Recommended By Me
I’m very often asked what I recommend as must haves for any business. So I thought I’d put it all on one page for easy access!
Some of these recommendations may be affiliate links indicated by a * – but they are things I genuinely love!
Siteground*
For many small businesses with their first website, I always recommend Siteground* as a website host. I really like how they’re affordable but reliable. They have SSL included in their plan, fast support and fantastic uptimes.
Siteground* is great for all types of businesses, and the user interface is really easy to use as they recently underwent a makeover.
PensionBee
Everyone should have a pension. The End.
Okay but seriously, lots of small businesses don’t realise the importance of having your own pension when you’re the business owner.
PensionBee makes it really easy to set up and make contributions to each month making it perfect for newbies. You can even transfer other pensions to the platform so they’re all in one place.
There’s a variety of plans you can invest into and they make their information really easy to comprehend. I used to have a PensionBee pension but when I wanted to have a proper investment pension that I was in control of I spoke to Damien Fogg. He is the perfect person to speak to if you want to learn more about how to have a pension you can control.
ToDoIst*
I’ve used a lot of task management apps and software but the one I come back to time and time again is ToDoIst.
The interface is easy, it’s got projects, flags and comments. It’s a really easy and simple way to manage your tasks without flashy features and distractions.
Rambox
Rambox is a game changer, I used to be one of those people that had a million tabs open and the constant flashing of notifications distracted me. It has great support, the developers are very active and it’s less glitchy than Franz. I used to recommend Franz but have recently swapped to Rambox myself.
Rambox keeps it all in one browser window. I have Messenger, Whatsapp, Outlook, 5 different Gmail accounts, Calendar and ToDoIst nested in the window – leaving me with Chrome just having the thing I’m currently working on.
I love it so much, it connects with a bunch of platforms so you can tailor it to what you need!
Stay Focused
Loom
Loom is brilliant for sharing quick screen shares and tutorials. Often I find myself needing to show someone something super quickly and it doesn’t really necessitate a call.
Loom lets me record my screen with a voiceover and ping the link to the person who needs it, letting them watch in their own time.
Policy Bee*
For the past 7 years I’ve used Policy Bee for my insurance. They’re reasonably priced, excellent customer service and really lovely to deal with. They cover a variety of niches and are just great overall!
TMetric
I’m a big fan of TMetric as it does everything I need for time tracking. I’ve tried lots of competitors and TMetric is my favourite because of the desktop application – it prompts you to track your time if you’ve not started the timer for a while.
This is brill for people who bill by time but also great for general business owners who want to analyse their time (everyone should!)
Bitwarden
Everyone must use a password manager, period. They’re great for storing complicated passwords to help you have a unique and secure password for each site! Bitwarden is my favourite because it’s really easy to use, it’s never had any security breaches and is available on all devices. It’s so simple to use and set up and if you’re using a different one already, you can easily import them into Bitwarden.
Mailing Lists
For mailing solutions, I recommend Mailerlite*, ActiveCampaign and Mailchimp. All 3 have different features and price points and are suitable for different businesses.
ActiveCampaign is suited to a business that has lots of automations and if you need something with extra features. It has sophisticated tags and can be triggered by purchases.
Mailerlite* is more basic, but great if you are sending out ad-hoc newsletters. It does have some automation features and it’s quite well equipped and has a generous free plan.
Mailchimp is in the middle. It is expensive for what it is but has an intuitive interface and is well known. Their academy and training is great and they make it easy from a consultant perspective to manage client accounts. I used Mailchimp for years and years until they took away the ability to send even one automated email when people sign up to your list on the free plan. I think if I were to do start again, I’d use Mailerlite*!
Google Workspace*
I really like and use Google Workspace* (This link gives you 10% discount off your first year of using Google Workspace.) It’s a great place to run your email through, and gives you a separate branded account for all your files etc.
For most people, the Google ecosystem is really familiar to them, and it allows you to use your own domain in that system. It also integrates with Analytics, Merchant Center, and Search Console, which is helpful for your business.
Domains
A branded domain is a must have for a professional business, even if you do nothing with it, protect your brand by owning it.
Domain sellers are all much of a muchness. Most of them have a first year offer for 99p and then they renew each year at around £10.
I personally like 123Reg but they are all very much the same. If you plan to have a website, get it from the same place as your hosting for ease of organisation but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t as you can have them in separate places or even move them if you want. Alternatives are Namecheap, GoDaddy, Ionos – the difference is in the customer support, add ons and interface, not in the product itself.
Social Scheduling
For social scheduling, I like Buffer. It’s reasonably priced and has a generous free tier. Its interface is good, and it integrates with many social networks. It’s also really easy to navigate.
SocialBee and RecurPost are good for recurring scheduling – for evergreen /recycling content. Both are fairly competitive with each other.
If you don’t need anything fancy and don’t need anything outside the Meta system then the native stuff is also pretty good. It can be a bit glitchy at times but keeps everything in one place.
Accounting Software
I personally like and use Xero* but it might be overkill for some businesses as it’s got so many features, but it’s also got costs associated with it. FreeAgent is cheaper and still has decent features, despite not being as feature-rich as Xero.
Things to bear in mind when choosing an accounting package include scalability (it’s not that easy to switch), and what your future accountant might use. Most accountants will use Xero, but not many will use FreeAgent.
Bookkeeping
Helen, my bookkeeper, is Ell Evan Bookkeeping. She is a godsend, and working with her means I don’t have to think or worry about my finances; I can leave them in her capable hands. If you hire one person for your business, let it be Helen. Not having to worry that my finances being done right is worth every single penny.
Business Bank Account
Although legally you don’t have to have a separate business bank account, I recommend it from day 1 because it just simplifies your life so so much. It keeps everything separate and makes doing your books and keeping track of cashflow exponentially easier. I’ve used both Starling, Monzo and HSBC over the years. I don’t rate HSBC but enjoyed being with Starling and Monzo*. Their in app notifications make it easy to keep track of payments coming in and the interface is really easy!
Banana Print
Banana Print Is my go-to for my printing and I recommend them to my clients for any flyers, business cards or that kind of thing. They are reasonably priced, good quality and provide quick delivery. They also have lots of different options for their products on their website.
Pexels / Unsplash
Pexels and Unsplash are both great for finding stock imagery for free. They both offer varying licenses so you can use them on your website and socials, make sure you check they’re suitable for your use.
It is a good alternative to Shutterstock but without the hefty fees that Shutterstock imposes. With its credit system, it also brings awareness to smaller photographers
Zapier
Zapier is such a handy tool for your business, it enables you to connect apps, software and platforms that might not have a native API connection. For example, you can make Mailchimp talk to Google Sheets or connect your email to your to do list software so they create tasks!