Running a small business solo can easily take over your personal life, especially if you are like me and still running your side hustle whilst working full time AND being a mother.
Being your own boss is great but too often I hear stories of solopreneurs struggling to juggle work and personal life. Working until the early hours of the morning working on quotes and missing family time to catch up on work. I confess, this was me before but since subscribing to Dubsado I have cut down my admin time tremendously.
There were 3 key points that I needed help keep my business running smoothly… invoicing, contracts and forms. These are just a few of the uses that I use Dubsado to help me cut down my administration hours. There are plenty more uses of Dubsado, many of which I am yet to learn. But as I roll out my business further, this platform will help me keep on top of jobs. I did look at other similar platforms but either the price was a little too much for the early stages of my business or the User Interface (UI) didn’t work for me. Being a designer, I like everything to be clear and easy to navigate through, and if it can be, look pretty.
The main purpose I joined Dubsado was to create professional looking invoices that were easy to fill in online. Previously, I created them in InDesign and sent PDF’s to my clients. I had a design template set up but I was always restricted to creating them on one computer. If I had to make any changes or create a new one whilst away from home, I had to wait or design from scratch. Having an online platform meant I could create invoices from anywhere. Also, no more worries of duplicating sequence numbers.
Once set up, I can share a link, email directly or download as a PDF. I then send this to the client and within the invoice they can make payments directly through paypal. Even better, I can set up payment schedules. Perfect for splitting the jobs for deposit and final payments.
If I was creating contracts myself I’d probably be creating them indiviually each time. Automated fields means I don’t having to fill them out every time and everything is linked to the project. So, wherever you input this information it will spread across all of your forms and invoices. Definitely a time saver for me!
Best of all, the client gets to sign the contract virtually which saves time. As Dubsado has been built for many creatives, they already have some templates to follow. Just a bit of tweaking and making sure the laws are up to date with UK regulations and I am ready to go.
One of my most favourite tools in Dubsado are the forms. Along with designing stationery and leather jackets, I also work on Branding Design. To help me get a better idea of what my clients are after, I send them a Brand Discovery Questionnaire. Building these forms are super easy. A simple drag and drop interface with multiple options for drop down menus, checkboxes and yes/no questions, etc.
These 3 tools were only the requirements that got me to sign up. But since joining I have learnt there are plenty more tools that my business actually needs. Here a list of how Dubsado can help your business:
Before I subscribed I decided to try it out before paying. There is no time limit on the trial, only you get to use it on 3 clients. This gives you enought time to try everything out without the pressure of making a decision to purchase.
The best part for me was using a friend’s affiliate code for the 20% off. So I signed up for a year once I used up all my free 3 clients. And yes, this is an affilliate post which will earn me a commission but this at no cost to you at all. To grab 20% off your first month or year, just use code: “scritto” or sign up by clicking the button below.
Creativity is contagious, pass it on ... Albert Einstein
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