When you own your business, you always want to find ways to streamline your workflow. You want to work smarter, not harder. Since I started my business two years ago, I’ve found some websites and apps that help make my business run more efficiently, and now I’m sharing them with you!
The best part? They all have some kind of free version, so you don’t have to shell out the big bucks to get your business started on the right foot.
1. Planoly & UNUM
Planoly and UNUM are both apps that help you plan your ~aesthetic~ perfectly. It gives you a grid where you can can import the photos you want to post, then drag them around to figure out the best layout. On the free version, you can add multiple channels, though you only have a certain amount of grid space for each of them. On Unum, you can also share your grid with friends or co-workers to give them an idea of what your carefully curated feed will look like. You can even publish posts from each of them and get analytics for an all-in-one experience. (Though I prefer Hootsuite and Buffer for scheduling, but I’ll explain that later).
2. Canva
I love Canva because it’s perfect if you’re a design beginner or if you just simply don’t feel like making something from scratch. It’s a web-based graphic design program that has templates for anything you could ever need. I’ve used it for everything from Pinterest graphics to bachelorette party invitations to business cards. You can also add your own photos and graphics to their templates to make your graphics more personal. They have a mobile app that’s not quite as user-friendly as the website, but still gets things done in a pinch. To see what I’ve designed on Canva, click here.
3. Square
If you don’t get any other app from this list, at least get yourself Square. It’s the “cash register” processing system I use to sell products, and I love it because it’s super easy to add new inventory and track your inventory, send invoices to customers, and add customer profiles to create an email list. They even have add-on tools like booking and marketing. The best part? It comes with a free card reader! Use my link for $1,000 in free processing.
https://squareup.com/i/B58E28E3D5
4. Phonto
When it comes to designing graphics on my iPhone, I like Phonto because it gives you a blank works pace with tons of different text and color customizing tools. It is one of the few iPhone apps I’ve found that lets me import photos on top of each other and also lets me use transparent images with ease. I love how I can download fonts from websites like Dafont.com and use them in Phonto. It does have some features that are paid, but the basic version is free and I’ve never felt the need to pay for it in all the years I’ve used it (like, I’ve been using this app since high school making phone wallpapers with All Time Low lyrics).
5. Hootsuite & Buffer
Hootsuite and Buffer are industry standard apps for scheduling social media posts and monitoring them. You can find a million articles that explain every difference between the two, but I’ll give you the simple version. When creating posts, Hootsuite shows a mock-up of what the post will actually look like on that platform. It also has a “streams” feature to monitor chatter around your channels. Buffer is nice because it gives analytics to show you how your content is performing. Both are nice because they auto-publish your posts for a specific time that you schedule.
6. Calendly
If your business is the kind where booking appointments is necessary, then Calendly will be your new best friend. It’s a booking website where you can add your availability to your calendar and have your clients pick from those times. You could even set recurring availability or for one certain day/time when your schedule changes. You can also customize the type and duration of meetings and which questions you want to ask your clients while they’re in the booking process. Then, it sends you both confirmation emails when they’ve booked a time.
Those are my must-have apps and websites for business owners and entrepreneurs. Which tool was your favorite? Or which tool should I include next time? Tell me in the comments!
Riley Brown 