Launching your business is just the beginning. Once you open, you then have to manage all of the activities involved in keeping your business open, as well as activities to grow your business.
This involves strategy and planning, products and services, marketing and sales, finances and accounting as well as building your team.
This is an ongoing process as you run and grow your business.
Free Resources For You
How to Plan Your Business Goals
Goal planning and execution is critical when growing a business. Learn our strategy for making it efficient and effective.
How to Build a Great Team
Hiring people can reduce your workload and make you business more profitable. Learn how to hire great people.
How to Market & Sell Your Goods
Marketing and selling are key parts of attracting clients and making sales. Learn how to incorporate these into your business.
Your Products & Services
Managing and expanding your product/service portfolio is important. Learn how to maximize this in your business.
Our Favorite Ways to Stay Organized & Communicate in Your Business
Being organized and having open lines of communication are essential. Find out some of our favorite strategies.
The Top 12 Tools That We Use to Run Our Businesses
Tools can save you lots of time and money when running your business. Find out our 12 favorite tools that we use.
Use Lean & Agile to Skyrocket Your Productivity
Modern practices for delivering value sooner focus on lean and agile concepts. Learn about how you can apply these concepts.
Understanding the 3 Main Business Financial Statements
It can be overwhelming to manage your business books and financial statements. Learn how to understand them.
Recommended Tools
Strategy & Planning
LeanKit
Task & Project Tracking
Free (Lite Version) or $12/user/month
There are a lot of things to keep on top of when running a business. Although there are many tools out there for tracking your work, we prefer LeanKit. It provides very customizable boards and reporting. Trello is another great option (it is simpler).
Sales & Marketing
ConvertKit
E-mail Marketing Automation
$29/month (30 Day Refund Available)
ConvertKit is a simple yet powerful e-mail marketing tool. It allows you to collect e-mail addresses from leads and send them customized automated e-mail sequences. It also contains advanced features, such as automation rules and user tagging.
ClickFunnels
Sales Page/Sales Funnel Builder
$97/month (14 Day Free Trial)
ClickFunnels is an amazing marketing and sales funnel tool. It allows you to create and customize sales funnels to guides your customers towards purchasing your product, from landing pages to sales pages.
Stripe
Online Payment Processor
2.9% + 30¢/transaction
If you are selling any of your products online, you need a way to collect payments. Stripe is a simple and robust option for collecting payments online. The fees are pretty good and it is integrated into many other products.
Accounting & Financials
QuickBooks
Bookkeeping Software
$197 on Amazon
Quickbooks is the go-to software for small businesses to manage their payroll. We use it for each of our businesses. Most accountants use it, and it will allow you (or your bookkeeper eventually) to manage your books.
Gusto
Payroll Provider
$39/month + $6/employee
Payroll can be complicated (and potentially pretty costly). Gusto is an online payroll provider that we’ve been using for years and love. It is cost-effective, easy to use and has everything that we need.
Your Team
Slack
Messaging Application
Free
It can be a challenge keeping everyone on the same page when working with multiple people. Slack is an amazing messaging tool that helps consolidate team communication and keep everyone connected.
LeanKit
Task & Project Tracking
Free (Lite Version) or $12/user/month
There are a lot of things to keep on top of when running a business. Although there are many tools out there for tracking your work, we prefer LeanKit. It provides very customizable boards and reporting. Trello is another great option (it is simpler).
Recommended Books
These books are some of the best to read when running and growing a business.
The E-Myth Revisited
Running & Growing Your Business
~$12 on Amazon
Many small businesses fail. In this book, the author describes 3 roles in an organization – the technician, the manager and the entrepreneur. He also focuses on other topics, such as working “on” your business, not just “in” your business.
Traction
Running & Operating Your Business
~$10 on Amazon
Many businesses struggle with running and operating once they launch. In this book, the author outlines an “entrepreneur operating model”, with great a great model and guidance around how to run a successful business.
Keeping the Books
Understanding Bookkeeping
~$19 on Amazon
Bookkeeping is an essential and important function of running a business. This books introduces the basics and helps you understand how to keep good books and provides an introduction to financial reports and ratios.
Finance Without Fear
Understanding Business Financials
~$26 on Amazon
It can be a struggle to understand the various financial statements and key financials numbers needed to manage your business. This book breaks it down into simple lessons to teach you how to read your financial statements.
Want More?
Click to find out more about how Startup Academy can help you build a successful business.
Everything you need to start and grow your business:
- A step-by-step roadmap to take you
through the process - Training courses
- Live monthly coaching call with Tom & Ariana
- Private forums for asking questions and getting customized guidance
- And much more!