Time-Saving Resources for the Side Hustler

With a full time job, time is one thing that is certainly not on your side. See CUTEnCRAFTY owner Kendra Barnes’ list of time-saving resources for the side hustler to ensure that you get it all done.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

I am a huge stickler for amazing customer service. I treat my customers exactly how I want to be treated as a customer. One of the things my customers enjoy is the fact that I always respond to their messages in a timely manner (usually within a few hours or sooner!) and I always follow up to make sure their package arrived safely and that they are happy with it. This would be extremely time consuming if it weren’t for the amazing feature that is the canned response. I use this feature when following up with customers and when answering questions that I see often.

LEARNING

One of my favorite things about being an entrepreneur is that I am constantly learning. There are so many awesome resources, workshops and conferences out there but sometimes it’s really hard to decide which ones are worth the investment. Creative Live has online workshops and they are FREE if you watch them Live. Just click on “Watch Now Free” at the top to see which ones they have coming up. Topics range from SEO Optimization to Photography Basics.

OUTSOURCING

For those things that you don’t like to do, don’t have time to do or don’t know how to do, outsourcing may be worth the investment. With Task Rabbit you can hire locally and outsource a wide range of tasks. The possibilities are endless! You can hire someone to pick up your dry cleaning, hire a virtual assistant, or even hire event staff. I can’t afford a full time assistant, so during wedding season when my business is in full swing, I hire help via Task Rabbit to prep orders and it has been well worth it.

ACCOUNTING

No one wants to be the person that shows up at the tax preparer’s office with a box full of receipts. To avoid being that person…just use Outright. All you have to do is link your business accounts, credit cards, paypal, Etsy, etc. and it does all of the work for you! I can’t say enough about this site! It keeps track of all income, and expenses and puts out very helpful easy to understand summary reports by month and year. Not only am I am side-hustler, but I am also a one woman shop…so this takes care of accounting and I can rest well at night!

SHIPPING

I run an online store and I ship at least 5-10 packages every other day. There’s no way I can work full time job and make it to the post office that often. That’s why I love that USPS has package pick up service. I just schedule pickups online and they gather my packages when they drop off my mail! It’s such a huge help!

Since my current office/workspace is my home, I do not have tons of room for shipping supplies. Thankfully Uline has great prices, low minimums and super fast delivery! Most orders arrive within 1-2 days! Plus, if you live near one of their facilities, you can pick up your items and skip the shipping fees!

TAKING CARE OF ME

You ever had one of those busy weeks where you’ve accomplished so much for your business, but forgot to plan your life?  Yea….I’ve been there too. So when it comes to grocery shopping, packing lists, to-do lists, etc. I turn to these FREE Printables by Emily Ley. They are pretty much amazing…and free…can’t get much better than that!