The 3 essential tools your business needs

A project management tool, invoicing system, and a calendar/email account are amongst the most essential tools for any business. There’s an endless list of tools that you can utilize to build and scale, but if you’re just starting out, these are essential. These tools will help you stay organized, streamline your day and ensure your energy is used in the areas that matter most.

When deciding on the best tools for you, do not be drawn in by shiny object syndrome or what works best for everyone else around you. The best tool or software is the one that assists you to reach your goals, whether it’s revenue related or team management.

As an example, I’ve tried all of the popular project management [PM] tools and, yet, what suits my work style best for day-to-day is my google calendar and google task list opened right next to it. I work best by not jumping in-between multiple screens as it distracts me. If I only have one screen open it eliminates the distraction factor. My bigger projects, goals and focus areas are all housed in ClickUp.

Why a project management tool?

If you’ve been working solely off of your memory - stop! That is a sure-fire way to forget tasks, drop the ball on your projects and lose revenue. PM tools help keep all your tasks, current and upcoming projects and client related info in one central place. Many of them even offer the ability to change your ‘view type’ preference i.e. lists, kanban, calendar, etc.

Using a PM tool will enable you to keep track of tasks and schedules, collaborate with team members, and monitor your progress on various projects. This helps ensure that all aspects of the business are functioning optimally. Additionally, project management tools can be used to effectively break down tasks, evaluate project performance, and to provide users with resources that they need to complete a task. This helps businesses streamline projects, reduce costs, and optimise productivity.

In the online space, there’s a range of well-known PM tools that immediately come to mind which you can consider testing if you haven’t settled on one yet. This includes Asana, Clickup, Trello or Monday.com and - bonus - they all have a free account option that you can play around with and easily use.

An invoicing system

This tool will help your business streamline the invoicing process by allowing you to track payments, generate invoices quickly, and providing your clients with accurate billing information. A few invoicing systems can also help businesses track time and material costs for projects, as well as provide insights into a business’ cash flow. This will help you stay on top of your finances and increase your efficiency.

Some well-loved examples of invoicing systems includes Wave, FreshBooks, Quickbooks and Zoho.

Your calendar/email

This tool is a must! It can be used to create agendas, record meetings, and share important documents. It’s crucial for maintaining effective communication within the organization, which helps to ensure that all team members are on the same page and are working together to achieve business goals.

When starting off, it can be very tempting to use a free …@gmail.com account. It does, however, lend more credibility to your business when you’ve purchased a domain name to use in your email address. It’s a very small monthly fee (currently less than $10) that you’ll pay. Having even just 1 client will more than cover the cost.

Try out a few of these tools by testing what flows best with your work style and meets the tool requirements you’ve decided on. It’s likely that the tools you start off with will evolve as you scale so keep that in mind, too. These tools will play a crucial role in streamlining your business’ internal processes, boosting productivity and allowing the business to work more efficiently and effectively.

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