Ten Tools Entrepreneurs Can’t Live Without

Blog / Technology

Ten Tools Entrepreneurs Can’t Live Without

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, your to-do list is beyond overwhelming. It’s almost impossible to keep on top of everything: managing your staff, keeping up to date with your bookkeeping, taking meetings on the go, remembering your grocery list…

We’ve found that these digital tools make life just a little bit easier. Make the most of your day with apps that automate processes for you, create reminders for tasks that frequently slip your mind, and collaborate online to make teamwork easy. Here are 10 tools entrepreneurs can’t live without.

Slack

Best for: team engagement

Slack is the easiest way for your team to engage, collaborate and discuss projects together. At Enkel, we use different channels for different projects, plus saving a channel for inspiration, idea sharing, and fun.

Xero

Best for: beautiful, seamless bookkeeping

It’s no surprise that we love working with Xero. Their cloud-based accounting software is easy to use, accessible from any device, and integrates seamlessly with so many of the other apps we love! Read more about why our team of awesome bookkeepers love Xero here.

Harvest

Best for: time tracking

We use Harvest for time tracking. If you’re in a service-based industry, you’ll know that time tracking is still relevant. Even in fixed-fee situations, business owners should be aware of how much time projects take. You’ll use your time tracking to create pricing strategies, ensure you’re charging accurately, and see where your team is losing time. Harvest integrates with Xero, making billing clients even easier. This comprehensive review from Time Doctor provides more information. 

Google Docs

Best for: collaborating

Cloud-based document processing makes collaborating with your team a breeze. Access your document library from anywhere, and work together on documents or spreadsheets without needing to constantly save new versions.

Expensify

Best for: tracking company expenses

Nobody likes expense reports. With Expensify, you can easily take a photo of your receipts, track mileage and manage company expenses. You’ll ditch the envelope of miscellaneous receipts, and your bookkeeper will thank you for streamlining everything. Plus, it integrates with Xero, meaning all of your bookkeeping data can stay in one place.

Flow

Best for: managing tasks

There are a lot of project and task management apps out there, but at Enkel, we love Flow. It’s easy and intuitive to use, and makes managing your team and projects easy from any device. You can also set yourself reminders for recurring tasks to alleviate your mental to-do list. When projects are completed by other team members, you’ll receive a notification - meaning less back-and-forth emails, less headaches, less worry.

Skype

Best for: business calls on the go

Here's a familiar one, but we can't help but sing Skype's praises. Make long-distance business calls using wifi, have collaborative video conferences and screen sharing meetings, and stay in touch with your friends and family when you’re out of town. Skype makes communicating easier than ever.

Pocket

Best for: when you don’t have time to read that article right now

The best part about the internet? There’s so much amazing content out there. The worst part? Finding time to read it all. Rather than having 30+ tabs open, start storing links in Pocket. When you find a rare free minute, all the content you were wanting to read is safely in one place.

Wunderlist

Best for: to-do lists

Simply put, Wunderlist is a to-do list app. However, it’s the most effective, efficient one we’ve seen! You can sync to-do lists with colleagues and family members, meaning you’ll be able to track your week’s business objectives with your management team and collaborate on your Costco list with family members, without ever mixing up lists.

Meetup

Best for: networking

Meetup is a great way to connect with other business professionals in your area. Find groups that are relevant to your business or even personal interests, and then network with likeminded people. Can’t find the right group? Consider starting one of your own! The app makes it easy to access these groups on the go.

We thoroughly research and test the apps we include in our regular workflow for Client bookkeeping services. After deciding on criteria for evaluating the software and then researching the app itself, we tested the app, noting its strengths and weaknesses. We then work with the app for at least a few weeks before deciding whether to recommend it to our readers. We use the software as it was designed for its intended tasks. For a detailed walk-through of how we select and evaluate software, please see the details of our process.

Enkel receives no consideration or compensation from software publishers for featuring their software in our blog articles.

Omar Visram
About Omar Visram
Omar Visram is the Co-founder and CEO of Enkel Backoffice Solutions Inc. Headquartered in Vancouver, Enkel provides bookkeeping, payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable services to over 300 organizations Canada-wide.