My Must-Have Apps & Software

Website Building

  • What It Is: An all-in-one, hosted website builder.

  • Why It’s Great: No need to fuss with hosting, updating themes, or juggling plugins. Everything you need—building, designing, and customer support—sits neatly under one roof.

Special Offer: 20% Off Squarespace + Extended Free Trial

I'm a Squarespace Circle Member, which means I can hook you up with an extended 6-month free trial to explore the platform before committing. If you're thinking about upgrading, you’ll also get a 20% off a new annual subscription.

💡 Interested? Just shoot me an email at [email protected], and I’ll set you up!

  • What It Is: Squarespace’s domain registration service.

  • Why It’s Great: Straightforward pricing and free privacy protection make domain management painless. If you opt for an annual “Business” plan, you can often snag a free domain for the first year.

  • Personal Tip: I steer clear of GoDaddy because of hidden add-on costs (like extra fees for domain privacy). With Squarespace Domains, it’s all included.

Accepting Payments (Online & In Person)

  • What It Is: A payment processing system that covers in-person sales (think: coffee shops) and online transactions.

  • Why It’s Great: You can set up a basic online store (even without a custom domain) and only pay processing fees when you make a sale. It’s widely recognized, making it easy for customers to trust.

  • Disclaimer: I’m a Square Solutions Partner, but my recommendation truly comes from seeing Square’s simplicity in action. It’s perfect for solo entrepreneurs or small businesses that want a hassle-free way to accept payments.

  • Personal Tip: I frequently use Square invoices and checkout links to collect payment for services, so it doubles as a mini-client management tool.

Special Offer (Referral Link):
Here’s my referral link for new customers: squareup.com/i/DREAMERBIZ

Sign up through it and process your first payment to redeem your reward. You can then choose either free processing on your first $1,000 in sales (within 180 days) or $20 off Square Hardware.*

  • What It Is: A developer-friendly payment solution popular for online businesses.

  • Why It’s Great: Connects seamlessly with countless apps (e.g., Calendly), making it an easy choice for businesses that need custom integrations.

  • Personal Tip: If your favorite scheduling or e-commerce platform doesn’t support Square, chances are it supports Stripe.

Scheduling & Appointments

  • What It Is: A scheduling tool that automates booking, sends confirmations, and manages your availability.

  • Why It’s Great: They offer a free plan (limited to one event type), which is often enough for solo entrepreneurs. Upgrading lets you accept payments before bookings—super convenient if you do paid consultations.

  • Personal Tip: I depend on Calendly for all my calls—free consultations, kickoff sessions, etc. It’s my sanity-saver when it comes to scheduling.

Designing Everything Your Business Needs

  • What It Is: A user-friendly graphic design tool.

  • Why It’s Great: Perfect for creating banners, social media posts, business cards—even personal stuff like invitations. Tons of templates mean professional designs without a big learning curve.

  • Personal Tip: If you’re not a designer, Canva’s drag-and-drop features and pre-sized templates make you look like a pro anyway.

Forms & Operations Management

  • What It Is: A versatile forms software for collecting data, signatures, or feedback.

  • Why It’s Great: It integrates with Square, Calendly, and more. Great for contracts, agreements, or detailed order forms.

  • Personal Tip: I use it to streamline all sorts of processes, like capturing catering requests for restaurant clients or sending digital contracts. It keeps things organized and professional.

Accepting Donations

  • What It Is: An online fundraising platform for nonprofits or anyone collecting donations.

  • Why It’s Great: Makes it straightforward to set up donation pages or recurring giving options.

  • Personal Tip: If you have a charitable arm of your business or run fundraising campaigns, Donor Box provides a neat, user-friendly solution.

  • What It Is: A simple link generated by Square that leads directly to a secure payment page.

  • Why It’s Great: You can create a unique link for each cause or donation goal without needing a website.

  • Personal Tip: Perfect for quick, one-off donation drives or smaller charity events.

Website Designer Toolkit

  • What It Is: Figma is a user-friendly (and team-friendly) online design tool that allows real-time collaboration on everything from simple mockups to polished prototypes.

  • Why It’s Great: Lets you map out a website’s look and feel before you start building on Squarespace (or any website builder)

  • Personal Tip: Check out marketplaces like Envato Elements where you can find pre-built designs you can customize on Figma.

  • What It Is: A feedback tool that places virtual “sticky notes” on top of a live or prototype website.

  • Why It’s Great: Clients can click exactly where they have a suggestion or question. No more confusing email threads or guesswork.

  • Personal Tip: This is a sanity-saver for back-and-forth revisions. Everyone stays on the same page (literally).

  • What It Is: A video meeting recorder with AI-powered summaries.

  • Why It’s Great: It saves you from the classic “Sorry, I missed that—could you repeat?” during calls. You can revisit the meeting or get a quick summary afterward.

  • Personal Tip: I rely on Grain to catch any missed details, especially when juggling multiple client calls in a day.

  • What It Is: A spreadsheet-database hybrid that’s super flexible for project management.

  • Why It’s Great: Combines the data structure of Excel with the visual organization of Trello or Asana.

  • Personal Tip: Even if you’re not an Excel fan, you might find Airtable fun. I love using different “views” (like Kanban boards or calendars) to filter and organize data in a more interactive way.

Tip:

Start with just a few tools—like Squarespace for your site, Square or Stripe for payments, and Calendly for booking. Gradually add more apps as your business grows. This helps you avoid overwhelm and stay focused on building momentum.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links (marked with an ). That means if you make a purchase, we may earn a small commission—at no extra cost to you. We only share products we personally use and love!