How to Save 5 Hours a Week: Essential Tools for Service-Based Business Owners
As a service-based business owner, your time is precious. Juggling client work, operations, and growth can feel like a full-time job in itself. What if I told you that you could save up to 5 hours a week by leveraging some of the tools I use in my own business? Here’s a breakdown of tools that will streamline your operations, freeing up time for what truly matters.
1. Automate Your Onboarding Process
Tool: Dubsado*
When a new client comes on board, you want the process to be smooth and efficient—for them and for you. With Dubsado, you can automate everything from sending proposals to signing contracts, collecting payments, and delivering a welcome email with an onboarding questionnaire. It takes care of the repetitive tasks, saving you time and providing a seamless experience for your clients.
Why I Love It: I love that Dubsado saves me from the endless back-and-forth emails and manual tasks. It's like having a personal assistant that never forgets a step, making the process smoother for both me and my clients. For just £30-£35 a month, it’s an investment that pays back in saved time and a great process for clients.
2. Keep Everything Organised with a Project Management Tool
Tool: ClickUp*
Ever felt like you’re juggling too many tasks and forgetting what’s important? That’s where ClickUp comes in. It’s my go-to for managing everything in my business—and even my personal life. ClickUp allows you to organise tasks, delegate to team members, store ideas, and track goals. It keeps you on top of your priorities so you know what to focus on each day.
Why I Love It: ClickUp is like my second brain. I love that I can wake up each morning, open it up, and see exactly what needs to be done. It helps me prioritise my day, keeps me accountable, and gives me peace of mind knowing I haven’t missed anything. It’s the tool I simply couldn’t run my business without.
3. Create Video Content Faster with Opus Clip
Tool: Opus Clip*
Creating video content can be time-consuming, especially if you need to edit longer videos into bite-sized clips for social media. Opus Clip is an AI-powered tool that automatically adds captions to your videos and can chop up long content, like an hour-long masterclass or live session, into shorter, shareable clips.
Why I Love It: Opus Clip takes the heavy lifting out of video editing. I love that I can run a masterclass and then turn that content into a month’s worth of social media posts in minutes. It’s a huge time-saver, which means I don't need to hire an editor, and it makes maintaining a consistent online presence so much easier.
4. Save Time on Calls with AI Notetaking
Tool: Fathom AI Notetaker*
Virtual meetings are a crucial part of running a business, but taking notes during those calls can be a time drain. Fathom AI Notetaker records your calls and summarises key points and actions. It allows you to stay focused on the conversation without worrying about missing important details.
Why I Love It: With Fathom AI, I can be fully present in meetings without worrying about missing anything. I love that it creates a summary of key takeaways, saving me from having to rewatch entire calls. It’s a little thing that makes a huge difference in my day.
5. Get Quick Answers with Perplexity
Tool: Perplexity
Perplexity is like a mix of Google and ChatGPT, providing answers to your questions along with references to credible sources. It’s perfect for those moments when you need quick research or insights but don’t have the time to sift through pages of search results.
Why I Love It: I love the speed and depth of answers I get from Perplexity. It’s saved me hours of research time, and I even use it with my kids to help with their homework. It’s a smarter, faster way to get the information you need.
6. Generate Ideas with ChatGPT
Tool: ChatGPT
Sometimes, you just need a sounding board for ideas or help with drafting emails and content. ChatGPT is my go-to when I need inspiration or when I’m stuck on wording. I've upgraded to a paid plan and over time, I’ve trained it in my own tone of voice, making it a great tool for quick content drafts.
Why I Love It: I love that ChatGPT gives me ideas when I’m feeling stuck. It’s like having a creative partner available 24/7. Whether I’m drafting a tricky email or brainstorming new content, it’s a tool that makes my life a lot easier - and it can be close to my tone of voice.
7. Simplify Your Systems with Infinity Stack
Tool: Infinity Stack
Infinity Stack is my all-in-one CRM, email list, funnels and payment system. It’s designed to handle everything from client management to selling digital products. By consolidating multiple tools into one, it makes tracking client interactions and managing sales much simpler.
Why I Love It: I love the simplicity of having everything in one place. No more hopping between systems and struggling to get them to work together. Infinity Stack helps me stay organised and gives me a complete view of my clients, all in one place.
8. Stay on Top of Finances with Xero
Tool: Xero
Keeping your accounts organised is key to running a successful business. Xero makes it easy to track expenses, send invoices, and manage receipts. You can forward receipts directly into the platform, and it even sends automated reminders for unpaid invoices.
Why I Love It: I love that Xero takes the headache out of managing my finances. It means I’m not scrambling to find receipts or trying to match transactions at the end of the month. It’s streamlined and makes year-end accounting a breeze.
9. Schedule Meetings with Ease
Tool: Calendly/Infiniti Stack/Dubsado
No more back-and-forth emails trying to schedule meetings. There are loads of tools to help with this (I now use Infinity Stack). I just send a link to my availability, and clients or colleagues can book a time that suits us both. It integrates with my calendar and sets up meetings seamlessly.
Why I Love It: I love the control Calendly gives me over my schedule. I can set my availability, avoid surprise calls, and let clients pick times that work for them. It’s quick, easy, and takes the admin work out of scheduling for both me and the people I will be having a meeting with.
10. Organise Everything with Google Workspace
Tool: Google Workspace
From storing documents to sharing files with your team, Google Workspace keeps everything in one place. It makes collaboration with my team easy and ensures that no important document gets lost and we're not having to email documents or share individual ones.
Why I Love It: I love that Google Workspace keeps everything accessible and organised. Whether I need to share a folder with my team or quickly find a document, it’s all there. It saves me from digging through endless email attachments or misplaced files.
11. Take Great Selfies for Social Posts
Tool: Rosie Parsons' Selfies Course*
Keeping up with LinkedIn and Instagram often means needing a steady stream of good photos that make you look professional. Rosie Parsons' Selfies Course has taught me how to take great selfies on the go, without relying on expensive, regular photoshoots. Now, I can create high-quality content from wherever I am, without having to book a photographer.
Why I Love It: I love that I’m no longer tied to scheduling shoots or dealing with the high costs of professional photography. I can take control of my own content, capturing images whenever inspiration strikes. It’s been a game-changer for feeding the social media monster without draining my time or budget.
12. Take Away Meal Planning Stress
Tool: Mindful Chef*
Planning and eating healthy meals can be difficult when you work long hours, and getting healthy meal kits can really help with this. You select the meal, and they send you the ingredients and recipe. Then, you throw it all together. It saves so much time and headspace.
Why I Love It: I know healthy food will help me be at my peak performance but i don't always have the energy to think about what to eat and cook - getting these meals delivered helps SO much with this! I can eat yummy, healthy meals without having to think about it. (the link gives you £10 off and a referral fee to me :) )
(*these are all affiliate links that may give you a discount and I may also receive a discount of £ if you use it)
Saving Time is About the Right Tools
With the right tools, you can automate repetitive tasks, organise your business, and focus on what truly matters—serving your clients and growing your business. Implementing just a few of these tools could save you up to 5 hours a week, giving you more time to focus on making money or spending time doing the things you love.
Which of these tools will you try first?
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