The Best Tools to Help Organize & Automate Your Business

When you first started your business, you probably never imagined that it would quickly take up all your free time to keep things running. From answering an endless number of emails to ensuring your invoices are created and sent to your clients, the daily tasks that you're required to do can become overwhelming.

Systemizing your online business can help to free up some of your time, so you can focus on the tasks that will help you grow your business.

Here are my favorite tools that can help you systemize so you can expand your online business.

Dubsado

It’s no secret that Dubsado is one of my favorite tools out there. It’s so flexible and customizable. Heck, I’ve even build my business around its capabilities.

Dubsado is a CRM (customer relationship management tool) that systematizes your customer journey from lead capture all the way through service delivery and beyond. (Think requests for feedback & testimonials from past clients)

It’s aimed at service providers, not necessarily product providers. So if you’re in the service industry, and you’re finding yourself drowning in emails, numerous tools to create and send proposals, invoices, service delivery, project materials and so forth, Dubsado can house and streamline ALL of it.

Imagine this scenario: A lead fills out your lead capture form. Then a workflow will trigger a canned email response while also setting up a call based on your availability, and a scheduler link can send automated call follow ups both 24 hours and an hour prior to the call (or at whatever cadence you prefer).

Then after your call with your lead, if you decide they’re a good fit to work with you, you can send them a branded proposal, dropping in custom information automatically from their client profile (first name, date of their event, wedding colors or due date, etc.), along with your contract and invoice in one message.

Sending reminders for your leads and clients to take action can be set up once as well. Gone will be the days of manually following up with leads who may not have signed your proposal or paid you the deposit to book your service. Need even more information once your service project has kicked off? Use their questionnaires to gather as much information, files, images, dates, answers to questions, etc. as necessary.

Need to send quick project progress updates? Set up templates for updates so your client is automatically in the know when milestones are hit.

Do you prefer for clients to pay a set fee for your service? You can even make it so that booking your service requires you be paid up front.

You can use the first three projects for free, so testing your assets (templates, canned emails, schedulers, etc.) can take as long as you need before investing anything.

ClickUp

I’ll admit it, I started this article off with my two favorite tools. ClickUp is an all-in-one free project management tool. If you’ve ever taken any part in a project, whether at work or at home (think bathroom remodel), you know that each project can have its own unique plan. Keeping track of projects manually can be exhausting. Now try doing it as a profession!

ClickUp integrates management of project plans, deliverable progress, the financial health of each project, resource utilization, internal communication during project progress, and reporting all in one platform. Take that Excel! (Imagine me giving Excel a roundhouse kick)

As a Project Manager by trade, I say that ClickUp is BY FAR the best tool to begin using to best manage your company’s internal and external projects.

Zapier

Zapier is your automation best friend. This program connects two applications (let’s say Typeform and Google Sheets) and takes the manual tasks out of the equation. Then you get your tasks completed by tiny robots in the background while investing your time in something more important, like scoping out new JV partners for your business, or ordering a new frothy beverage at your favorite cafe.

You do not need to know any coding to create zaps. Gone are the days of repeated, mundane tasks.  

Trello

If your company lacks organization, Trello helps bring everything your company's working on into one place. It really is a great first step to help you get organized, centralized, and clear so that everyone on your team knows where things stand and can get what they need without asking. Trello is a visual, Kanban style tool.

Imagine you have a super long list of tasks and to-do’s sitting on your desk. Now, take those tasks and make a card for each one, kind of like putting one task on a sticky note. Now, taking this concept a step further, imagine moving those sticky notes into columns, like solitaire. Only each column represents a task status. One column status may be “To Research”. The next may be “To Review & Edit”….and so on.

Using Trello is a great place to start to organize your business processes. It provides a simple interface to dump brainstorms, categorize tasks, put them into their appropriate status and more.

Google Workspace (formerly known as GSuite)

Google Workspace (formerly known as GSuite) is Google’s platform of basic programs needed to complete life’s work activities. It can be used with your team to make your content accessible and easy to find for everyone. The program allows multiple team members to work on material in real-time, immediately syncing & therefore decreasing the chances of someone over-riding something. It’s been around the block for quite some time so I don’t need to tell you about all the bells & whistles.

Google Workspace will mask your profile so that you can use your website’s address as a username instead of a "@gmail” address. This way you can utilize the domain you own AND all of Google’s powerful, cloud-based tools all at once. They do offer a 14 day trial to get you started, and the monthly cost is quite reasonable (starting around $8/month).

Calendly

Calendly will change the way you schedule. The app allows you to create simple rules based on your availability preferences that can be shared through links. It works with Office 365, Outlook, Google, and iCloud so that you never become overbooked. It works great for individuals, departments, and teams and provides you the flexibility to create one-on-one, round-robin, and joint availability meetings.

UPDATE: I used to say Calendly was an essential free tool for any business, but now I point my clients back up to Dubsado. Their scheduling tools are robust and super flexible. But if you want your workflows to be automated and send schedulers on your behalf, that’s when you’ll have to start to spend some money.

Systems & automation go hand-in-hand

These tools will help to free up your time so that you can better manage your energy and focus on the critical activities that will allow you to grow your business.

If getting your customer journey automated as much as possible is on your task list this year, let’s talk more.