281: Software That Improves Productivity Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner
281: Software That Improves Productivity Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
Technology can help you move your business forward, but when you are already pressed for time, and your budget doesn’t allow for too many additional expenditures, you may not know where you should turn next. There are many options when you start to look into technology, but knowing what the top performers are can help you narrow down your search for the perfect fit for your business. In today’s podcast episode, I am covering the top free tech tools that you can use in your business to increase your productivity. Taking the time to invest in technology that will move your business forward and free up additional time in your calendar so that you can focus on other areas might be hard to do at first, but you need to look at the overall impact it will have on your business. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, having the right tech tools in your business to ensure your business is running smoothly is crucial for not only your business growth but to help prevent overwhelm and stress on yourself as a business owner. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, or HoneyBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
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Show Notes:
Technology can help you move your business forward, but when you are already pressed for time, and your budget doesn’t allow for too many additional expenditures, you may not know where you should turn next. There are many options when you start to look into technology, but knowing what the top performers are can help you narrow down your search for the perfect fit for your business. In today’s podcast episode, I am covering the top free tech tools that you can use in your business to increase your productivity. Taking the time to invest in technology that will move your business forward and free up additional time in your calendar so that you can focus on other areas might be hard to do at first, but you need to look at the overall impact it will have on your business. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, having the right tech tools in your business to ensure your business is running smoothly is crucial for not only your business growth but to help prevent overwhelm and stress on yourself as a business owner. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, or HoneyBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
Welcome Back…When you are running your business on your own or being a solopreneur, you more than likely have a booked calendar and not a lot of extra time on your hands. Your time is valuable, and most business owners don’t have a lot of staff to help with all the tasks that need to get done. When you are in this situation, utilizing technology for your business is going to be extremely important to increase your efficiency. Without technology, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and stressed, but by having the right tools in place, you can improve not only your productivity but your accuracy as well.
When you are looking for technology that will fit in your business, I want you to make sure that the technology you choose is easy for you to use and that you understand what it is doing and how it works. The technology you choose should meet or exceed your needs and expectations. It should be affordable and have a sound system in place for customer support just in case you have any questions.
Knowing that many of my listeners are on a tight budget, I wanted to talk about some of the top tech tools that are out there that have a free version for you to use. You may find that many of the tech tools I touch on today will be sufficient in your business with the free version alone. You may never need to upgrade to the paid version, and if you do, you’ll already know that the technology they are providing is helping you increase your productivity and efficiency, and you’ll be ready and willing to move to the paid version.
The first tech tool that I want to mention is Google suite. Many of my clients use the Google calendar, documents, sheets, and forms in their business. When you use the Google suite, all of your documents are saved in your Google drive. It is all in the cloud, so you can easily share documents with your team members or access them anywhere you have an internet connection. If you have a Gmail email address, you already have access to this tech tool.
Next, I want to talk about Zoom. More than likely, over the past few years, you’ve needed to attend a Zoom meeting. Zoom has become a common way to meet with others in business and our personal lives. You can virtually meet with anyone, whether they are just across the street or in a different state. If you are meeting with someone that is local, you can still save time by eliminating your drive time. The next time you need to meet with someone, ask yourself if you could do it virtually and free up a little extra time in your calendar.
Next up is Hubspot. Hubspot is a customer relationship management system. A CRM allows you to track potential, current, and past customers. It’s excellent for keeping your customer database; it’s easy to navigate and tracks your leads.
Asana is another excellent top tech tool. Asana is a task management software. You can create repeating tasks, assign them to team members and track your progress. It tracks your due dates and allows you to stay on top of your to-do list and your projects all in one place.
As a professional coach, I know you want to enjoy your personal and professional life more. In order to do that, you need simple steps to achieve what you truly want in your life. The problem is you don't have enough time to get everything done, which makes you feel stressed because you can't find time for the important things in your life. I believe you deserve to have a life you love without sacrificing everything you've worked so hard to achieve in your professional life. I understand how hard it can be to figure this out on your own, especially when you are an accountant, business owner, or other high-stress professional. As a CPA with over 20 years of experience, I've been there myself, which is why I became a Certified Coach and created the RE*INVENTION™ program to help professionals just like you live the life they desire. Here's how we do it: First, you’ll schedule your Complimentary Clarity Session; during this session, we’ll create a clear and focused plan for you to move forward, and you’ll immediately start enjoying your life with less stress, increased productivity, and more time to spend doing what you love with the people you care about. So, sign up for your Complimentary Clarity Session at www.FinancialAdventure.com, and click on the work with me button. In the meantime, check out all the other resources and solutions on my website that you can immediately apply to your life so you can stop being stressed out and feeling like you're never doing enough and instead breathe a sigh of relief at the end of the day knowing you've accomplished enough and can enjoy your life more.
Maintaining an email list of all your customers and having a way to market to them is something every business should have, and if you don’t have an email list yet, I recommend you start building it today. Convertkit has a free email marketing solution. Having an email marketing solution so that you can email your customers, whether you are sending them valuable content or letting them know about your products or services, you need to have an option that you have control over. Social media is great, but what would you do if your account was suddenly closed? When you have your own email list, you have the power to email your customers whenever you want.
If you struggle with design, Canva’s free design software will definitely help you in this area. Canva has a template for almost anything you could imagine. If you need to design a flyer, your business card, an ad, or a document like your business letterhead or a pamphlet describing your product or services, check Canva out. It is easy to use, and you can design anything you put your mind to.
If you are a business owner who schedules a lot of meetings, you can use Calendly to help you do this and stop the back-and-forth conversations from finding the perfect time for both you and your customer. You simply send them a link to your calendar, and they find a time that works for them. It’s a win-win situation for both of you by saving time and getting the meeting scheduled quickly.
All of the tech tools I mentioned here today have a free version, so there should be no reason you don’t get started utilizing them to increase productivity in your business today. Take a minute and prioritize the tech tools I mentioned today to see where you or your business could benefit the most, and pick one and try it out. Even if you don’t have much time to implement these tech tools, I recommend blocking off a few minutes of your day or setting a specific time in your week when you could work on setting up one of these tech tools for your business. This investment of time will definitely pay off over time and could save you a lot of time in the future. These tech tools will help you be more efficient and create accuracy. You’ll be able to see your progress in real-time, and overall you should be able to lower your costs. Not only is your time valuable, but if you have employees, you’ll save time and money here as well. You’ll be able to increase your communication and collaboration with your teammates, and your overall time management will improve. When you free up your time, you’ll be able to focus on other areas in your business and continue to move towards your overall goals in your business. Your business will run more smoothly, and any overwhelm or stress you are feeling should decrease. I’d love to hear about which tech tools you are using in your business or how much time you are saving when implementing the tools I discussed today. You can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com and send me a quick email letting me know how helpful this episode has been for you.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
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