Hello Reader,

What’s this mistake?

You think you need all the bells and whistles to grow a successful business.

Since you have the money, you invest in all the things the entrepreneurs you follow tell you to.

But this is a sure way to spend money you haven’t made on things you don’t need.

Yes, you do need to invest in your business initially to grow it.

But to what degree?

When the results you want take longer than you expect to come (and they will) and you’ve already incurred all these sunk costs, it can make you feel disillusioned, like you’re doing something wrong.

You might even wonder if you have what it takes to grow a successful business and be tempted to throw in the towel and just focus on your job.

What You Should Be Doing Instead

Don’t fall into the trap of getting caught up in making your business more complicated than it has to be when you’re starting out.

Your business will take longer than you expected to get the results you want and it will be much harder than you thought.

Don’t throw in the towel yet. This is a normal growth process so you need to have the stamina - energetically and financially - to keep going in the long term.

All you need at the beginning is a simple way for people to find out about you, for you to nurture and build a relationship with them, and for you to invite them to work with you.

You can have an effective system doing all this at a low cost that’s simple to use.

Besides managing your expenses, it’s also about managing your time. The more tools and programs you get, the more time you’ll have to spend learning how to use them and apply them to your business.

When you’re side hustling, you won’t have the time to do all this.

So you need to prioritize activities that give you the highest returns on your time and money.

Focus your time and energy on intimately understanding who you’re trying to help and how you can help them. Once you’re sure what you do helps them get what they want, invest in the bells and whistles to scale and grow.

I learned this the hard and expensive way.

Now, I use simple and mostly free tools to optimize my time and money so I can focus on

• Reaching out to my ideal audience.
• Building a relationship with them.
• Understanding them.
• Helping them.

14 (Mostly) Free Tools To Help You Focus On What’s Important

Here are the 13 tools I use daily to grow my audience, nurture relationships, and book clients.

Most have a mobile app version that I carry on my phone since I carry out my side business activities on the go.

Some of these are affiliate links but most aren’t.

Affiliate links are at no extra cost to you to sign up through while paying me a small commission if you use my link (thanks for your support!). All costs are in Singapore dollars ($1 SGD = $0.74 USD as of 22 June 2024)

1. Google Calendar (free)

All my calendars (business, job, personal) are integrated here. I schedule everything here. Besides the obvious ones like meetings and events, I also schedule my writing time, engagement on LinkedIn, commuting time, morning routine, everything.

2. Google Suite - ($10/month)

I write my newsletters, and articles and brain dump my ideas in Google Docs, maintain my CRM, finances and projects in Google Sheets, and use Slides for my workshop presentations. It's a simple way to streamline, save time, and have everything in one place.

3. Calendly (free)

I use the free version that gives you 1 scheduling link. I’ll segment my calls through the questions you can include in the booking page and this gets updated seamlessly into my Google calendar when people book calls through my Calendly link.

4. Zoom ($25/month)

This is a must-have since I do my calls and workshops via Zoom. It also integrates with Calendly and Google Calendar so everything is automatically updated.

5. Fathom (free)

An AI notetaker and recording tool help me focus 100% on my calls. It then gives me a summary of key points after the call. You can upgrade to the paid version to have it extract action items, create email reminders, and integrate your call notes with other tools like CRM trackers.

6. Tasks (free)

A to-do list that runs alongside Google Calendar, I have this app with me on my phone everywhere I go. As a side-hustling mum who spends a lot of time on the move in my job, driving my kids, commuting or doing groceries and errands, this is a must-have! I can’t remember everything and I think on the go. This app ensures I don’t miss out on important to-do’s.

7. Buffer - ($8/month)

I batch my content for the week on weekend mornings before anyone wakes up. There’s a free version but I use the most basic paid version of Buffer, a scheduling tool that enables me to include a first comment where I include links to my offers. Don’t put links in your LinkedIn posts if you’re not a top creator with a huge audience because LinkedIn will not show your posts if you have links in them. Having this first comment feature on Buffer helps me get around this.

8. Shield ($11/month) & LinkedIn analytics (free)

My big mistake in the past was neglecting to look at the data and evaluate it. Now, I use Shield and LinkedIn analytics to review how my content is doing regularly. It informs me what resonates, and what people want, and helps me improve what I post.

9. Canva ($165/year)

I use the paid version since it gives me access to more images and templates for my posts, newsletters, slides and ebooks.

10. ConvertKit ($390/year)

Soon-to-be-rebranded Kit, I use this primarily for email marketing and sending out my newsletters. There are many other features I haven’t explored yet. ConvertKit makes it easy to create landing pages for newsletters, ebooks and workshop registrations.

11. ChatGPT (free)

Who isn't using AI these days? I use the free version to research and get inspiration for my content, not to write it. I’m currently thinking about using the paid version because there’s so much more I’d like to use AI for.

12. Thrivecart ($670)

I use this to create checkout pages when women purchase my coaching program. There are many functionalities that I don’t use yet, like upselling offers or creating affiliate programs. I like that it’s a one-time payment that I can use as my business grows.

13. Stripe and PayPal (% of transaction value - varies across countries)

I use Stripe and PayPal to accept payments online. For clients who are based in Singapore, I also use the local PayNow mobile interbank transfer function. Whatever you use, make it as easy as possible for people to pay you!

14. Pen and paper ($8/month)

Finally, there's nothing like traditional pen and paper for my daily journaling practice. Journaling helps me set my intention for the day, reflect and be grateful at the end of the day, clarify my thoughts, process my emotions, and brainstorm ideas. I use my favourite notebook from the local bookstore and my Waterman fountain pen for this. These are my must-have tools.

Summary

I spend about $100/month on these tools, excluding the one-time payment for Thrivecart. It’s a good return on investment for where I’m at in my business now.

You don’t need a whole lot of fancy stuff especially when you’re starting.

Keep your expenses low and save your energy and time for the important things you need to do at the beginning of your business, which is to make a profit!

Do you use any of these? What else would you recommend? Hit reply and let me know!

Take one step at a time and keep going!

Sharon

P.S. I specialise in helping busy professional women use their strengths and talents to do work they love, make the money they need, and have the time to enjoy it. Book a call to learn how.

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