The Goody Bag – Affordable and Free Software to Help You Manage Your Business!

One of the best aspects of being a sole proprietor is the innate ability to really watch those pennies, with that being said take a look at some really useful affordable software QC Hustle has found for you!

• Busy, Busy, Busy and you have 5 calendars to help stay focus. One can only imagine with 5 calendars they’ll be a slip up somewhere, if this is you, then check out Tungle.me. This nifty FREE software is a scheduling application that allows you to sync with your calendars. Never double book or miss an appointment ever again! Tungle.me starts off as a free service but also includes a Premium personalization package staring at $4.99 monthly.

• Help I Need Somebody (in harmony with The Beetles)! – Owning a business and doing it solo at least at the beginning can be daunting and exhausting. Let’s admit it, some us give “keeping track” a whole new meaning! Reduce the stress and clutter that comes with managing a business by using HighRise a CRM (Contact Relationship Management) application. According to the Washington Post, “HighRise is like a having secretary with the exception of getting coffee and picking up dry cleaning”. SideNote: For all you secretaries out there starting a business this comment alone should incite you :)

• If you’re like me putting every thought you have either on a post it or in my case my trending little organizer then like me you might be in some trouble. I can’t tell you the countless times I wrote something down and a week later I have no idea why, I could say like Jamie and “Blame it on the Goose”, but I’ll just keep it real and fess up to real issue, disorganization and unfocused. Well, to my surprise, guess what, there’s an app for that! Omnifocus is a new software that serves as a personal task manager to quickly capture your thoughts and allow you to store, manage, and process them into actionable to-do items. Omnifocus synchs with the iPhone and iPad.

• It’s all about Social Networking these days. If your business is not on Facebook or Twitter then you’re not using one of the most popular advertising channels of our current day. One of the issues with having your business on these sites is monitoring. Companies are starting to hire Social Media Strategist to read comments, bad, good or indifferent and work hard at keeping a company in good customer standing. All this may be cool for GE or Microsoft but what about the QC Hustler, we don’t have that ability or resource to track all this. Well like everything else there’s an app for that. Check out Batchbook a social CRM built for small businesses and entrepreneurs. With Batchbook you can get a holistic feed of your Social Networking sites, who needs a Social Media Strategist afterall?!?!


QC Hustle does not endorse the businesses mentioned in this article. The businesses mentioned are for informational purposes only.

Wishing You Prosperity,
QC Hustlle

Facing the FEAR Element

Everyday I wake up with the passion of starting my own business. I fantasize about being interviewed by Oprah regarding my humble beginnings, which will be turned into a prosperous venture. I dream about my descendants talking about how fortunate they are cause of me their great grandmother. I DREAM! Yet with all this dreaming I am SCARED! Yes, that’s right scared!! What if I fail? What if I’m not good enough to venture out in this field? What if others are better than me? Will my family think I’m living a pipe dream? How do I deal with haters? Are the haters right? Yes my fellow sistahs seeking success I the one who preaches “Just Do it”, gives advice on how to do it, is one chicken shizzit when it comes to fulfilling her dream.

I’ve come to learn this fear that I have and that many of us share is not really fear at all. It’s passion; it’s love and concern for something we really want to succeed. Yes there will be those who doubt me, there will be those in my industry far successful than me, and yes some of my family members will think I’m full of it; but what really matters is not what anyone thinks including me but it’s what I do to turn this fear into an energizing factor that will propel me to success!

As I examine the shameful feeling of fear, I’ve taught myself that fear is just the unknown. An unknown that shouldn’t control me. What needs to control me is the faith I should have in myself. With this being said I’ve developed a mantra whenever I feel the dreaded fear trying to take over. Every time fear approaches I think of it as Faith Evolving Action into Reality! The Faith I have in myself will be an Evolving Action that will convert into the Reality I’m seeking!

For those of you who are pursuing your dream don’t let unknown fear take over you! Remember you can control your reality the way you can control your thoughts. Whenever “fear” begins to creep in just think of it as your ammunition to move forward and be strong my fellow entrepreneurs, fear comes in many forms, the important thing is turn that fear into faith and defy the unknown!

The Name is Bond, James Bond….

It may be just me and my corny self but every time I find a new feature on my Blackberry I am utterly amazed. The convenience, size and magnitude of what this little device can do at times leaves me speechless. It's like when I was a kid and I'm probably dating myself here, but when I was younger and a new James Bond movie came out, we would run to theaters not to just see how Bond got out of whatever evil mess he got into, but to see on the live screen the gadgets that got him out of that mess! Like the exploding pen or the sun glasses with the video camera. All these gadgets to a child of the 70's seemed like an elusive fantasy. Yet with the advent of technology and all its recent innovation the fantasy has come to life at least in the world of Smartphones!

Smartphones like a James Bond movie gadget can do just about everything and anything we can think of with the exception of a blowing up a car, I'm sure they'll be an app for that pretty soon J. But lets' think about it for a minute, can a small business entrepreneur run a business without a Smartphone? Instead of letting you ponder, I'll just let the cat out the bag and give you a big NO!!! Having a Smartphone whether it's an Android, Blackberry, iPhone, etc. is essential to any small business. These gadgets have become your mobile office, from, emailing, contacts, sending documents, serving as a receptionist and oh yeah making phone calls, without a Smartphone you'll basically be out of touch.

According to Devon & Associates, our small business financial consultants, the most successful tip in sustaining a small business is to be cognizant of your overhead. Unlike huge corporations with shareholders, small businesses have to rely on every little penny, which means you have to make those pennies, translating into being proactive with your customers. Smartphones allow you to conduct this very facet whether in or out of the office. Using your mobile device you can keep in touch with your employees and customers; respond to inquiries, diffuse and intercept certain situations, plus countless other things that I haven't even found on my gadget J. The point is without a Smartphone you will be somewhat ineffective in running your small business.

One of the biggest issues with obtaining one of these most needed devices is cost. I will not fool you the days of a monthly $20 cell phone bill are all but gone. You will be spending a pretty penny, depending on the carrier somewhere in the range of $75-$150 a month. But when you average the cost which you should be considering an investment versus the productivity you'll be achieving, you'll actually think you've gotten a steal. QC Hustle in no way endorses a carrier or phone type. However, we do encourage that you take the time look for a carrier and a phone that meets your needs and your budget.

Lastly another tip, when you have a Smartphone make sure you keep it charged. I know this probably sounds like your mom talking to you,- but it's true. Make a conscientious effort to have your "mobile office" functioning at all times. My tip buy several chargers, one for the car, one for the office, one for home and one in case you lose all three J Chargers normally run anywhere between $25-$40, if you want to save some money but one at a time or shop e-bay for a compatible charger.

Running a business is certainly not easy, it takes time and commitment. Thankfully we can all act like James Bond or in our case Jane Bond and use these nifty gadgets to get us out of trouble, in trouble or just some good business trouble J

Wishing you Prosperity,
QC Hustle