Apps That I Use Everyday as a Business Owner
Being a business owner, I need to stay on track of things and be completely organized. I can definitely be that type A kind of person, needing to have things in line. If not, I feel a sense of clutter and chaos. There are certain apps that I use everyday to help do just that.
Back when I first started my business a couple of years ago, I did everything by hand and didn't really have many tools to help with my business. Now that I am more established, I am able to use much more software to make my day run smoother and make my business more efficient.
Some of these are catered to my line of work, like Fuigo, some are for creatives, like Honeybook and Canva, and others are for every business owner known to man, like MileIQ and Best Parking. Let me break these down for you so you can decide if these would help you with your own business!
Honeybook
My life-saving app! I recently purchased this software about six months ago, and I am kicking myself for not getting it sooner. As a creative, I am able to create an online platform that holds all my various types of projects and categorizes them. My clients are given a personal login, and they are able to view all of our documents and emails in one place.
Not only does it create a platform for me, but I also allows me to time track my projects and invoice for my time. This really helps so I know exactly what I work on each day and don't need to do anything else when I need to invoice each month. I send my proposals through the platform, and you get notified as soon as your client views them. It's so nice so you don't have to worry about following up to see if they got it, and you can plan your follow up time accordingly. There are so many more features, like connecting with other creatives, syncing your calendar and syncing with your bank!
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Quickbooks
This is another software platform that I am kicking myself for not getting sooner. At first, I used Freshbooks, which was fine when I was first starting out. But, it doesn't link with a lot of other software platforms, and for me, that was a problem. I want things to be integrated and easy, so I don't need to do a lot of work myself. Accounting is the last thing that I want to worry about, so I am more than happy to pay for a software platform that does all the heavy lifting for me.
You can save $50 when you use my link!
MileIQ
I'm seeing a trend here, of software apps that I wish I used sooner in my career. Mike told me about this one, and I just recently started using it. I was totally fine filling out my excel sheet with all the equations to figure out the mileage. Then for some reason one day, I decided to try the app out, and I was kicking myself that I never took the time to look at it! It runs in the background of your phone, and each time that you drive, it totals the drive for you. You can select if its for personal or business, and it will show you your monthly total. This seriously saved me so much time logging all of my miles, and its only a few dollars a month. Totally worth it in my books.
Save 20% with my link!
Best Parking
Anytime I go into the city, I use Best Parking. This is basically a no brainer because the app is free and you get discounted parking spots!
Google Calendar What would I do without my Google calendar? I really just don't know. I actually pride myself on having a great memory, but because I have so much going on, I seriously log every little thing I need to do each day. That way I can be reminded, because oh yes I do not want to forget a meeting or miss a call! I even use this for our personal life like when I have a dinner with a friend, or we are traveling.
Slack This is a great way to communicate with team members rather than using email. I love that everything is in one location, and your inbox doesn't get bogged down!
Lightroom Now, getting into more of the creative apps here. I recently go into photography last year, and I purchased Lightroom. It's my favorite photo editing app. Well, I think its everyone's favorite editing app!
Tezza App As much as I love Lightroom, I use this more for my photography and prints. But, for things like Instagram stories and videos, I love using the Tezza App. You can add filters to videos and make some really nice story posts!
Fuigo
Fuigo is for interior designers. I use this to write all of my specs. Gone are the days of using an Excel sheet (I can't believe I did that!). This organizes each project, creates invoices and you can even invoice straight from the platform!
Canva I love Canva for creating dynamic graphics. I just use the free version, but there is an upgraded version to dive even deeper into the app. I use this for creating Pinterest posts, Instagram stories, and any other simple graphic items for my business.
And there you have it! These are the apps that I use every day! They make my life so much easier, save me tons of time, and even saves me money. So, clearly I'm a happy girl.
I'd love to hear about some of your favorite apps you use for your business!
xx
-Han