Being an entrepreneur has many perks, from making your own schedule to being your own boss. However, as rewarding as it is, entrepreneurship can also be overwhelming due to long hours and workload as you grow your business. In fact, 70% of small business owners have reported working more than 40 hours a week.
With that in mind, the Say Yes Business Solutions team wants to help! We know what it's like to be up to your ears in projects (too much work is a good thing!) As an entrepreneur, having the right tools to help you succeed is essential. Here are some of our favorite tools for entrepreneurs.
1: Task Management Software
As an entrepreneur, task management software is your best friend. Most of us are managing several projects/clients at once, and trying to keep track by ourselves can be too much. Task management software helps you to stay organized and manage your projects and tasks more efficiently. Some of the most popular software include:
Asana
Trello
Basecamp
Notion
At Say Yes, we used Asana AND Notion. Using multiple task management programs will help if you manage tasks across a team with several projects. We've found this method to be effective.
Asana is mainly designed for teams to spend less time writing emails and having meetings and more time working on tasks and streamlining communication. In addition, this program allows you to manage a project from start to finish.
The other task management software we use is Notion. This software was initially designed as a note-taking app but has evolved into a delightful project tool that saves us many headaches. It's perfect for solopreneurs or small teams that need a place to collaborate on tasks. You can build workflows quickly, and it's incredibly flexible.
While Asana is much more task-oriented, how we use Notion is for working collaboratively on copy, mapping, workshopping strategy & housing clients' overall objectives. Everyone and every business are different. We recommend trying several task management programs to see what fits your needs best.
2: Accounting Software
Accounting software is another essential tool for entrepreneurs. Your business, ideally, is making money. You're going to have to keep track of it somehow! Accounting software can help you with invoicing, taxes, and other financial tasks. Popular options include:
Quickbooks
Zero
FreshBooks
At Say Yes, we love Quickbooks. It's easy to use and integrates with our other programs well. If you already have task management software and other tools, make sure your accounting software will integrate with them. It streamlines the process and will save you time better spent growing your business.
3: Email Marketing Software
In the age of online businesses, we entrepreneurs rely heavily on email marketing, and 49% of businesses use some form of email automation. Email marketing software can help you create and manage marketing campaigns to reach potential customers. Popular options include:
Mailchimp
Klaviyo
Constant Contact
Here at Say Yes, we work with all these platforms for our clients. Each has benefits, but working with many clients that are e-commerce and on Shopify, Klaviyo is by far our #1 choice.
Klaviyo is especially useful for e-commerce businesses. We love the below benefits:
Advanced Audience Segmentation based on customer behavior
Advanced Reporting & Analytics
We love the templates and design options available in Klaviyo. They are far more advanced and customizable than what other platforms offer.
4: Social Media Scheduling Software
Gone are the days of manually posting on social media for your business! Social media scheduling software will help you with consistency and quality control while saving you time. You can easily schedule posts and see a calendar with all your content mapped out. Trust us; it's a lifesaver.
You'll need a collaborative program when you're working across multiple platforms. At Say Yes, we love Later. Later allows you to streamline your social media strategy as you scale your business. Their features focus on giving you a visual calendar, media management, marketing, and analytics. You'll also get a Linkin.bio feature unique to your business for easily linking your posts to outbound links.
We like that you can easily share previews with your team and clients to ensure they approve before scheduling. The idea is to simplify social media marketing and make it accessible even if you aren't tech-savvy. Along with email marketing software, social media scheduling software will free up much of your time for other tasks. It will also give you peace of mind to remember to get your posts up!
5: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
The CRM industry is one of the world's fastest-growing industries right now. It's expected to grow at a rate of 14% between 2021 and 2027. It's safe to say you should probably use it for your business.
CRM is a fabulous tool for improving customer retention, increasing sales, and measuring analytics. You'll also be able to keep track of leads and manage your customer relationships in one place. No matter the size of your business, CRM tools will help. Popular CRM options include:
Salesforce
HubSpot
Honeybook
At Say Yes, we really like Honeybook. While Honeybook can help you manage projects, we use it for its fantastic platform benefits of sending brochures, signing contracts, sending invoices & accepting payments all in one place through a seamless process.
Can proposals, contracts & invoices look great? Honeybook has solved that problem with its most recent updates. You can keep your branding throughout transactional documents making your onboarding process feel true to your business. It also seamlessly integrates with Quickbooks, which we love.
You can try out Honeybook here with our 20% off referral link!
6: Meeting/Call Scheduling Tools
At Say Yes, we'd never get anything done without meeting scheduling tools! Without a tool such as Calendly, you'll manually book meetings and try to balance schedules. Scheduling tools allow you to set availability so clients can automatically book appointments on your website and schedule calls.
What we love about Calendly is that you can set your availability, so calls and meetings will only be scheduled during those set times. It can also automatically send Google Meeting Links or information for phone calls. Think of it like having a virtual assistant!
Closing Thoughts
By having and utilizing the right tools, you'll be able to increase your efficiency, grow your business, and take it to the next level. We hope the tools we at Say Yes Business Solutions use can benefit you, too!