Michelle Minch’s Top Digital Tools To Keep Her Business Organized

I use several tools to stay organized in my home staging business. Here’s my list and why I love each tool.

Quickbooks – the accounting Big Dog. It is one of the most widely used bookkeeping and accounting programs in the world. It’s available as a desk-top version or an in-the-cloud version, although I think they are going to eliminate the desk-top version, if they haven’t done so already.

Why I Love It: I use it to track my expenses, for tax planning, for invoicing and for merchant services (accepting online payments directly from the invoice I send to clients). With one or two clicks, I can see exactly where I stand vs. last year and to make projections for next year. If you are serious about growing your business, QuickBooks is an invaluable tool. ($$)

Google Calendar – I use Google Calendar for all the things you usually use a calendar/agenda for.

Why I love it: In addition to tracking appointments with clients or for staging, I use it to let my crews know where and when they have to be someplace. You can set up multiple calendars (for an individual employee or a group of employees i.e. movers.) You can view the calendars individually or on one big calendar. You can easily see if someone has accepted your invitation. One of my favorite features – it will allow you to open up a Google map with directions to get to your appointment (Free or $ depending upon which plan you choose)

Dropbox – I use Dropbox as a backup for all my photo files, contracts and estimates.

Why I love it:  It is secure back up for files that are important to my business and makes it really easy to send a link to large files or multiple photos.

Pipedrive – Pipedrive makes it easy to organize your sales information, daily activities and deals so you can work smarter. See everything that’s happened with a prospect, then plot the next closing activity

Why I love it: After looking at and trying about 100 different CRMs, I decided Pipedrive offers the most of what I’m looking for to manage my client relationships. It’s easy to use and allows me to track my progress.

StageForce – Is a sleek, easy to use cloud-based program form managing inventory within your properties and your warehouse easily and efficiently.

Why I love it: It is an inventory program designed by stagers for stagers. It’s easy, efficient and pretty to look at. Added bonus: It uses RFID chips in place of barcodes which makes recording inventory really fast.

Docusign – Go digital with DocuSign. It’s easy to start and easy to grow when you choose the electronic signature company that is considered one of the industry leaders.

Why I love it: I use Docusign to send contracts to clients for their signature. Clients can sign from any smart phone, tablet or computer by following the prompts. No need to print out, sign, scan and fax back. Every signed contract is stored online. You will be notified when a client opens the Docusign email, so you will know when they say they didn’t receive the contract they aren’t truthful. I feel it makes my company look more professional when I use hi-tech programs like Docusign. In addition, I usually get my signed contracts back within 24 hours now that I use Docusign.