Being a small business owner myself, I need to be able to recommend resources for business owners that can help them manage their time and their businesses better. Time is of the essence, and the best tools for small business owners are constantly changing, as is this list. What you see below are the services that I personally use because I can see how they make my own life easier.
Small Business Tools and Resources
Learning & Growth
When it comes to books, there are the obvious sites like Amazon (which has much more than just books) or Book Depository (best place when I need a particular book quickly). However, I try to support local Australian company Booktopia where I can, but because they don’t have free shipping like Book Depository, then I only use them when I know I’m purchasing multiple books because it’s only a flat fee of AU$6.95, which is very reasonable.
Udemy is great for me because I don’t have time to go to uni or tafe anymore but every now and then I realise there is a piece of knowledge or skill that I lack and it is holding me back in my work. I need to learn that missing thing fast and in a practical way and for that, I am always buying courses on Udemy. The thing I love about Udemy is that I can quickly plug that gap in my knowledge or skill set and move on, not worrying about curriculum, classes, certificates or any of that fluff that doesn’t help me better serve my clients.
Writing & Document Management
Grammarly is an online spell checker but also so much more. It checks your grammar, provides synonym suggestions, and can be adapted to over 30 different contexts, such as blog posts, academia, creative writing, medical writing, technical writing, personal use, etc.
Microsoft OneDrive is essential for me because I am always using my phone and my laptop in different places, whether on the road, a client’s office, while travelling, and I need my files readily accessible. If I lose or break something, it’s inconvenient and expensive but it’s not a disaster because I haven’t lost any work. All my work is saved in real-time and always backed up automatically in the cloud. I use and prefer it to Google and Dropbox for many reasons.
Project & Task Management
Asana is great for project management and I find it superior to competitors such as Trello because it is more comprehensive and customisable, and it has the Kanban board feature that Trello has but also the standard checklist.
Process Street is a great piece of software that I use to keep track of all my workflows and client responsibilities. I might have to do a task for a client once a month, or deliver an outcome on an irregular basis and I don’t want to forget something or waste anyone else’s time, so I make a checklist, or create a process for myself, and follow that. The beauty of Process Street is that it is collaborative, automated, and live, keeping errors to a minimum.
Slack is great as a way to minimise the disruptiveness of email. It is a team based chat software and instead of clogging your inbox with back and forth emails about a particular problem/client/project, or trying to find files that were sent as attachments hundreds of emails earlier, just set up different chat channels within your Slack team and start sharing files, discussions and updates. It is a great time saver.
Making An Impression!
Health: Having a great business, being a great boss, changing the world, can be significantly harder if you’re fighting health issues. And as you age, you start having excuses on why your body is just fine because you look around and everyone around you is flabby with health issues, just like you.
Well, this isn’t the way to lead a fulfilling life and after reading Bigger Leaner Stronger by Michael Matthews, I better understand how my body works and how to maintain my health. I can’t recommend him highly enough if you’re interested in taking control of your health and training and eating for good results.
I use the app MyFitnessPal to help me control my portion sizes and how the amount of energy I’m intaking on a daily basis, or in other words, how many calories I’m consuming. But without a kitchen scale, it becomes incredibly difficult to do this, so I recommend it. People will laugh at you and think you’re eccentric but they’ll soon lay off once they see how well you’re progressing.
Personal Presentation: A Guide to Style. I learnt a lot about men’s style thanks to the work of Antonio Centeno. If you want to put your best foot forward, you should learn about self-presentation. No one who’s serious about business should be careless about their dress. This isn’t because you want to be vain or gimmicky, but because you owe it to yourself to actually present yourself the way you see yourself, regardless of your style.
Some of these links are affiliate links, such as the Amazon Associate link, and so I can earn from qualifying purchases. If you choose to purchase or subscribe to anything from these links, I will earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.