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Business on The Broke

To give full disclosure I am totally in love with 17Hats!  When I first starting running my business on the broke, this was one of the first tools that I purchased (like within the first month)! I don’t want to give a biased opinion but I am going to share all the reasons why I love 17Hats.  This is not a comparison with Dubsado or any of the others because I haven’t used them.  I landed on 17Hats and I just haven’t felt inclined to try anything else.

If you have never heard of 17Hats, let me just tell you why you are going to fall in love with this platform. We’ve all heard the phrase “I wear many hats” and when you run your own small business that is exactly what you have to do. So a very appropriate name indeed!  With this one tool you can create and send contracts, invoices, manage client data, create workflows, schedule projects, and so many more tasks.  Forget about cobbling together a hand full of tools to manage all.the.things. With 17Hats your business is covered from lead generation through contracts and payment, all the way to project completion.

As with the other tools in this series, I will start with price. 17Hats has two price points $25 for the Lite version (this is the version I use) and $39 for Unlimited.  They also offer the option of an annual payment for the Unlimited version for $299 – this basically gives you the Unlimited version for the price of Lite.  I haven’t taken the jump yet to pay the large lump sum and I’ve just been paying monthly.  However, I see this in my near future (Hint: 17Hats offers some pretty amazing Black Friday and end of year specials).

Pricing

With the Lite version you will get the following features:

• • 15 Active Projects (this works fine for me – I archive a project when it is completed and it doesn’t count)

• • No 17hats Transaction Fee

• • Processing Fee: 2.9% + 30¢

• • ACH (eChecks) payments

• • Customer Support

• • Sync Bank Account

• Template Marketplace

The Unlimited version offers the following features:

• • Unlimited Active Projects

• • No 17hats Transaction Fee

• • Processing Fee: 2.9% + 30¢

• • ACH (eChecks) payments

• • Customer Support

• • Sync Bank Account

• • Template Marketplace

• Create Multiple Accounts

So, with that out of the way let me tell you some fun things that I do with 17Hats.  I have uploaded some standard contracts as templates.  I currently have about 15 contracts that I can use as is, or with just a little bit of tweaking to the deliverables area for custom jobs. After I finish a call with a potential clients that has decided to work with me, it takes about 15 minutes to log into 17Hats, tweak the contract, and send to the new client for signature. I used to spend about an hour combing through a word document, double checking that I had made all the right changes, etc. I even have an email template that I use when I send the contract.  Easy peasy! If you haven’t set up your contracts yet, grab a copy of my example contract templates.

I have created a lead form that I have placed on my website for potential clients to fill out. When someone visits my website and is interested in my services, they can fill out and submit the form.  They are automatically taken to my Acuity link to schedule a discovery call. 17Hats sends me a notification that I have received a new lead, along with all of the information the potential client has included.  

Once I set this up, I don’t have to do anything else.  And yes, random people will show up on my site and fill out the form.  Now, before I ever get on the phone I am able to outline the perfect offer for that person.  I know what they need, when they need it, and how I am going to deliver. Easy for me, and easy for my potential client.  Integrating with Acuity puts the icing on the cake!

You can set up workflows in 17Hats to keep your projects moving, so you can essentially eliminate the need for a project management system (like Teamwork, Basecamp, Trello).  I still use a lot of the scheduling systems with my clients because it is what they prefer. However, if you are just starting out and your budget is tight, this $25/month tool can take the place of a lot of other tools out there.

Invoicing

Invoicing is another awesome feature.   You can set up invoice templates for all of the services you offer, when it is time to sign a new client you grab an invoice, a contract, etc. and with a few clicks you can have all of this front end paperwork done.

Some of the features that I haven’t explored are those related to bookkeeping.  Don’t ask me why cause I really hate bookkeeping and setting this on autopilot would make me happier than a basket of puppies. So when I get some free time to play, I will be exploring the option to generate tax reports and profit and loss statements. I already have 17Hats integrated with my bank account, but you can also integrate with Quickbooks Online.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear about some other amazing business tools here:

Scheduling on the Skinny
Stop Marketing Like a Monkey
Business on the Broke
Designing on a Dollar