JDP’s Must-Have Tools To Scale Your Business
A tool is only as good as you use it — these tools may not be for everyone, but as a serial entrepreneur, these are the tried and true tools that I, myself, have identified as key contributors to my organization and success of my businesses.
All in all, these are my preferred tools that are easy to use, easy to learn, and create and contribute to a cohesive brand experience. There are a ton of other tools out there that may fit your business better, but these are the ones that have created a more productive, cost-effective, and connected environment versus the opposite.
When assessing tools to add to your business, it’s important to ask these questions:
Is this tool going to match my brand experience?
How easy or hard is this tool to learn? How long will it take to learn or implement?
Can this tool connect to my other tools? Can they speak to each other to create a seamless experience?
Is the cost of this tool worth it?
In no particular order, here are my tools to scale your business:
JDP Resource Library
As a serial entrepreneur and now a fractional COO (A.K.A. a professional problem solver), I've created the ultimate suite of resources and to help you get organized, strategize your game plan, and make more MONEY. I believe there should be more businesses in this world and I'm happy to share my knowledge when I can.
You deserve to scale and transform your business, so let me help you! The JDP Resource Library is FREE and includes a variety of free and paid resources valued at over $350+.
FloDesk
Brand experience is super important regardless of what industry you’re in, and FloDesk does the best job of mirroring your brand experience. On top of helping you capture leads, it integrates seamlessly into other apps and websites, and delivers beautiful content to your audience. I use FloDesk to create and send all my emails, email flows, landing pages, and more.
Perks of FloDesk
Tons of beautifully made templates
Create your own forms, landing pages, and even check-out features
Seamless integrations to other apps and websites
Captures leads and audience information
Great reporting and analytics on your audience and segments
Resource library including case studies
Sign up using my link below to get 50% off your first year of FloDesk!
HubSpot
HubSpot is a well-known tool across businesses as a way to not only capture your leads but help you manage your leads. I use HubSpot to better manage all my leads coming through to my business. Once a lead enters my sales funnel and qualifies through HubSpot, it triggers the next steps through Dubsado, which I’ll speak to next.
Perks of HubSpot
Free to sign up and use! (You will need a paid plan to access certain features)
Integrates seamlessly to additional apps and websites
Manages your leads across marketing, sales, customer service, etc.
Dubsado
Through and through, Dubsado has been a game-changer for my business. Not only does it help you manage your clients, but it brings your client through the entire sales process on 1 single platform. Dubsado is intuitive, dynamic, and a core part of my sales strategy.
Once a lead qualifies through HubSpot, I have a zap that pushes the client through the sales funnel and begins the process through Dubsado, where I can send a customized proposal, contract, and invoice.
Perks of Dubsado
Manages leads through the entire sales process
Integrates with other apps and websites
Easy to use and integrate brand elements for a cohesive experience
Create and share forms, proposals, contracts, and invoices however you want
Automates the sales process through flows
Sign up below using my link to receive 20% off your first month, or first year (depending on how you choose to pay: monthly or annually!)
Google Workspace
I am a huge fan of Google’s offering because it’s dynamic, shareable, accessible and customizable to fit your needs.
For my business specifically, I’ve upgraded to the Business Enterprise Plan, which specifically has absolutely changed the way I operate my business! Within this plan, you have the Insights and Analysis feature, which allows me to really see how I am using my time wisely across clients and projects, as it connects and pulls data directly from my emails, calendar, documents, and more.
Perks of Google Workspace
Affordable and cost-effective! The Business Starter plan is affordable for any business
Includes a variety of tools including of course your Email, Drive, Calendar, Forms, etc.
Versatile and universally used, too
Customizable to match brand experience
Shareable and accessible
Integrates to other apps and websites
Perks of Google Workspace — Enterprise Plan:
On top of all the above…
Insights and analysis on how you are managing your time & productivity by pulling data from email, calendar, etc.
Appointments calendar so you can have clients set up appointments directly within your Google Workspace without needing an additional app
Whether you are a team of 1 or a team of 100, Google Workspace is an awesome collaborative tool that provides an efficient system for your business.
Receive 10% off your first year of Google Workspace Business Starter or Business Standard plans with my link below!
ClickUp
There are many many many project management tools out there, and trust me — I’ve tried them all, but ClickUp is the one that stands out the most. It’s a powerful project management tool that has a deeper inclusion of documents. It’s 5 tools in 1: project management, task management, documents, whiteboard and mind-mapping.
However, ClickUp is only successful if you are super clear on how you want to work. Because of its many features, it can be overwhelming to begin with, but it is the only tool that is a hub for everything and I like it as a solopreneur, because I can create docs, manage my client load, track time for each client, and more in one app.
Perks of ClickUp:
Easy-to-use tool for task management
Multiple views of any given project manager board (list, calendar, table, mind map, etc.)
Field and status customization to meet your project and/or brand needs
Ability to attach documents directly to tasks and comment directly on them within the task
Ability to time each task for better understanding of time taken to complete any given project
Lots of templates available
Asana
Asana is another great task management tool that is great for large teams with lots of projects going on. It’s a very visual tool that is valuable for businesses with multiple teams, ongoing small or large projects, that need a system to manage all the tasks at hand that need to be completed.
For me, I have onboarded several companies into Asana and it has absolutely transformed the way work gets done and the way they communicate about the work, plus give them a historical reference of projects.
Perks of Asana:
Great task management tool for larger teams
Very visual way of managing projects/tasks within teams
Multiple views of each project (list, board, calendar, etc.)
Field and status customization to meet your project and/or brand needs
Canva
Canva is a no-brainer for any business owner who does not have a design team or experience within other design programs like Adobe. It’s an easy and accessible tool to use to spin up high-end branded designs without having to be a traditional designer.
For my business, I pay for the Brand version/plan, and I would highly recommend that you do for your business as well so that you can input your brand elements and guidelines (fonts, logos, photos, etc.) to use across all your design projects.
Perks of Canva:
Both free and paid plans!
Easy and quick to learn and use to create a variety of designs
No need for a design background to create
Tons of templates, design elements, and more!
Customizable
Download your designs in a variety of file formats
Squarespace
As a serial entrepreneur, I have explored every web platform possible — from working with clients or having an ecommerce based business, Squarespace, hands down, has been my favorite website host and platform because of their ability to handle scale.
Over the years, Squarespace has also bumped up their ecommerce part of the platform, which is a huge benefit for any product-based business along with all of their other features but ultimately, I like Squarespace as well because they allow you to create a more visually appealing brand experience.
Perks of Squarespace:
Continuously pushing new, innovative features!
Tons of features like e-commerce, email marketing, forms, appointments, membership sites, link in bio sites, and more.
Integrates seamlessly with other apps and tools (like all the ones I’ve listed above!)
Multiple plans available for the size and scale of your business
Customizable to your brand experience
Incredible customer service!
Zapier
Integrations are so important across your business tools so that you are not doubling up on work, and creating an efficient workflow for yourself or your team. Zapier is an awesome tool that creates ‘zaps’ between your tools so when X happens in one app, Zapier triggers Y to happen in the other app. It helps to connect the dots between apps that don’t already have a native API integration. The zaps are endless and ‘flows’ can be created across multiple apps to streamline and automate your process even further.
For example: When someone fills out the form on your website (X), Zapier can trigger a new lead to be created in HubSpot (Y).
Perks of Zapier:
Free to use (up to 5 zaps) otherwise paid plans are available, too
Automates and streamlines your work processes
Over 5000+ app integrations
Easy to use
Quick to set-up and set-aside
Loom
Turn those meetings into loom videos! If you haven’t heard of Loom, it’s an awesome tool that can often save you a lot of time on meetings. From creating training videos to showing someone how to do something, Loom is such a time-saving tool that I’ve integrated into my business!
Perks of Loom:
Both free (up to 25 videos) and paid plans!
Great visual way of learning
Video recordings include transcriptions, key timestamps, and more
Watch the videos at faster speeds to save even more time!
Videos do not expire
Quickbooks
I’m sure you’ve all heard of Quickbooks before — it’s one of the leading accounting and bookkeeping software out there for businesses small and large. From bookkeeping, estimates, payroll, inventory and more, there are several different plans and offerings within Quickbooks that make it a premier tool for businesses of all sizes.
For me, the Quickbooks Cash Flow Planner is a stand-out tool that uses AI to predict your cash flow based on upcoming events like a big purchase/cost. Using your already entered transactions (both income and expenses), you can use this tool to forecast your cash flow in the coming timeframe you specify.
Perks of Quickbooks:
Variety of plans from Starter to Advanced (price varies)
Income and expenses tracking
Create invoices and accept payments
Integrates with several tax programs for business taxes and reporting
Payroll for employees and contractors
Can integrate to your sales channel(s)
Cash flow forecasting tool
Get 30% off QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll for 6 months using my link below!
LiveFlow
As someone who works a lot within spreadsheets and financial data, LiveFlow is a gamechanger. LiveFlow is a tool that automates financial reporting at a click of a button. This app may not be applicable to everybody, but this tool saves me so much time.
LiveFlow integrates directly with QuickBooks and pulls real-time data from there and populates directly into templated Google spreadsheets that translates stale financial reports and data into clear and visually appealing spreadsheets that are more easily digestible and most of all, shareable. Plus, the info is all in real-time!
Think of it like this:
QuickBooks = accounting tool
LiveFlow = reporting tool with LIVE, real-time data from QuickBook
Perks of LiveFlow:
Live reporting and updates, meaning once you set up a report/spreadsheet, it will update at the frequency you select with real time data!
Integrates into Google Sheets as well for easy sharing and reporting
Over 100 pre-designed templates that are customizable to your needs
Save time creating reporting spreadsheets by using automated templates
OpenPhone
As a self-employed entrepreneur, having that work-life balance can be hard. One of the best tools I’ve invested in is OpenPhone, which helps you to separate your business calls, texts, and contacts into a separate space so that you can manage your time more effectively and not feel like my personal time is being clouded by business!
Perks of OpenPhone:
You can bring in your own phone number or you can claim one through the app!
They have an awesome and easy-to-use desktop and phone app you can download
You can set work hours for your business number(s)
OpenPhone integrates with a variety of other apps like your CRM software, forms, and so much more!
I like being able to separate work and personal, and through OpenPhone, if you sign up using my link below, you will receive a $20 Visa Gift Card!
I hope this list of tools has been helpful to you and your business! They may not be for everybody or every business, but these tools have been crucial in my journey to not only scale my business, but scale others too.
Disclosure: I only recommend products that I use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own! This post may contain affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase or sign up through the links on our site at no additional cost to you.
