5 Time Saving Business Tools I Wish I’d Invested In Sooner

Whether you’re new to running a business or an established entrepreneur, I think there’s always something new to learn, business tools to discover or ideas to consider. It’s so easy to get stuck into a routine or stick with the way you’ve always done things.

I’ve definitely found this to be true not only with my life, but with my business and blogs too. You start out doing things a certain way and it becomes a habit. Sometimes you don’t notice that there’s a much easier, faster or more convenient way of completing a task.

Until recently I mostly ran my business and blogs on autopilot. It felt a little overwhelming and chaotic, so I decided to try and simplify things.

Here are five time saving business ideas I’ve had in the last few months. These business tools save me time, money or both when it comes to my business and/or blogs. Hopefully you might find an idea or two that could work for you too.

1. Opened a business bank account

I’ve been self employed for a few years now, but have been managing with just my regular bank account to receive payments. It did the job and meant I could get paid easily, at a time where opening a business bank account involved a lengthly process or an interview in person.

These days it’s thankfully much easier to open a bank account for your business. I actually opened mine to apply for the Bounce Back Loan, as much of my workload as a freelance copywriter has been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. As I didn’t already have a business bank account with any of the eligible banks, I opted for digital-first bank Starling. And I’m so glad I did!

Having a separate business bank account means it’s so much easier to keep track of income and outgoings. There’s no more trawling through bank statements every month, or looking back through orders to see which items are business-related. It’s also helping me to feel more like a ‘pro’ and a business owner, rather than someone who almost fell into a freelance way of life.

One of my favourite features of my Starling business bank account is the ability to create savings pots, known as ‘spaces’. These are like little ring-fenced pockets of money that you can give a title to, set goals for and even automatically send funds to. The first space I set up was to keep my tax bill funds separate, but I think this could also be great for setting budgets for your business – for example for digital marketing or buying stock.

2. Switched accounting software

Until the start of this financial year I’d been relying on a project management software tool to manage invoicing for my business. While I think Dubsado (affiliate link) is brilliant if you invest the time in getting it set up to suit your business, I’d never managed that and only used the client profile and invoicing features. I also didn’t make the most of the proposals feature, as most of my clients have been agencies or inbound leads. With the financial year coming to an end, it felt like a good time to make a switch.

After hearing lots of other freelance copywriter rave about it, I made the move to FreeAgent (affiliate link – get 10% off your plan). It was easy to get set up and start using the software, plus they offer a free trial period which always helps! After the trial, it’s relatively inexpensive and means I’m much more organised when it comes to my finances.

Setting up new clients, projects and invoices is quick and easy. There’s a place to fill in your bank details and invoice terms, and you can customise your invoice template. I like that you can set up automatic invoice reminders, so your clients will get a friendly email to remind them the invoice is late. I hate chasing invoices, so this is one of those really useful business tools. You can also integrate a bank feed to automatically track incoming payments and expenses, although this isn’t available for every bank.

3. Outsourced tasks to other freelancers

Over the last few weeks I’ve made a few decisions about the future of my business and how I’d like to spend my time. As a freelance copywriter I’ve essentially been trading my hours for money, and my goal is to try and create some more passive income streams over the next year or two. To help me do this, I’ve started to outsource a few tasks in the blogging side of my business.

While I’ve (unsuccessfully) tried to use freelancing platforms to find work for myself in the past, I hadn’t really thought about outsourcing my tasks until recently. Platforms like Fiverr or PeoplePerHour are a good way to see whether outsourcing tasks could work for your business, without trying to independently source and manage others. Outsourcing work saves time, and so does using a ready-built platform.

I’ve started out by outsourcing some writing work for a couple of my other blogs and been really impressed with the results. This means I can continue to publish content on some of my sites while I work on the strategy or direction of others, like this one. It’s also a great way to outsource things you don’t love or don’t know how to do yet, if you don’t want to take an online course right now.

Eventually I’d like to grow my business to the point where I can offer larger pieces of work to freelancers on a regular basis, but starting small means I can test different approaches without affecting my cashflow too greatly.

4. Moved all my notes to one place

If you’re anything like me you have several notebooks on the go at once, with ideas scattered across them. While I love stationery as much as the next person, it wasn’t making any sense from a strategic point of view. I could never find the right notebook or remember where I’d noted down my thoughts on a project. So, I decided to switch to a digital note space to keep everything organised.

An agency I work with started using Notion to share information with us, and I thought it was brilliant. It’s kind of like an all-in-one destination for your notes, thoughts, ideas, spreadsheets, to-do lists and more. It’s fast become one of my favourite business tools.

I love the way everything feels so organised – with pages and sub-pages that you can easily move around or change. It’s so handy being able to keep spreadsheets next to my to-do list, or have pages dedicated to thoughts about future ideas or plans. It’s collaborative too, so if you work with others this would make a great shared workspace. With everything in one place you make a move on your plans faster.

5. Downloaded the PayPal app

I’m ending this list with something that probably sounds obvious, but is something I’ve only just done. As a blogger a lot of my invoices end up being paid through PayPal, so I’m forever logging into the website, requesting an authorisation code, and going through the process. That takes time, and the website also times out if you’re away too long, which can get frustrating.

Eventually I realised it must just be easier to use the app. And it is. It’s so much easier! I’ve always preferred to handle finances and other business tasks on my desktop with a larger screen, but more and more things are becoming easier to do through apps. If, like me, you traditionally don’t use apps for these things, it might be worth a try. It’s not just PayPal either, there could be other business websites you use that have a time-saving app. Things like Canva, Adobe Lightroom, Google Docs, Slack and Asana all have really intuitive apps that save me a lot of time.

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Can you recommend any business tools or tips?

I’m always on the lookout for new ideas, so I’d love to know how you make the most of your time when it comes to your business. Have you invested in some great software or business tools, or sought out the advice of a business coach? Your personal recommendations are always welcome in the comments!