5 Must-Have Business Tools for Creative Entrepreneurs

As a creative entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate! From organizing all of your amazing ideas and tasks to keeping up with clients and invoices to updating your website and marketing materials, it can be a lot!

Thankfully, there are a lot of great platforms out there to help you stay organized and productive. Here are five business tools for creative entrepreneurs that I absolutely cannot live without.

Google Calendar — for Calendar Management

Google Calendar is a free tool that can help you keep on top of your busy schedule. It's also great for scheduling meetings with clients and collaborators and keeping track of all your appointments, deadlines, and events in one place. You can set reminders and colour-code events, making it easy to see what's coming up at a glance. Plus, it’s easy to use and syncs seamlessly to other Google apps, among others. Without my calendar, I would die ... Okay, okay, I’m being dramatic. But seriously, if it’s not in Google Cal, it doesn’t exist to me. 😆

Trello — for Project Management

Trello is a project management tool that can help you keep track of your ideas, goals, and tasks. You can create boards for different projects or areas of your business, and then add cards for specific tasks or ideas. You can also add due dates, labels, and checklists to each card, making it easy to stay on top of it all. Trello is free to use, but there are paid versions available with more features. I use it to keep track of all my big ideas, goals, tasks, and weekly aligned actions.

Flodesk — for Email Marketing

Flodesk is an email marketing tool that makes it easy to create and send beautiful emails to your subscribers. You can use their drag-and-drop editor to create emails, and there are many templates to choose from. Flodesk also has a form builder, which can help you grow your email list.

Flodesk is my go-to for creating and sending emails to my subscriber list. It’s super easy to use, and they have a ton of gorgeous templates to choose from. It is a paid tool, but you can use my Flodesk referral link for 50% off your first year!

Dubsado — for Customer Relationship Management

Dubsado is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that can help you streamline your business. You can use Dubsado to automate tasks like sending proposals, contracts, and invoices, as well as managing client information and communication. 

If you’re like me and have wasted hours generating contracts and invoices, sending out client proposals, and re-typing the same emails over and over again, then you need Dubsado in your life. Dubsado can help you automate your workflows and save you a ton of time. It’s a paid tool, but you can use my Dubsado referral link to get 20% off your first month or year!

Canva — for Design

Canva is a design tool that can help you create social graphics, marketing materials, and more. The best part? You don’t have to have any previous design experience to figure it out. It's easy to use and has lots of templates and design elements to choose from.

I personally love using Canva for creating social media graphics and other marketing materials, like business cards, and brochures, and I’ve even used it to make stickers and t-shirts. It’s free, but there’s also a paid version with even more features. In my opinion, it’s highly worth the upgrade!

The Bottom Line

If you’re a creative entrepreneur like me, it's important to find tools that help you stay organized and productive, while also allowing you to focus on your creativity. These five tools have been lifesavers for me, but I’m always looking for new one to try out. 

What other tools do you use to manage your business? Let me know in the comments!