Since leaving University and starting my first venture (a Drum & Bass music video company) I’ve always worked closely and been supported by a team of technically, operationally and creatively awesome people, who have always very much complimented my skill sets. First off it was Andy and Matt (when we were setting up Team Rubber), then Ally at VAN, and subsequently at Sharethrough where I was supported by a whole beast of an operational engine at our San Francisco HQ.
After exiting Sharethrough last summer I found myself for the first time flying solo, which is both hugely liberating but also has meant that for the first time in 15+ years I’m having to do my own laundry - so to speak (i.e. I’m now having to run my own entrepreneurial operations).
This is isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and what I’ve discovered is that being an entrepreneur in 2017 is a lot easier than it was in 2000. I say that because there are now a tonne of free / low cost apps available which make an entrepreneurs life so much easier.
Over the few months I’ve reflected on my life at the coal-face of being an entrepreneur again for the last 12 months, and sketched out (as below) how I manage my work, and keep on top of my various ventures - from Digital Democracy at Delib to helping protect people’s homes and businesses at SmartSecurity.Store.
>> Notes / thinking / idea building
The first stage of any new venture is the ideas stage. Ideas generally take a while to evolve, and a mix of internalisation and externalisation / collaboration.
- Evernote: this is the engine for all my note taking. I’m *quite* organised and diligently use the tag system, but find the search pretty solid, and like the web and image clipping tools. Evernote
- Pocket: Pocket’s a great way to track / store interesting articles, especially for train / tube consumption whilst on the go. Pocket
- Feedly: Feedly’s my feed aggregator of choice, and a nice way to browse through a selection of blogs. I will often then share the best articles via Buffer. Feedly
- ToDoist: I list my everything I need to get done in my ToDoist list, and break them out into daily tasks every morning. Todoist
>> Sharing / collaboration
As ideas develop, the fluid sharing ideas / knowledge / links is important. This is something I do across numerous platforms . . .
- Buffer: Buffer’s how I manage my various social media profiles and idea / content sharing. I usually share on desktop, and monitor the analytics via the mobile app. Buffer
- Twitter: Twitter’s my go to social channel for following interesting (work-related) people, and then sharing out ideas. Twitter
- Linked-in: I use Linked-in mainly for sharing content / ideas, but also for directly connecting to my network Linkedin
- Tweetfull: Tweetfull has been useful for managing the growth of my various Twitter channels. It’s not too spammy in the way it help connect to like-minded people, and has been pretty effective at growing my social network. Tweetfull
- MailChimp: MailChimp’s my go-to for newsletter management MailChimp
- Slack: Slack’s great for communicating / collaborating within a team Slack
- Google Drive & docs: I found Google docs, and Google Drive a simple way to collaborate on documents / sharing files Google Drive
>> Idea building / making / managing / collaboration
Once I'm in the *making stage* of a project, I then need tools to help me build / test minimal viable products quickly.
- Hover: product naming / branding is still reliant on access to a good URL. Hover’s a simple way to manage domain research and buying. Hover
- Squarespace: once you’ve got an idea together, bought the URL, then comes *idea articulation* / the launch of a MVP (minimal viable product). I mostly do this by whipping together a website using SquareSpace. SquareSpace
- Shopify: for e-commerce ideas, Shopify is an amazingly powerful / easy-to-use platform for running online shops Shopify
- Trello: as the idea matures, and more people are brought into handle different tasks, I then use Trello to manage tasks across teams. Trello
- Liquid Lizard: when it comes to design, my go to partner is *Liquid Lizard* (aka Dave). With a tight brief, Liquid Lizard is great at turning around awesome-looking graphics, to make any idea super shiny. LiquidLizard
- UpWork: Upwork’s a v.efficient way of outsourcing repetitive tasks (like researching something / gathering data) and also more specialist tasks like SEO. Simply add your brief, targets and budget - and a few days later, someone the other side of the world will deliver for you. Upwork
>> Other
Beyond the above, I also use a range of other tools in my everyday work . . .
- Privy: I use Privy on top of SquareSpace (and connected to MailChimp) to collect email addresses from interested parties Privy
- AirBnB: I’ve been using AirBnB since its launch, and it still delivers great value accommodation, and is an especially nice way of discovering interesting parts of new cities when travelling alone. Airbnb
- Google Calendar: keeps me organised and knowing what I’m supposed to be doing / when Google Calendar
>> Missing / areas for improvement
The two areas I haven’t 100% sorted as yet are my *expenses and accounts* and *CRM* system - which are areas I'm working on, but still haven't mastered in a super organised way ;-)
I'd love to hear from you as to what other tools you use / tools that I've maybe missed / tools I really *should be using* (leave ideas below in the comments section) ;-)