Must Have Tools for Starting a Business
Top 11 Tools I Use in My Business
Hello friends!!
I can't believe I am doing this.
Writing a blog….who am I??
But my VA (Virtual Assistant) says I need to branch out of my comfort zone, so here I am!
But really, what better place and way to start than telling y'all about my FAVORITE Products and Apps that I use everyday as a 25+ year business owner!
Let’s dive in!!
MY TOP BUSINESS TOOLS
Google workspace
Google Workspace, formerly G Suite, is a new tool that I am using with my VA’s! It was simple when I had one VA but when I added three more to the team I knew I needed to have one place to collaborate, meet, and schedule!
Bonus: I could set up a Gmail that has my domain - aka everyone on my team no longer has to use their personal email but has a Candice Montgomery email! How cool!!
Trello is a web-based, Kanban-style (visual board), list-making application. This is great for organizing your tasks or delegating your tasks to your VA or team. It is a project management tool where you can see the progress of your current to-do list. You can communicate with your VA or team in the comments section of each task so you keep track of your thoughts and steps needed to complete the task. And honestly yourself too! If you are like me and need constant reminders! (this is perfect!!) As well you can create multiple boards to keep organized such as: social media board, black friday board, as well as each teammate can have a board!
Slack
Slack is a messaging program designed specifically for the workplace. You can use it to communicate with your VA or team rather than sending email. Because email takes too long to get a response, Slack allows you to get an instant response. You can set up different channels (subjects) for communication. You can also have a call with your VA, team or even
colleagues outside of your organization.
Bonus: Slack is able to connect with Trello and other valuable apps such as Google Calendar, Google Drive, and One Drive!
Evernote
Evernote is an app designed for note taking, organizing, task management, and archiving. You can use it on your phone, tablet or computer. You can create notes and clickable links shared with others outside your organization. As well as forward emails to notebooks and add specific notes! You can create notebooks by topic and then have individual notes within each notebook so that you can keep organized.
Gemini 2
Gemini 2 is an app that detects duplicate and similar files in your Mac, including Photos, Music, and even external drives. It helps you free up tons of disk space. This is a new tool for me but this application has helped me a lot.
Loom
Loom is a video recording tool that helps you get your message across through instantly shareable videos. You can create a video while sharing your screen which can include a preview of your face or not. This is an amazing tool for you to start creating systems in your business for every task that you do - so that one day you will be able to hand off to your VA or team. This is one I wish I had from the beginning. As a solopreneur you will be doing ALL THE THINGS and you will need to document everything so that when you do the handoff, it will be seamless and relieve a ton of work from your plate.
Adobe DC/Sign
Adobe Acrobat Sign, an Adobe Document Cloud solution, is a cloud-based, e-signature service that lets you replace paper and ink signature processes with fully automated electronic signature workflows. I have my office staff use this tool in conjunction with our Fujitsu scanner so that we can run a paperless office. While we are still dealing with paper that comes into the office, we are making huge strides to eliminate it all together. When using Adobe DC you can make any file a PDF. You can sign your PDF and send it to others. You can also request signatures. With OCR (Optical Character Recognition) your PDF becomes searchable. We use this to organize our filing system. We try to get as much information sent via email as possible but when we receive paper, this is our go-to solution.
Numbers/Excel/Sheets
These are spreadsheet applications that allow for making tables, using formulas. This is very useful especially when sharing and collaborating with your team.
Pages/Word/Docs
These are word processing tools that allow you to create letters and stunning documents. It allows real time collaboration so you can create and edit documents with your team from anywhere.
Quickbooks
Quickbooks is the accounting software that I use in my daily operations. It is a smart, simple online accounting software for small businesses. This requires you to have some knowledge of accounting. I work with my accountant and they do my filings and make important journal entries or corrections. Quarterly, they download my current file so that they can produce financial statements and tax reports for me to be able to pay in compliance with the state and federal regulations.
Fujitsu Scanner
Fujitsu is an established leader in the document imaging market that features state-of-the-art scanning solutions. I have 3 of these scanners. 2 at my office and 1 at my home. It’s important to start a system of sorting, scanning and shredding as soon as possible in your business.
There you have it!!
Those are my TOP favorite tools for starting a business that have helped me immensely!
I hope you enjoyed my first blog post and I guess, get ready for more!!
Your Business Bestie,
Candice
P.S. I also created a Business Planner and have been loving it!
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