I do think that bootstrapping is important when you first start out, there are three things you should pay for as soon as you can.
Starting with these low cost things to help you show up like a boss.
The first thing was Freshbooks.
Freshbooks has so many attributes that I love like:
- Income and expense tracking plus easy reporting
- Branded invoices
- Integration with other apps like PayPal & Stripe and more
- $0.50 fees on invoices
- Time tracking
- Recurring invoices
Freshbooks has a relatively low monthly cost and is dependent on the number of active customers you have. There is a free trial so get started today.
The second thing I invested in was Dropbox.
I could have just bought an external hard-drive or something similar but for $10 a month and 1TB of space it is so worth it. Not to mention, most people are using Dropbox so syncing with them is seamless without running out of space. Not ready to sign up for the extra space – you can still get started today and use the free account so you can easily upgrade when you are ready.
Another perk of Dropbox is if you use multiple computers or get a new computer the transfer is so simple with no hassle. I recently just upgraded my computer and was able to easily set it up because I have all of my files on Dropbox. I just installed my programs, set up my browser with LastPass so I can access all of my favorites and have access to all of my websites. This took me a few hours and I couldn’t have done that without extra space to easily access my documents.
Oh, I forgot to mention, Dropbox allows you to see the previous versions of your documents. What a lifesaver – an external hard-drive won’t do that! Get Dropbox today.
And then I invested in ActiveCampaign.
Yes, Mailchimp is free and is what I started out using but if you want to set up autoresponders then I absolutely love the ease of ActiveCampaign.
An autoresponder is when your subscriber is sent a series of emails once they sign up so it is hands off and helps foster a better relationship with your audience. Check out one of mine by signing up for the the free target audience roadmap.
Another low cost resource that really helps you present yourself as a pro, ActiveCampaign is pretty easy to use and very affordable. Some of the most used features are:
- Multiple lists
- Segmentation and groups
- Easy to customize templates
- Easy to navigate
- Advanced reports
- Social sharing
- Integration with other apps like PayPal, Eventbrite, Facebook and more
Get these three tools and watch your business grow. No more using Excel spreadsheets for everything and saving every penny you have. Invest in your business and watch it grow but use the best tools for the job.
Interested in more tools? Check out my favorite tools and resources for a few more recommendations. Or if you have a question and are looking for a solution, leave me a comment below so we can figure out it out.
