10 Business Tools Every Entrepreneur Mom Should Have To Run A Thriving Business (And Stay Sane)

Running a business full time or even part time requires a plan, a strategy, and tools. Lots of tools to stay organized and productive. As an entrepreneur mom, I’ve learned how important these tools are and I couldn’t live without most of them. Really. They make my life and work more streamlined and I don’t know about you dude, but keeping my sanity intact as much as possible is very important.

Now, if you’ve followed me for a while, you know I’m not a fan of the work-life balance philosophy. I find it too restrictive and unattainable for most moms trying to keep their life and family together while pursuing their passions. Therefore, having the right tools to help me blend these areas of my life is invaluable. I’m excited to share with you 10 tools every business mom should have to run a thriving business AND how I made $6,000 in my coaching business in 7 days. (Seriously, this is not a joke, read on!) I know this information will certainly help you approach life and entrepreneurship as a mom a little easier while creating incredible momentum in your business.

1. WEBSITE

Having a website allows you to combine all of your information in one centralized location. An online space to direct traffic, give value and capture leads for your business. You don’t have to spend a fortune on design. I love and use Squarespace for my website.

2. ONLINE CALENDAR

I use Calendly to schedule appointments with clients and keep my calendar in one place. I love how easy it was to set up my calendar and availability, and clients can book a time with me directly online. Send email reminders to reduce no-shows and missed appointments. You can see how it works HERE.

There are other tools online and if you’re a pen-to-paper type of girl, that’s great. The goal is to find a simple solution that works for you.

3. EMAIL SERVICE

As traffic comes to your website, it’s important to capture email leads so you can continue to build relationships with your network. Mailchimp is a great solution, especially if you’re just starting out, as the first 1,000 subscribers are free. ConvertKit, MailerLite, Aweber, and Constant Contact are also great solutions. I recently moved to ActivCampaign and am still testing the integration of my CRM and emails.

4.VIDEO EDITING

I am a MAC girl and I love making videos as part of my marketing strategy. I love iMovie to edit my videos before I upload them to YouTube.

5.CANVA

Canva is a great tool for creating social media headers and other graphics to help your online brand take shape. It is very easy to use and fun. It can help bring out or discover your inner creativity. There is a free option and a Canva For Work option, but just starting out, the FREE version has tons of free images, templates, and fonts.

6. BE.LIVE.TV

This is a super cool Facebook streaming app that allows you to engage users through Facebook Live. With BeLive you can broadcast together with your friends and teammates, and create a high-quality live broadcast directly through Facebook Live on your wall or page. Stream live video to a BeLive production.

7. BILLING AND PAYMENTS

This is a part of doing business that is generally not anyone’s favorite. I mean, we all like to make money and get compensated for our time and talent, but the actual billing and collection process is never the fun part. There are plenty of tools that can help make this easier, like Fresh Books, SquareUp, and Stripe.

8. VIRTUAL ASSISTANT

You may be reading this and thinking “I can’t afford to hire a VA right now”, but hear me out. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars a month to have someone help you with some tasks. It’s about seeing where you spend your time and whether that time is spent on income-generating activities. Look at your budget and see what you can afford. Even an hour a week for someone to send out an email newsletter so you can schedule another call and close a client is worth it and pays for itself.

I have doubled my business in the last month due to my VA since I am not spending as much time bogged down behind my computer.

9. LINKEDIN SALES BROWSER

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I am super excited to share with you one of those best kept secrets in the world of lead generation. You may know that LinkedIn is a great platform for professionals to connect, you may even have a LinkedIn profile that you almost never log in or check because you just don’t know how to use it, but what you may not know is that there is an amazing lead builder within LinkedIn called Sales Navigator.

The cost is $80 per month and there is a huge learning curve on how to use it, time I just didn’t have to spend but saw it could be a game changer in finding qualified prospects for my coaching business. That’s when I found someone who is a pro at using this amazing tool that allows me to focus on my strengths and areas of my business where I thrive.

And I’ll be honest, I was hesitant about outsourcing at first because I’ve heard horror stories and had experiences with other companies that outsource and outsource, which means the quality of the experience goes down. With Jeff and VA Staffer this was not the case at all. Jeff takes tremendous pride in his work and his personal pride as well. He personally screens each employee and makes sure they are an extension of you and your brand.

VA Staffer brings leads to me and I’m connecting with them, saving me the overwhelming task of finding people to work with. And the beauty of all this is that because they are looking for the types of services I offer, my conversion rate has been very high, bringing in $6,000 in just 7 days. An investment that has obviously paid off to take my business to the next level.

10. HAPPY KIDS TIMER

As busy moms, we all know how important it is to start your day off on the right foot. There is nothing more stressful than chaos, tears and tantrums before 8 am, right? The Happy Kids Timer scheduling app guides kids through their entire morning routine. Brushing your teeth, combing your hair and getting dressed is much more fun with happy music and cute animation. Your mornings will never be the same with this app!

Are you excited to try some of these tools? What are some of your favorite resources? Be sure to leave me a comment, I’d love to hear from you!

you can chat with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/KendraDahlstro/