4 easy ways to streamline your life as a solopreneur

As a solopreneur, you have a lot on your plate. As tempting as it is to work around-the-clock to get things done, it’s not good for your health or your business. However, when you have a to-do list a mile long and deadlines rapidly approaching, what other option do you have?

It might feel like your only choices are to do it all yourself or start hiring staff, but there are other options available for solopreneurs whose businesses are becoming too big to manage alone. If you need more hours in the day but aren’t ready to take on staff and all their costs, these tech solutions can help you streamline your business and reclaim your time.

Use your smartphone to make use of downtime

You have a fully functional computer in your pocket, so why are you waiting until you’re back at the office to return emails, update your social media pages, and send invoices? Make use of the time you spend sitting in waiting rooms, riding on public transportation, or standing in line at the coffee shop to handle small tasks so you spend less time sitting at your desk. When you view your smartphone as the valuable business tool it is, it makes sense to spend money on a phone that does everything you need it to. If you’re an Apple fan, you can’t beat the new iPhone 11 Pro Max, with tons of storage, a top-of-the-line triple camera system, and a battery that lasts all day. Android fans will have no trouble using their favorite G Suite apps with Samsung’s high-end model, the Galaxy S10+, which offers up to 1TB of storage plus a microSD slot for more space.

Automate your accounting with apps

When you have a full roster of clients and more knocking at the (virtual) door, keeping the books is no longer a good use of your time. Luckily, as a solopreneur, you have several low-cost accounting tools at your disposal. Both Xero and Zoho Books start at only $9 a month for microbusinesses, while Wave offers accounting, invoicing, and receipt tracking for free. These apps can connect with bank accounts or payment merchants like Square to automatically record transactions so you don’t have to do it manually.

Bulk schedule your social media posts

Maintaining an active social media page for your business sounds easy until you sit down to do it. Only then do you realize all the work that goes into staging photos, writing captions, and finding the perfect time to post. You’ll spend less time and get better results with social media engagement if you set aside time to create a large number of social media posts then schedule them to post automatically. Apps like Buffer, CoSchedule, and Hootsuite make this easy by letting you schedule posts for several social media sites from a single app.

Organise your email with boomerang

Forgetting about a client’s email sitting in your inbox is embarrassing, but it’s easy to do when you have dozens of emails coming in every day and you’re the only one answering them. If you’re a Gmail or Outlook user, one inexpensive plug-in could solve your email management problems. Boomerang lets users schedule emails to “boomerang” back to the top of their inbox at a set time, so they never lose track of an important email. It also lets you schedule emails so you can hide the fact that you’re penning messages at 1 a.m. on a Friday night. In addition to Gmail and Outlook, Boomerang is compatible with Android and iOS email apps.

With the right business apps and a phone that’s ready to do work, you can shave hours off of your workweek as a solopreneur. Just don’t spend all of your newfound free time finding more work! While it’s important to grow your business, it’s equally important to enjoy your downtime and avoid entrepreneurial burnout.

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