schedule appointments (completely replacing tools like calendarly), and most importantly billing and invoicing clients. I have it directly connected to Quickbooks so managing payments is a breeze and no additional data entry or transfer is needed.
I am literally in this tool every day managing leads, communicating with my exiting clients and tracking invoices. One of the best investments for my business at an extremely low cost when you look at all that it does. I was able to close several tools that were costing me several hundred dollars and move to this platform that managed it all for me.
Check out Honeybook here to see how it can help your business grow.
(By using this link you get 50% OFF, and I can earn up to $200)
I can not talk enough about Canva. Another tool that I am literally in every single day and have used on many areas of my business. Canva is a design tool that is built for for people and teams wanting to design absolutely anything, from logos and social media content to documents, prints and more. They have tons of free templates, photos and fonts to bring your vision to life. With thousands of professional templates, images and quality content to choose from, get a headstart on bringing your best ideas and work to life. You can accomplish so much for the free account but with the Pro account you can do so much more and is completely worth it.
Check out and sign up for Canva Today!
With my affiliate link with both get rewarded. When you join Canva and create a design, we both get to chose one of their premium photos, icons or illustrations, plus we can collaborate together on designs if you need.
Another tool I am using frequently is MailerLite. MailerLite is a full service tool that provides all the latest email marketing features designed to help you grow subscribers and build stronger relationships. In addition to email marketing, you can use MailerLite to build your website, as well as landing pages. And this is all in the free version of MailerLite. For just $10.00 a month you can upgrade your account that allows you to use your own domains, have access to manage even more websites and landing pages and so much more. I personally have three different websites built and managed using MailerLite and several landing pages. I also have several clients using MailerLite to manage their brand and send out email messages to subscribers.
Click here to check out MailerLite today and sign up for a free account
By using the link above you will get a $20 credit when you sign up. If you end up upgrading, I will get a $20 credit too. Everybody wins!
Our next tool isn’t one I am necessarily in every day but totally worth the investment. With Involve.me you can engage customers through using interactive funnels. You can create personalized interactions at every step of the customer journey which allows you to acquire & keep your customers involved. I have used involve.me to design a lead magnet quiz regarding marketing plan development which has really helped me gain some amazing leads. You can use Involve.me to create things like Quizzes, Personality Tests, Calculators, Payment Form, Surveys, Lead Page, Online Forms and LinkLists.
Check out the benefits of Involve.me today
By using my link above I will get 30% recurring commission for each referred customer and you guys will get 15% discount on your first purchase.
Last but not least is our trusty and reliable video editor, WeVideo. With WeVideo you can create video content for your business like a pro in no time at all. Add features like green screen for a big-budget look without the cost or difficulty. Edit videos with zero upload wait time. Choose from multiple formats to stand out on social media, web and mobile displays. We have used WeVideo for several projects of our own, many client videos and even my children have started to edit their own videos of them playing video games to post on YouTube.
I choose WeVideo over other platforms based on the features that come with the package we use as well as access to their very large library of stock video to choose from when we don’t have our own footage to use.
Check out WeVideo now
By using the link above you will get 20% off a new subscription and we will get credit toward our subscription.
There you have it! Our list of recommended business tools to help any small business keep on top of their tasks, finances, content creation and so much more. Many of the tools above have free plans or very low costing starting plans. As you can image this isn’t everything, we didn’t even touch all the tools that come along with a Google Gsuite account.
Please, let us know which tools you like the most. Which tools do you use for your small business that you just can’t live without?
