Starting a Business on a Shoestring Budget : Free Online Tools

Starting a business on a shoestring budget

As those of you who follow this blog know (and for those of you who are new, hello and welcome!), I have an online vintage clothing shop that I run from my home office full time. I just recently took the leap from working at a restaurant a few times a week to supplement my income to jumping into full time entrepreneurship, so as you can imagine I have not had a ton of money to invest into the business along the way. It's been a few years of adding new inventory as I could and investing what I could afford back into the business as much as possible.

A good portion of my time also included researching and discovering free resources where I could in order to save a few dollars along the way. Saving $10 a month may seem trivial to some, but when you’re first starting out there are a lot of ways you could invest that $10 elsewhere to help you grow.

I’ve decided to compile my most-used list of resources here in the hopes that some might find it helpful as they consider starting their own online business. A lot of these may seem obvious, but sometimes you just need to see it written out to realize how it might help you in a way you hadn’t thought of. So without further ado, here is a list of free resources and programs I use for my small business.

iPiccy

If you are looking for a photo editor along the lines of Photoshop in which you can edit photos, use a clone tool to touch up backgrounds, or add a filter, iPiccy is one of my favorites. And it’s free! You can also layer photos, text and shapes to create graphics for marketing or blog posts. Something I find super helpful for Instagram posts is the ability to create a collage in iPiccy in just about any configuration you want. While their selection of fonts is not the best, I never have a problem finding one that will do the trick.

One of my favorite elements of iPiccy is the fact that it saves all your photos you’ve uploaded, even if you don’t sign in or create an account. This means that every time you go to the website they all are there and ready to be utilized.

TIP Make sure to clear out old photos you don’t need saved in iPiccy every once in awhile, as leaving too many in there can really slow down it’s speed.  

Canva

Canva is perfect for those of you who are looking for pre-made graphics templates (ie. a Facebook cover photo, Instagram post, blog graphic, or email header). While you do have to pay $1 for some of the better designs, there are still a ton of free graphics available to spice up your marketing campaign or your social media channels. I like to use Canva for Instagram posts when I run a sale, or for holiday themed ads. Its also great for creating a fun Etsy banner. Basically for any project where you might need a little extra help or inspiration with the graphic component, Canva can help you out.

TIP Make sure to play around with different fonts, colors, shapes within the template you choose to keep it looking unique.

Polarr

Polarr is one more online photo editor I wanted to mention for those of you who prefer to shoot photos in RAW format. Its an easy to use tool that will let you edit the unprocessed photos other online photo editors won’t. It also has a ton of great filters available.

Google Docs

I know I know, duh right? But just in case you were considering buying Microsoft Excel, Word or Powerpoint, you can do a LOT of the same things with Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides, and all for free! I use Google Sheets to track my business income and expenses, and this is coming from the girl who dropped her Excel course in college because she couldn’t wrap her head around it. (insert a smack-forehead here for 19-year-old Kristin) I also am all about writing everything down, so I use Google Docs to make checklists, list ideas, write drafts of blog posts, etc. Use Google calendar to schedule meetings, plan your days out or make an editorial calendar for your blog. Then sync it to your phone to keep you movin' and groovin'.

Google Analytics

If you are running a business online, you will definitely need to set up a Google Analytics account. At the very least, it shows you how many pageviews your website is getting, where your customers are located, what device they are viewing your website on, the length of time they browse, and so much more. I am just beginning to utilize this more, but wish I had from the start.

Mailchimp

If you’ve done any research yet for building your business, you know growing your email list is huge for gaining a solid customer base. Mailchimp is an automated email service allowing you to have customers sign up for a recurring newsletter you write, and sends it out to them at a scheduled time. If you are just starting out with your list (like I am), Mailchimp is free for up to 2,000 subscribers or 12,000 emails per month.

Hopefully you guys found this helpful! Next in this series I will be sharing my favorite blogs for small businesses, and specifically the most helpful posts I’ve come across. Happy weekend!

8 Life Lessons I Learned While Waitressing

Photo of the waitstaff during the sixties at a hotel we were at for a wedding this weekend

Last weekend marked my last night serving at the restaurant I've been working at since we moved here two and a half years ago. After nearly ten years spent in and out of restaurants wherever I've lived, I really feel I learned so many valuable skills and life lessons from each position I held. And let me tell you, there have been a lot of them. I have managed, assistant-managed, supervised, bussed, served, and bartended. The one position I managed to avoid was hosting, because that just seemed like too much of a pain in the butt. But through each of these positions I learned something different that I carry with me today as I jump into the wild ride of building my business full time. I wanted to write them down while they were still fresh in my mind, so here we go-

8 Life Lessons I Learned While Waitressing

1. How to be part of a team
This is an obvious one. At most other jobs you will be part of a team, and probably will be working very closely with at least a couple people on your team regularly. At a restaurant you are PART of the team, meaning that without you the team will flounder and fail quickly. It makes you realize the importance of helping others, and how much more success you have yourself when you do.

2. How to be self-sufficient
On the other (contrary) hand, at a restaurant you learn that it is also up to you and you alone to get through certain situations, and that you have to be able to handle it. You learn to deal with situations without having to run to someone else to help every time.

3. How to handle any and all personality types
This one is huge. You can and you will have to deal with every personality type under the sun. That may be a three year old who spills her chocolate milk you just gave her and screams through the entire place, a customer who feels the need to create their own dish not on the menu every time they come in, the guy who makes terrible jokes you have to muster a laugh at, or the "VIP" table you have to give special attention to. You learn to be able to walk into any situation and be able to make small talk comfortably, which is so helpful in many life situations.

4. How to keep a "game face"
The scene - your name is being yelled in the kitchen because two of your tables' meals are up and need to be run to them. Someone at another waitresses table is aggressively flagging you down for a refill of Diet Pepsi. The table you are standing at taking their order has been debating whether to order calamari for five minutes, while you stand there with pen and pad in hand silently tapping your foot in frustration. But no one can tell, because you have your game face on. This one has been a hugely helpful skill to transition into real life, as a game face and keeping your cool can help you through many a sticky situation.

5. How to know your limits and speak up when you need to
The saying is "the customer is always right", but you find out quickly that can't always be the case. No matter what, you are going to have a jerk at your table every now and again, and you quickly learn to not let them get away with anything and everything. As a definite "people-pleaser" personality type, this has been a great lesson to learn for me.

6. How to multitask like a madwoman
You better bet I can hold a conversation and do four other things at the same time. Thank you, bartending experience.

7. How to communicate clearly and efficiently
Often times you do not have more than a second or two to relay a message to a fellow waitress or the kitchen staff on a busy night. The more concise and clear you are, the more likely the result you are looking for will come about, so you quickly learn to communicate efficiently. This has helped me a ton in my business and customer service communication.

8. That it is important to have fun at work too
As crazy as it can get in a restaurant, the staff can get super goofy as well, which makes for a fun time even in a high stress situation. If you can make a joke out of it or find the humor in a sticky situation, it makes it so much easier to get through it, leave it behind you and keep your priorities in line.

Shop Talk : Taking a Chill Pill

Hey guys. Today's Shop Talk is a quick little tidbit about a personal project I have been working on - taking a gosh darn chill pill. I've talked about it before, but I can tend to get pulled in 34,987 different directions if I let myself stray from my to-do lists, specific goals and focuses in my business. Starting a small business requires you to put a lot of work in (duh. obviously). For me, putting that work in is super fun, and I usually wake up excited and ready to jump into another day right away. Most days I start out with my to-do list, and slowly work my way through it, taking a break when needed and enjoying the process, stopping when I feel like I have done enough for the day. Some days, however, I find myself frantically trying to jump from one task to the next, trying to get everything done but in reality getting not-too-much accomplished. I start stressing about my larger goals, and focusing on all that I have not accomplished yet instead of what I have. Usually these days happen when I am off balance. When I haven't taken the time to let myself just "be" or to spend time with friends and family. I have found the only solution to be to resist the urge to frantically hack away at undone tasks like a madwoman, to walk away and to just take a frickin chill pill already.

For me, a chill pill means a walk down to the lake, people watching and breathing deeply. It means reading a book (not business related) on the back porch with a glass of wine. It means going for a run even if I don't feel like it and feeling the nervous energy drain out of me. It means a much needed girl talk with a friend. Afterwards I can return to work with a much clearer vision of where I'm at and what I need to get done. 

So I guess the point of my rambling (sorry) is that no matter what you do, make sure you take time for yourself, listen to your body and what its telling you and make taking a chill pill a priority. Then maybe you won't scare your husband with your crazy eyes as he gently suggests you walk away from the computer and take a nap. Just sayin' : )

(above photo is of one of my Kris Carr Crazy Sexy Love Notes card deck-thanks Mom!)

Shop Talk : Organizing Vintage Inventory Resources

I have a few goals for my business I would like to accomplish over the next couple months. And when I say a few, I mean the few I have made myself narrow down to out of the overwhelming 435,765 I have written down. OK, it may not be that many, but it certainly sometimes feels that way. I have found I do much better by focusing on one project at a time, instead of trying to accomplish a ton of things all at once. It helps me stay calm, be thorough and see measured success from each step. I figured as I worked on each goal I would share the resources with you I've found helpful, in case anyone is going down the same path or working on a similar project.

The first goal I'll be sharing with you for my business will be organizing. As some of you know, I run an online vintage shop out of my home, with around 1000 pieces and growing. This means that in addition to my already full house, I have all those pieces to organize and clean as well. Luckily, we are living in a fairly large space right now where I have room for an office and storage space, so it is totally doable. But if I don't stay on top of my system every day, or at the very least every few days, I am left with piles and piles of vintage with no home and a messy looking home space for my husband and I.

My mom is an expert organizer, and has been a huge help in streamlining my inventory and my office space. We have gotten it down to a pretty good system, but it still needs some major tweaks, which brings me to my resource list as of late:

Goal #1: Organize my inventory so my shop and home life run as smoothly as possible.

1. The Life Changing Power of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

If you haven't heard the praises of this book sung by someone you know by now, I'm sure you will soon. I just ordered this book on Amazon to read on my beach vacation next week. 

2. Inventory Tracking by Design Sponge

This part will take me a little more time to figure out how to apply it to my business. As most vintage items are one of a kind, inventory management is a little different, but it will be good to get a start on brainstorming.

3. Closet Organizing Checklist by Real Simple

Meant for your home closet organization, but good tips for clothing inventory storage as well!

4. 53 Seriously Life Changing Clothing Organizational Tips by Buzzfeed

Again, meant for your home closet, but has some unique tips and visual inspiration. 

5. Pinterest

Pretty straightforward. If you are a visual person like me, seeing how other people organize things really gets me motivated. Search for "organization", "clothing" and "closet" to see how some super organized heroes have done it.

If you have any more you'd like to share with me, I would love to hear them!

Shop Talk : Focus

I read this Steve Jobs quote last week, and it has been popping into my head often ever since then. An oldie but a goodie that reminds you its better not to get pulled in a million directions, even if that means saying no to other good ideas. I have really been trying hard to apply this to my business this year and have been happy with how its developing. It can be hard when you have so many things you want to accomplish, but there really is only so much time in a day. Hopefully some of you can get inspired by the quote as well and feel OK about saying no to something in order to focus on what you really want to work towards!

Shop Talk : Website Re-Launch

It's been a little quiet around the blog this week, as I have been working hard on a project I've been wanting to complete for a while now. I will be relaunching the OldSchoolSwank standalone online shop this week in a much more user friendly theme, and I'm so excited with how its coming so far. Above are a few outtakes from the first photo shoot we had. Lets just say I left with quite a bit of mud on me... I'll be back on track with posts tomorrow, thanks so much for checking in with me. Hope your day is going great! : )

P.S. You can check it out HERE

Shop Talk : My Current Book List

As someone working on building her own small business, I am constantly looking for information to help guide me through new situations that come up, to help me better streamline my processes, to help me think outside the box when I get stuck doing something one way, or just to inspire me to keep at it. I figured I would share a few of the resources I am currently reading or have on my list to read next, in case any other small business peeps out there might find it helpful.