top digital tools for solopreneurs and delegation tips

Are you looking for the best online tools for solopreneurs - to help you manage your growing business? There are many digital tools and apps that can help you to simplify your life as an entrepreneur, including in the following areas: 

Relying on tools for your startup can help you manage your business more efficiently from the beginning. This way, you will maintain maximum productivity and create a business management structure that’s conducive to scaling over time. 

Using some of the tools mentioned below can also ultimately lead to increased profits over time, if they are harnessed in a way that creates better value for your customers, and more effective and productive use of your time. 

Best online tools for solopreneurs 

Solopreneurs need to rely on a range of different digital tools to streamline communications, manage their time and productivity, organise their marketing, protect their data and stay on top of their finances. 

Below is a summary of some of the most popular tools for solopreneurs based on value for money and affordability (in many cases you can access free plans), as well tools that have the ability to help streamline your business operations. Many of these tools can also be used to help your business scale - if and when you decide to. 

In addition, you may want to consider some of the diverse service providers on the e-⁠Residency Marketplace. Many of these service providers have digital self-service portals to help you launch and grow your Estonian-registered business with ease. 

1. Time management tools

Time management tools can help you to track how much time you’re spending on each client’s work, which is important for accurate billing. They can also help you figure out which jobs are most profitable, and remind you to track your hours worked.

Examples of time management tools for solopreneurs:

• Calendly - used to schedule your meetings and workflow (free version available)
• Google calendar - used as a time management and scheduling app (free version available) 

2. Productivity and project management tools

Which productivity tools do solopreneurs use? With hundreds to choose from, this is a very relevant question. 

Staying productive and on-task is important as a solopreneur, as you need to call all the shots and take charge of your daily work routine. Being more productive helps you to achieve more in a shorter space of time, which means you can also earn more and boost business profits. And it can help impress your clients by delivering your products or service on time. 

If you’re working on a range of projects simultaneously, then project management software can help you to keep track of all your related deadlines, appointments and to-dos. They can also be used to set reminders so that you never miss any meetings or deliverables. 

Examples of productivity and project management tools for solopreneurs:

• Asana - organise your work, set tasks, and keep track of time spent on projects (free version available) 
• Notion - an all-in-one, customizable project management workspace (free plan for personal use)

3. Automation software

In today’s digital age, there are an increasing number of automation tools that make it easy to deal with routine tasks using AI. These top AI tools to use as a solopreneur can help you manage your time more efficiently by taking care of routine tasks that are time-consuming so you can work on more important aspects of your business.

For example, some tools can automatically send customers messages or emails, or can provide you with notifications when sales go through. 

Examples of automation tools for solopreneurs:

• Zapier - automation solutions for sales, marketing and IT to help you scale (free version available)
• IFTTT - a connectivity platform that lets you create automations for specific devices or services (free version available)

4. Communication and collaboration tools

To be more efficient and to collaborate more effectively, you’ll need to embrace digital communication and collaboration tools for your business. 

These tools allow you to choose between chatting via a VoIP phone from any device, anywhere - to instantly being able to send files and make notes on a shared filing system, or schedule a video meeting. 

There are a range of popular communication and collaboration tools that are suited to small businesses and people who are self-employed. Some provide a specialised service like video meetings, and others offer a more comprehensive suite of different apps and integrations. 

Examples of communication and collaboration tools for small businesses:

• Google Workspace - a digital workspace with tools to help you stay organised and store your data digitally (affordable Business Starter plan)
• Slack - a flexible and collaborative business communication tool (free plan available)

5. Business and financial admin tools

When you run your own business, you’ll also need to consider how to manage your budgets and accounting, and prepare for tax returns and possible audits.

Using accounting software packages that are designed for small businesses can be a great way to stay organised, and to ensure that your data is backed up and secure.

Accounting software can also help you keep track of all income and expenses, your cash flow, and can generate invoices and help you keep track of outstanding payments to follow up on. As your business grows, it becomes increasingly vital to have systems and processes in place to manage your finances. 

If you have an Estonian company, then all you would need is e-Financials to manage your company accounting, which is free for the first year. Also read our useful guide on how to find the best accountant for your Estonian business. 

If you need financial tools to process local or international payments, try Payoneer, DECTA or Stripe. And consider using fintech solutions as an alternative to banks for faster, online onboarding experiences. Browse business banking and payment providers on the e-Residency Marketplace or read more about business banking options for e-⁠residents.

6. CRM and sales management tools

Depending on the nature and size of your small business, you may also need to rely on a customer relationship management (CRM) tool, as well as sales management tools. These tools can help you keep track of all your different customers and clients in one central location - so you can see all data and information that’s relevant to managing individual client relationships. 

These tools can help you to enhance your client relations and customer service, while building your brand reputation. And they can also help you learn about client behaviour so that you can use these insights to design more relevant offers and communications. 

Examples of CRM and sales management tools for small businesses:

• Monday - a sales CRM tool to plan and organise your workflow (free plan for individuals available)

7. Cloud backup and storage

Cloud backup and storage solutions are overlooked by small businesses and solo-entrepreneurs. But, given the widespread and devastating impacts of cybercrime, these are two of the most critical tools that solopreneurs should consider from the start of operations.

Storing and backing up your data to the cloud, helps keep copies of that data which you may need if there’s a hardware failure, an accidental deletion of files, or in the event of a breach or ransomware attack. For certain industries such as the healthcare sector, there are also compliance requirements that need to be considered for how you manage and store data. 

Examples of cloud storage and backup tools for small businesses:

• DropBox - cloud storage solution and file sharing app (free plan offers 2GB storage)
• Google Drive - cloud storage solution and file sharing app (every Google account has 15GB of free storage)

8. Marketing and promotions

There are numerous digital marketing tools which can help you to promote your brand and your products or services. 

This includes email marketing tools, social media management tools, website management tools, and design tools. Many of these tools also allow you to measure your impact and derive insights to improve your marketing efforts so you can be more strategic over time in where you focus your energy and marketing budget.

Examples of marketing and promotion tools for small businesses:

• Mailchimp - email marketing newsletter app (free plan available)
• Canva - create graphics and images for your blogs and social media channels (free plan available)

How to delegate as a solopreneur 

When you start a solo business, you’ll be doing all the work and managing all the business administration aspects too. This can be time consuming and your ability to grow your business will be defined by the time you have to do all these different tasks. 

That's why solopreneurs who want to grow and scale, often end up delegating tasks - so that they can spend their time focused on more strategic aspects of business growth. 

To get started with delegating, you need to decide what jobs can be delegated. Typically, these tasks that can be delegated are ones that are administrative in nature like adding content to your website, managing SEO, setting up your monthly newsletter, bookkeeping, proofreading, etc.

Once you’ve identified the tasks that you can delegate, you’ll then need to consider who to hire to take over these tasks. For small businesses, cash flow and inconsistent monthly earnings can make it challenging to take on full-time staff. An increasingly popular option is to use AI tools to generate copy, ideas and content. But you may need someone to coordinate the use of these tools.

Delegating work to freelancers

Some of you might need several different skills. That’s where freelancers can come in handy. By hiring consultants for small, dedicated tasks - you can acquire the skills and capacity you need that suits your budget while avoiding commitment to taking on full-time salaried employees. Blended workforces are indeed an increasingly popular choice for businesses, small and big.

So, where can solopreneurs find freelancers across a range of disciplines? There are actually numerous freelancing marketplaces that offer a range of digital skills, which means you can hire the best talent from around the world.

These freelancer platforms include Freelancer, TopTal, Flexjobs, Behance, 99designs, UpWork, Fiverr, and GitHub. And there are also innovative organisations like Deel which help startups and enterprises hire staff anywhere in the world, manage legal compliance, and your payroll system. 

Delegating helps you expand and enhance productivity

As a business owner, choosing the right tools to help streamline your business operations can bring many benefits. Finding creative ways to delegate tasks is another way that you can enhance productivity and get more work done, allowing you the time to grow your business and profits. 

Using the tech tools mentioned above can help you better collaborate and communicate with your freelancers, to cut down on time spent managing them and their tasks. This can enhance productivity and result in cost savings too if done right. 

And don't forget to check out the Estonian e-⁠Residency Marketplace. It's a thriving hub of specialists covering a range of different skilled professions where you can find the services you need. 

This article was written by guest contributor and seasoned digital nomad Andy Stofferis (www.andysto.com).