Below are my favourite business apps and programs. These are the resources I've chosen to provide me with the framework, structure and tools.
I've included a link to each of them. If you choose to click the link we may receive an affiliate payment (although there is no change in cost to you). Be assured, these are all tools I currently use, or used on our e-commerce site and found invaluable and I would not recommend any product otherwise.
Later - Social Media Posting
Later is my socials scheduling tool. I find it easy to use, and it allows me to create content on the desktop and then post (as I'm not fond of using my phone for all my content).
I also like being able to use Later to monitor and respond to questions/comments on the feed.
Whilst Reels can't be posted with the additions of music from Instagram directly via Later, I still use Later to create the draft and particularly find it useful for creating my content for reels in preparation for the final posting (I paste the info from Later into my Reel post). Click this link to visit Later.
Flex Theme - Shopify Theme of Choice
I built this Shopify website and my previous website (mychristmas.com.au) using the Flex theme. It has so much built into it I haven't needed to employ any developers to add to it. Yes, it is more expensive than others, but the savings by being able to create yourself are worth the up-front cost.
The one thing I don't love about Flex is you have to buy it upfront, whereas other themes you can trial before buying. I did try the Turbo theme from the same creators (Out of the Sandbox) and when I decided I preferred Flex it was very easy to get a full refund within the first 14 days of purchasing the theme.
Visit our YouTube channel to see the comparison video I created on Flex and other popular Shopify themes. Click here to visit the makers of Flex Theme.
Deputy - Staff Scheduling
When I had the retail store with between 10-20 casual staff I found Deputy such a great tool for managing staff scheduling. Easy and reasonably priced it meant staff could easily block times they were unavailable and rosters and total hours were easy to set up and stay within budget. Click here to visit Deputy.
1Password - Password management
I don't know how but I have over 300 passwords. And how often do companies make you change your passwords so you can't keep using the same one over and over? 1Password is the only way I keep this chaos under control. I use on my phone and desktop and it keeps all my passwords safely locked up. Click here to visit 1Password.
