Time-Saving Tools for Entrepreneurs
As a Solopreneur, the little picture stuff can often be time-consuming. The temptation to outsource a few things can be alluring and unnerving at the same time. Over the years, I’ve discovered some tools that have supported my business growth tremendously. These tools have increased my time efficiency and organization and have helped keep my business solo and manageable. Also, they have truly helped me combat overwhelm!
One bit of advice, whatever tool you use, ENJOY it. If you dread using a tool the odds are it won’t serve you at all. Also, these are tools that I have grown to learn and love. There are pros and cons to each of them and there are competing tools that you might have a preference to, but the ones below have been the most useful to me. Hopefully they’ll be useful to you too!
Many of these tools have either free trials or free basic plans. I encourage you to sign up and dabble to see if it feels good and serves your needs. Here’s a tip: Make a bookmark folder on your browser so they are accessible and you don’t forget about them. Here they are in random order…
Harvest
“Simple time tracking, fast online invoicing, and powerful reporting software.”
Whether you’re time tracking with a client and/or simply want a way to automate invoices, Harvest offers a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing design and layout to manage it all.
My favorite feature: Automated reminder emails if an invoice is overdue.
Croissant
“The app that unlocks your city’s best co-working spaces.”
I’m the biggest cheerleader for Croissant. For a low monthly fee, croissant allows you to hop into participating workshare spaces around your city and the country.
Workshare pricing can be expensive and Croissant offers reasonable rates and multiple locations. This can be especially helpful if you have meetings in different areas of your city and need a place to work in-between. Need a few hours a month to work outside your home but not ready to commit to a monthly space? Croissant may be a good solution for you.
Working at coffee shops can be fun but often the internet is spotty and if you need to go the bathroom you have to pack everything up and potentially lose your seat. Also, it can be hard to chat on the phone when the barista is grinding up beans!
My favorite feature: Monthly membership comes with guest hours. In addition, some spaces have private phone booths. Oh, and did I mention FREE coffee?
If you try it out, be sure to use this link! Yes, they have an affiliate program that can provide additional savings.
“When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket.”
Say goodbye to the million bookmarks in your browser you’re saving for later. Pocket organizes your favorite web links with a tagging system.
My favorite feature: Download the articles in the app and read during flights or transit rides or wherever there is limited wi-fi.
Calendly
“Say goodbye to phone and email tag for finding the perfect meeting time with Calendly.”
This app is the best. Customize your availability and send a link for someone to sign up for a meeting.
My favorite feature: Sync Calendly with your Google Calendar.
Typeform
“Build beautiful, engaging, and conversational online forms, surveys, quizzes, landing pages, and much more.”
Typeform transforms your average questionnaire into a magical and engaging experience. Most people are not fans of forms, but Typeform does a superb job of making both the form-making experience and form-filling out experience enjoyable.
My favorite feature: Sleek and savvy design.
Later
“Visually plan and schedule instagram posts.”
I can go on and on about how much I LOVE later. As a former social media manager I used several social media mangement tools. After awhile, I got used to all of them but whenever I would share what I used, people would practically have a heart attack. The interface was hard on the eyes.
Later’s minimalist and simple layout makes the process of content making and batching pleasant and fun. Are you falling down the social media rabbit hole on a regular basis? Read how to avoid that here.
My favorite feature: Save hashtags and visual layout for drafts.
Asana
“Organize work in one place. With Asana, everyone knows what’s going on and where to find it.”
What was life like before Asana? Not fun. Asana is a supercharged task manager. Cut down on emails, searching for files, and prioritize your tasks. Asana keep tasks and projects organized an d tidy. It’s especially useful if you work remotely with other team members.
My favorite feature: Easily archive and review old tasks and projects.
Doodle
“Doodle radically simplifies the process of scheduling events, meetings, appointments, etc.”
If you are coordinating events with more than 3 people, Doodle is a BIG time saver!
My favorite feature: You can update the doodle to add more dates and times.
Camscanner
“Office documents snapshot and smart image doc management.”
This is an app. Yes, you can use your phone’s camera app but Camscanner allows you to create a PDF and enhances it to look clear and sharp. You can also easily export the files in multiple ways and sync to the cloud with high speed.
My favorite feature: Take a picture of your receipts, tag them, and put them in a folder. Perfect for reimbursements and expensing!
Unsplash
“Beautiful high quality free images and photos you can download and use for any project.”
Throw out any idea you have about stock images when you visit Unsplash. It offers some of the most beautiful photos to use for Facebook ads, social media posts, website content, and event print!
My favorite feature: Images can be downloaded high res and new photos are added all the time.
Loooka
“Looka Logo Maker combines your logo design preferences with Artificial Intelligence to help you create a custom logo you'll love. All it takes is a few clicks and five minutes.”
I used Looka recently to create a logo as a space holder for a website. As we continued with the project and got designs from a designer, we realized we preferred the logo we generated in under 10 minutes using this site!
My favorite feature: Simple 4-step process. Premium offers a high res logo, phone support, and print ready versions.
Giphy
“Giphy is your top source for the best and newest GIFs and animated stickers online.”
This site sparks so much joy for me. I LOVE IT. Add a GIF to at least one email a week and make ‘em laugh.
My favorite feature: Giphy allows you to copy, download, or embed your GIF.