Hey Reader,

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Getting your business off the ground and wondering what you really need to get started?

IMO, there's only three tools you need (maybe even just two).

1. Invoicing software (a way to get paid)
2. A business bank account (a place for money to go)
3. A project management system (to keep track of clients and projects)

That's really it. You can run a lean mean freelancing business with just these three tools for a longgg time. ✌️

Second question I know you're thinking right now -- what tools do I recommend?

1. I've used Wave invoicing + accounting software since day one of my business. It's professional, it's easy to use, and it's free. In addition to sending professional invoices and receipts (and payment reminders if you need them), Wave also has accounting tools to keep track of your incoming revenue and expenses when you're first starting out. As long as you stay on top of it at least once a month, there's no need to pay a bookkeeper right away. Then you can easily run income reports and expense reports at tax time to hand over to your business accountant (who you should definitely pay to do your taxes).
2. I started using Bluevine business checking a few years ago. This is the one tool that might have wiggle room, because technically I started my business with just a separate personal checking account I already had open, and it worked just fine for a couple years. 🤷‍♀️ But then I started accounting with Collective, and they told me I needed a business bank account. So you might as well open it up in the beginning. Bluevine is great because they allow you to open subaccounts to keep your tax money and any other savings (such as travel, tech fund, profit, etc) separate from your day-in, day-out business checking. I like to set money aside for expenses I know I'll need in the future and know it's completely separate (and safe) from my regular monthly expenses.
3. I use Asana for my project management system, to keep track of client work, HFF work, and even personal and health-related to dos. There's a little bit of a learning curve to use the system, but I find it very intuitive. And you can do plenty of color coding, view as a list, board, or calendar, and even invite other people as a guest to your boards. I use the free version and have not found a reason to upgrade yet. I did not use a PM system from the beginning of my business and now I definitely would. I used a paper planner for way too long and it's just not as easily adjustable as a digital platform. 😅 For the record, I also like Monday.com for similar reasons to Asana.

Hope this helped, Reader!

If you want, hit reply and let me know where you're at with your business right now. Do you have all these tools in place already? Do you still need one or two or all three? Let me know. 😊

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Easy peasy,

Amanda

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