Welcome to Business and Balance, your go-to newsletter for online business owners ready to reclaim control & grow their business in a way that's true to them and sustainable in the long run. Each week, you’ll get practical tips, time-saving tools, and strategies to streamline your services, grow your business, and create space for what truly matters. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, so you can build success and savor life.
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Pre-P.S. This email contains affiliate links. If you decide to make a purchase, I may make a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I trust and truly believe in.
Heyy Reader,
Happy Wednesday!
Let's talk about tech stacks.
Today I'm gonna share my fav tools for business, the ones I can't live without.
As always, please remember that the best tools for you are the ones you actually use and like.
But if you're looking for a little inspiration, here are my favorite tools that I actually use myself in my business:
ClickUp: My team and I use ClickUp as our hub and project management tool. All of our links are there, our SOPs, our content plans, our projects, everything. I recommend ClickUp only for people who are comfortable with technology and taking time to learn to use it (otherwise, I recommend Asana). Get 10% off when you use my referral link by clicking here.
Kit (formerly Convertkit): I use Kit for email marketing. I've used just about all of the big names out there for clients and Kit is my favorite. Plus, Kit has a referral program where you can refer people to other marketers and they can refer their audience to you and it's pretty rad.
Squarespace: We use Squarespace for our website. I am by no means a designer, but Squarespace is easy to use and easy to trouble shoot.
Slack: Slack is where we communicate with our team and with our clients. Slack is an app available on both desktop and phone and that's why I love it! I can have it with me wherever I am.
Google Workspace: I'm not sure I need to talk this one up, but we LOVE Google Workspace.
Moxie: Moxie is our CRM. My favorite part about it is how easy it is to customize and send just about any type of canned email you can think of.
Square: We use Square for payment processing. As of right now, Moxie does not integrate natively with Square (only Stripe and PayPal). Personally, I hate most of the other major options for payment processors due to their policies and issues I've heard they've had with other business owners.
Podia: We use Podia to house our digital products. It's easy to set up and user friendly.
Please know that some of these tools can do what some of the other tools an do. I have chosen my tools because they are what work for me and my team. For example, Kit can host digital products, but it isn't as robust, there isn't a client portal, and you can't have coupons that don't require a credit card to check out.
If you're thinking about doing a systems overhaul, book a Sales Call with me to talk about how I can help you get everything set up and ready to go in just 45 days.
🤝 NEED A GOOD BIZ FINANCE TRACKER?
PROFIT & LOSS TRACKER
Obvs not the best image, but you get the gist from this one. I didn't want to share my own finances for obvious reasons.
I've been on the lookout for a long time for a finance tracker that made sense to my brain and worked well for me. I've used Quickbooks and I currently use Found, but it's incredibly easy to make errors in there with the automatic charges, tags, and everything else (downside to automations).
I found Karo last year in a bundle and I LOVE her spreadsheets. I literally have all of them.
It has been an invaluable tool for my business and has helped me to easily keep track of my income and expenses. It then takes all the info I give it and puts it into MULTIPLE cutesy little charts.
If you're looking for a new or simplified way to keep track of your business finances (and don't have a lot of monthly expenses), I highly recommend this tracker.
Quick answer, yes. If you don't like that answer, feel free to keep scrolling. I too was once in denial.
Reader, I believe in SOPs so much, I have an SOP for how to make SOPs.
Even if you're a solopreneur, you need to write out your SOPs. They help keep you organized, ensure that you're consistent with your tasks and your work, and make sure you don't forget how to do those infrequent tasks (yep! I've been there too.)
Read our newest blog post to learn more about SOPs and why YOU need them for your business.
Pssst. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe to Sarah's podcast, Big Brave Business. She has wonderful guests on and talks about real business problems.
SUPERCHARGED SYSTEMS
DOCUMENTATION=FREEDOM????
This goes back to the topic that I discussed in the blog post for this week.
Documenting your SOPs leads to that sweet, sweet freedom we all want so badly.
How?
If we have clear SOPs, we can:
Cut down on the amount of time it takes to do a task.
Outsource our tasks.
Have a clear path for how to do something every single time.
I recommend SOPs even if you're a solopreneur who isn't planning to add team members.
Want help with your SOPs? Book a Sales Call with me today to talk about how my team can help you write them.
THE ONE HOUR WIN
CLASSICAL FOCUS
Looking for a quick win this week to help you focus more?
Take an hour to create a focus playlist on Spotify, Apple Music, or Pandora.
When I'm trying to focus, I prefer instrumental music, which isn't typically my favorite, and it has to be music that doesn't typically have lyrics, otherwise I will still sing along.
If you need some inspiration for what to put on your playlist?
Research can be incredibly time consuming and just about anyone can do research.
I recommend creating a table or guidelines for what you're looking for and giving that to your VA for guiding their research.
I just had a VA help me with research the other day. She researched tools and software to help me create affiliate links.
Just that one task save me 1.5 hours of work.
TIME FOR WHAT YOU LOVE
HIGHLIGHT REEL, ANYONE?
What's your life's highlight reel look like?
What would your life be like if you took more time to create those highlight reel moments?
I bet it would improve drastically.
This week, make a plan for making time to create memories.
Hit reply and tell me your plans for added accountability.
I currently have an opening for an OBM client, up to 15 hours per week.
I've recently revamped my OBM service to be a 4-month retainer (rather than 6 or month-by-month) and am planning to put the info on the website today or tomorrow, but I wanted to share it here with you first.
When you work with me as your OBM, here's what that will look like:
Month 1: Audit & Plan
We will audit your current systems and create a 30-60-90 day plan as well as map that plan out.
Month 2-3: Implement, Monitor, and Adjust
We will implement the plan, I will monitor progress along with other necessary duties, and together we will ensure goals are being met.
Month 4: Finalize & Review
We will finish up last minute tasks and progress and review and reflect on the progress we have made.
I will make an action plan for moving forward as we decide if we want to continue working together or if all of your goals have been met.
Want to talk with me more about whether the OBM service is right for you?
Business & Balance, by Sammy Bohannon, is your go-to newsletter for online business owners ready to reclaim control & grow their business in a way that's true to them and sustainable in the long run. Each week, you’ll get practical tips, time-saving tools, and strategies to streamline your services, grow your business, and create space for what truly matters. It’s all about working smarter, not harder, so you can build success and savor life. Plus, after you sign up, you have the chance to see Sammy's adorable dogs, Penelope and Willow. No, seriously. She made a whole page on her website for it.
