My Must-Have Tools for Success

Honestly, most of this list works for any entrepreneur – its not just for virtual assistants! I use most of these every day, and I would be STRUGGLING in my business without them. I’m going to keep this post short and sweet. As per usual (for now), none of these are paid! I’m making no money from sharing these platforms. I just like them and want to share my experience with them. 

1. Dubsado – Dubsado is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform. This is where I keep all the info for my clients, invoice, collect payments, track my time, track revenue/expenses, and send out my contracts. I’m sure there’s more, but even I’m still learning all that there is to learn. Their customer service is AMAZING, and I’m even helping a client set it up for her own business! A few months ago they launched their mobile app, which is great for the basics so far, but they don’t yet have all the features included. This platform costs me $40/month. 
2. Canva – Canva is a platform for creating graphics for pretty much anything you could ever want! I have the pro version, which costs $120/year, and there are two BIG reasons I decided to go for the pro version. First, I have access to ALL of their features as well as design templates not offered in the free version. Second, I’m able to save all my brand info (fonts, colors, logo), and with a single click I can update a design with all of my brand info. Its AMAZING and a huge time saver. 
3. Capcut – Capcut is a video editing tool popular with social media. I have Final Cut Pro, but to be honest I feel like Capcut makes it so much easier to edit on the fly. This costs me $10/month. Since my days of working at Apple I have owned Final Cut Pro and know a bit about it, but something like this is a lot easier for learning the basics IMO!
4. A website – I’m going to keep this one vague. Everyone needs a website! It can be as simple or as complex as you want it. I use WordPress for my website and blog. I also host my domain through them (for the time being). I don’t currently have plans for an online shop so I haven’t included what this would entail in my considerations for a website. 
5. Square – Square is awesome! It is a payment processing platform, and is integrated with Dubsado so when I send out an invoice to a client, they get a button that takes them to Square with the amount they need to pay. Once they submit payment it gets automatically deposited into my account, and that amount is marked as paid income in my reporting within Dubsado. Its a beautiful thing! They do take a percentage of what you receive as a processing fee, but I don’t pay a fee to use this service. 
6. Google Drive – I’m working on using Google Drive for housing all my business things instead of just my desktop! Its a great way to keep organized, and makes things easily sharable with clients when needed. I also have the Drive app on my phone for easy access on the go.  
7. Trello – Trello is my to-do list! I have created boards for each client as well as for my own business, and its where I do all my brain dumps and then break them down into tasks. There is a paid version of this, but I use the free version. 
8. Flodesk – I don’t have this for myself yet( its $38/month), but I use it for a client, and i’m in love! I will definitely be investing in this in the next few months. Its a platform for sending out emails, newsletters, group texts, etc. 
9. Planoly – This is what I use for scheduling out my Instagram and Facebook, and costs $16/month for their tier 1 option. I’m still learning the ins and outs, but its already helping a ton with planning my content out for each month! 
10. Adobe Scan – this is a mobile app I have with Adobe that scans documents and turns them into a pdf! I have a printer, but no scanner. This has been extremely helpful when I have to wet sign papers and send them back.

What is one tool you consider a MUST HAVE for our business?! I’m always on the lookout and curious about how others keep themselves and their businesses running smoothly.