Having The Right Tools to succeed in starting your business

Once you’ve got your business plan written it’s time to iron out some of the basics. This part is important because it’s something that I’ve seen business who are making 10+ million dollars a year skip out on, and it’s come to bite them in the rear when they least expected it.

There’s a few things you’re going to need to get started, and the cool thing about all the ones I’m going to list here is that they are free!  Simply put you are going to need a way for people to contact you, a way for you to keep track of the conversations you’ve had with people, and a way for people to pay you once you have provided them your product or services.  Welcome to the world of Customer Relationship Management.  

In order to provide high quality service you will need the following:

  • Hubspot.com - This is a tool that you can use for free in it’s basic configuration and will allow you to keep track of all  your customer engagements, and tracks your sales, conversations, etc.  This tool will be invaluable as you grow, since no matter how good of memory you have, you will forget stuff if you don’t write it down. 

  • Google Sheets/Excel - If you are cheap like me, you can use Google Sheets which provides almost everything that Excel does, except that it’s free.  You can use this to keep track of your budget, expense, payroll, ect.  It may seem basic at first look, but trust me, with the right know-how there’s not much that you can’t accomplish with Google Sheets.

  • Calendly.com - Let’s be honest, you want to spend your time building your business, talking to customers, and spending time with your friends and family.  Taking the time to schedule conversations is not something you want to be wasting time doing, and that’s where Calendly comes in.  This tool will allow people to book appointments directly into your calendar for whenever you are available, free up your time to do the things you need/want to do. 

  • Paypal.com - Hey, you’re running a business here, and that hopefully means people are paying you.  There’s a million different app and solutions out there, but there are few that have been around for as long or as simple as Paypal.  You can send invoices and receive payment from people using their credit card, and you can export all those transactions to your handy Google Sheet created for budgeting.  Best of all, it’s free (minus those pesky transaction fees, but as my grandma used to say, “Ain’t nothing for free.”

If you want to discuss in-depth regarding your specific business needs and what tools would work best for you, or you simply don’t have the time or technical knowledge to set everything up yourself, feel free to schedule a free 30-minute call with me!

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Getting Started, Tips and Tricks, Resources/ToolsJordan Kennedybusiness development, business plan, startup tips, resources, toolsComment