My favorite business tools

I love organizing! In fact, I can go a little overboard when it comes to systems and workflows. I knew from the start that I needed a system to follow through to help me run my business and deliver a heartfelt client experience. But I was so overwhelmed with all the available tools in the market. And to make things more complicated, I wanted to keep my business expenses as low as possible (just like every other business owner!).

So, I researched heavily on tools, signed up for multiple trials, tested the system, and really saw for myself if they work for my business. After months of trial and error, I finally found a set of business tools that work for me. I couldn't imagine running my business without them now, and I would love to share them with you. I hope sharing how I use these tools could empower you to figure out what works for you and grow your business too!

HELLO BONSAI

This is where it all started. Hello Bonsai kept all my freelance projects going and organized. Creating project proposals and invoices was so easy. They even have vetted contract templates, which is a big plus for a beginner! Onboarding a client became a much less stressful task. I can provide an almost seamless experience for my client, a big win as a freelancer.

The seamless experience doesn't only apply outwardly. Hello Bonsai is a CRM tool that helped me organize each project in one place. I can simply open the project and see all the related documents, invoices, time tracking, and create tasks associated with the project. It is really a great platform to start with and helped me run my business well. I would totally recommend Hello Bonsai if you are freelancing or new to your business.

Hello Bonsai provides a free 14-day trial, and you can subscribe to use its helpful features for US$19/month.

DUBSADO

As I pivot into branding, I decided to register Blome as a design studio and knew I needed something more robust to support my business. I wanted a more custom look and more integration to my website and project workflow - and hello, Dubsado! I am so thankful to Mel, my business buddy, for introducing me to this powerful business tool.

Dubsado helped me streamline, organize and level up my client experience immensely. Dubsado helps me with everything I needed to run my business: from lead management, email integration, creating a proposal, contract, invoice, payment reminders, scheduling appointments, developing questionnaires and feedback forms, to canned email responses. You can do so with this CRM tool. I can't imagine how I could streamline everything and provide the client experience I wanted without Dubsado's help. It is a true game-changer!✨

One caveat, though, Dubsado does come with a much steeper learning curve than Hello Bonsai. I needed to spend a lot more time setting my Dubsado up, but you only need to do it once, and I think it is definitely worth the hard work! You can always outsource the setup, too, if you have some extra budget or get help from Dubsado's super helpful team.

Dubsado is FREE for your first 3 clients, which allows you more than enough time to set up and do test runs! Once you reach the 3-client mark and find that this works for you, you can upgrade to its yearly paid plan or monthly for just US$40/month. Plus, if you use my affiliate link & code "blomedesignco", you'll get an extra 20% off your first month or year!

ASANA

Besides a CRM tool, I also wanted a project management tool to organize my project, managing the timeline and client's expectations. Each of my signature branding services takes about 8-10 weeks to complete, and I want to guide my client well as we progress. My whole design process is laid out from start to finish on Asana. This helps my clients to visually gauge our project scope, timeline, and progress we made with our project. My clients are always clear on what tasks are up next, what I am working on, what they need to work on, and their specific due dates.

Asana made our collaboration so much more organized and fun. We use it to assign tasks for each design milestone, mark them when done, and receive reminders whenever something was due. We can also provide comments directly on the task instead of getting lost on email threads. I used the FREE version of Asana, which offers collaboration for up to 15 people (and that's more than enough for me). This tool is easy to navigate and helped me so much to guide and collaborate with my clients.

ZOOM

This is my go-to tool for all my live calls with clients and intro call with potential clients. I especially love the virtual background (fewer distractions during client meetings) and, of course, the integration with Dubsado & Google Calendar! I can share a link from Dubsado with my client, so they can browse my calendar and pick the most suitable time for our appointment. Once they book the time, the Zoom link will be auto-generated and added to my calendar. It saves me so much time to set up a call. No more back and forth emails are required!

LOOM

This is a tool I use to record my screen and present to my clients or simply share a quick screencast video. Some of my clients are in different time zones, and it is not always easy to fix a time. I also love presenting through screen recording as it gives my client some space to process and think through the concept before they give me their feedback. Loom is really easy to use. You can record your screen anytime (with/without your video). It will auto-upload online once you are done recording, and you just need to copy the video link and share it with your clients.

DROPBOX

I mainly work from my studio, but I occasionally travel or feel like working outside / at a cafe. Hence, I want seamless online storage for my files. I used Dropbox Pro to help me organize all my files. I have the Dropbox app installed in all my Mac ecosystems, so I can always pick up the correct file, no matter which device I am working from. 

Dropbox also provides an easy way to share project deliverables with clients. Dropbox Transfer is a feature that I use to send my final deliverables. You can set link expiry and ensure that the clients download all the necessary files at the end of each project. 

Dropbox Pro is available for US$19.99/month, and you can get an extra 500 MB of bonus space if you sign up with my affiliate link.

SQUARESPACE

As an online business, having an online home base, aka website, is very important. It is also crucial for me to be able to design and maintain my own website. After researching and trying a few platforms, I decided to host my website on Squarespace. I love how easy it is to navigate, customize and maintain my website, so definitely have no regrets on this one!

SOCIAL MEDIA & LATER

Social media is definitely one of the best ways to market an online business. Instagram is my primary way to connect with potential clients and fellow creatives, but it can also be a huge time suck. I use Later to manage and schedule my social media posts to limit my scrolling time and intentionally engage after my work hours. Later provide you with hashtag suggestions, the best time to post, and great analytics.

GOOGLE SHEET

Money management and taxes can be a very daunting task for a business owner. But we are running a business after all, and you need to handle your books every month. I am lucky to have a finance guy in the house, aka my husband, to build a customized Google Sheet spreadsheet for my money management. It may sound old school, but it serves my business well so far!

WISE (formerly TRANSFERWISE)

Last but not least, money movements and transfer fees (yikes)! You'll need to be very flexible when running an online business, and I am so glad to find Wise! I can now receive money worldwide, convert with mid-market exchange rates, and spend in multiple currencies with a dedicated debit card. Wise helps keep my transfer fees low, pay my USD bills, and quickly move the money into my local bank account. If you deal with multiple currencies in your business, this is totally worth considering! You can use my affiliate link for a discount on your first transfer.

So there you have it, my 10 favorite business tools! I believe these are not by any right the best tools out there, but they are suited for my business right now. I hope sharing what works for me can help you navigate and streamline your business too! Feel free to use my affiliate links to get more out of the tools above. Please let me know if I am missing out on any other great tools out there. I would love to learn from you too! :)

Did you like this POST? Pin the image below to save it!