The Business Tool Detox You Didn’t Know You Needed

Today we’re talking about one of my favorite sanity-saving business moves: optimizing the tools you're already using.

This isn’t about adding more to your plate—it’s about doing more with less.

Inside this episode, I walk you through exactly how to clean up your tech stack and streamline the backend of your business without going down another software rabbit hole.

You’ll learn:

• Why quarterly tool audits can save you major time and money
• How to decide which tools to keep, consolidate, or ditch
• When it’s time to switch platforms—and when it’s not worth it
• My favorite ways to actually learn the tools you’re already paying for
• Why SOPs matter for scaling (and staying sane)

You don’t need more tech. You need smarter tech use. This episode is your permission slip to clean up your digital junk drawer and make your systems actually work for you.

Links:

SOP Template

Want help optimizing your tools? We’ve got you!

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast, your place for all things tech in your online business with solids. So General Biz Chat two. My name is Patty Meyer and I am the CEO and founder of Biz Magic, where my team and I support entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed by the backend tech of their business.

We create, implement, and teach the tweaks that help our clients make a bigger impact with less stress. Today we are diving into one of my favorite productivity and sanity saving topics. Optimizing the tools you're already using in your business, because if we're honest, most of us are probably drowning in tools, project management apps, schedulers, CRMs, email platforms, note taking tools.

15 logins you forgot the passwords to. Basically, because we all often have shiny object syndrome, we end up with like a junk drawer full of technology and tools that we're not necessarily using or that we're not necessarily using to the best of their abilities. So today we're gonna talk about how to take a good, honest look at your tools in your business.

Figure out what's working, what's just collecting dust and what you can optimize, consolidate, or throw away. Right? So let's get into it. So I'm gonna break this down into a few different steps for you to kind of optimize these tools. So step one is to start by auditing your tools. And I know this feels overwhelming.

Especially if you haven't really done this. So I do recommend doing what we're kind of looking at today, once a quarter or twice a year, because if you do this more regularly, this is going to be a much faster process as a whole. But it's okay for you to just get started now. So if you don't stop and look at the tools that you're using, you're probably bleeding time, money, and mental energy into them.

So if you can set aside. 30 minutes. 60 minutes, put it on the calendar because that's always the best way to make sure that it gets done. And list out every single tool that you're using in your business. Think of the big ones like your CRM or your project management tool, and even go down to like your Chrome extension tools or you know, every little thing that you're using.

Whether or not you're paying for it. So while we do wanna look at tools that are costing you money, we also just wanna look at tools you're using or tools that are just sitting there that you're not necessarily using. So once you kind of create this list, you wanna ask yourself, what is this tool's purpose in my business?

I actually using it regularly. Is it still the best fit for my needs? And is it doing its job or is it just. Sitting here collecting, you know, internet dust, you might actually end up shocked at how many tools you're paying for or you have installed or that are sitting there that you haven't used in month.

Right? So maybe you have seven different AI tools, you probably don't need them. Maybe you could get down to like two, right? So then step two is use it or lose it. So once you have gone through all of this and you've written down what they do, you wanna start making decisions. You wanna keep the tools that are working well and help you do your job better.

Think about the things that you're using all the time that you cannot live without in your business. You feel like if I didn't have that, I don't know what I would do. Right? Obviously those are keeps. So then you wanna think about optimization. What tools are there that you could be using more effectively?

You might only be scratching the surface on what some of these tools can do, right? Because maybe you got one tool because it did this one feature for you, but it may actually solve multiple other problems that other tools you're paying for also solve. So you wanna make sure that you're taking a look at what.

Features, every tool that you are using has to offer. And are you using them to the best of their ability? And could you, right? And you may still end up using tools that, um, only fit one purpose for you. And that's okay. Even if there are parts of it that you're not using. As long as you know that that's the case, I want you to at least see, okay, there are these other features, but actually I don't need them or.

I really like this one feature in this tool and this other tool that does these other things, right? So like just be conscious of the choice you're making. Then I want you to ditch tools that are outdated, overlapping with others, or not serving your current goals. And I recommend doing this, especially because sometimes we outgrow tools.

Just because you started using a tool when you first started your business doesn't mean it still fits to where your business has grown, whether it's just. The way that you're serving clients, whether it's you have additional team members, it your, your business changes, technology changes, your, uh, people that you're serving can change.

So just because you had a tool at one point that worked for you doesn't necessarily mean it's still working for you. So you really do wanna think about what you're using and be okay letting go of something that might not fit your needs any longer. Then step three is to consolidate where it makes sense.

So again, if you're using a platform for your CRM, A different one for your invoicing, a different one for your contracts, your scheduling, your email list, et cetera. You may want to look at platforms that combine some of those features without turning into a bloated nightmare of tech and money. Right? So like.

17 hats is obviously one of my favorites that I use where I do my invoicing, my contracts, they do have a scheduler. There are all-in-ones that do many of these things. I do have another podcast episode on that if you wanna hear my thoughts on an all-in-one. And while I think blanket, they don't fit well for everybody, there are some people that they do make sense for.

So if you can consolidate, then that's a great thing and do it. And as I mentioned in that last. Episode about all-in-Ones specialized tools often do better at one thing than an all-in-one platform may do. But if you're spending hours switching tabs, copying, pasting client info between platforms or explaining your tech stack to an OT member and a 45 minute voice note, it might be time to simplify.

So you wanna ask yourself, can one tool replace two or three others? Will this save me time without sacrificing functionality? Is the learning curve worth the switch? Because that's the other part of it too. It may not be something that's worth your time and energy to do to, to make a switch to a new platform, but it might, and that's a question that you wanna really ask yourself.

And if the answer is yes, then consolidate and you've saved yourself time and money and some automation. Step four, learn what you've got. If you aren't actually sure what all of your tools do, take some time to actually. Learn about them. I know it sounds crazy, right? But most platforms, they tend to have really great help, documentation, trainings or customer service and live chats, um, and they really wanna help you use their tool properly.

Because if you're using it, you'll stay with it and they'll have their money. So take a day or an hour or whatever it takes to dig into, especially some of your most used tools and figure out what exactly they're capable of. Some ways that you can do this, schedule an onboarding or audit call with a lot of these tools because they have them and they're happy to get on and talk through this stuff with you.

Right. Watch a YouTube tutorial or take a free mini course on that platform. The great thing is that it will show you how to utilize the tool better, but it's also likely going to give you some ideas of just how to. Structure some processes in your business a little bit differently. So that's really great too.

The other thing is you can read the FAQ sections or they have forums where other users are putting in information and question and answers. So these can be really great opportunities, uh, to learn about this. And you might discover that you've been manually doing something that your tool could automate with a couple of clicks.

And if you're not into DIY, then outsource this part. Hire a tech VA or a systems pro like base Magic who can help optimize these things for you. It's worth the investment really. It really is. It's worth either the investment to outsource it or or your time investment to move this forward. Step five.

Create standard operating procedures or SOPs. I've talked about SOPs before. We do have an SOP template that you can find on the website if you're interested in that. I'll also link to it here in the show notes, but once your tools are. Trimmed and optimized document how you use them. This is super important if you're planning to hire at some point, or even if you are doing an automation in the tool one time that you may not think you're gonna repeat, but you probably will at some point.

The other thing with this is that it's going to help you in the future when you come back and check your tools again, if you have some SOPs in place for how you use specific tools, then you can sit down and go, oh, cool. I see exactly how I use this tool because I've written it down so I know whether or not.

I'm still using it in this way, or if I even need to. So you could start with how to onboard a new client, how you publish a podcast episode, how you handle invoices and contracts. And once you do that, your systems aren't just in your head anymore and they become more scalable. So that's very exciting. So again, review it quarterly.

Put a recurring calendar reminder to audit your tools. Every three months, you will thank yourself, but at the very least. Twice a year. Again, be aware of shiny object syndrome. Don't adopt a tool just because it's trending or somebody that you trust swears by it. You really wanna stop and think about whether or not this tool serves your goals.

Pay annually whenever you can. If especially you love a tool, they usually. Give you deals and you save percentages if you save annually. Plus, you are gonna think about it a little bit, bit when it comes up for renewal next time, as opposed to just kind of blindly paying for it monthly. 'cause you're gonna see a bigger bill come and you're gonna stop and go, oh wait, what is this?

And. Do I need this right? So paying annually is really helpful for things, um, cancel trials before you forget. So feel free to try things out. I always recommend that utilize trials whenever you can, but remember to set a reminder as soon as you start your free trial. For when that trial ends so that you don't get stuck paying for something that you forget about because you didn't use it or didn't, or you signed up for the trial and then actually never did anything.

No judgment. I have been there and done that many times. So that's pretty much it. Optimization it. It isn't about hustling harder or trying to buy fancy software. It's about trying to work smarter with what you already have. It's cleaning out that digital drunk drawer, right? Streamlining where you can, making your tools work for you.

And not the other way around. If you resonate with any of this, take a small action today. Pick one tool to review, optimize, or ditch. Or even smaller than that, just put a review date on your calendar and then maybe actually do it when you get there. So, um, if you liked what you heard today, please share it.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to me at patty@bizmagic.co. Or you can comment in places where comments are allowed depending on where you're listening to this. And, uh, I will talk to you next time.

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast. Like most small businesses and podcasts, we rely heavily on word of mouth. So if you like what you heard today or in any episode, please share with your friends and colleagues. And rate, subscribe and comment on your favorite podcast platform.

Till next time, cheers to your magical biz success.