{Image by The Sweet Light}

Today’s post is written by Ashlee McCullen.

Realizing your creative business dreams can be the thrill of a lifetime. But you know what else it is?

Hard work. Compliance. Accounting. Supplies and inventory.

While there’s so much to be said about planning a successful craft business, I’m going to dispense with that for now and get to some awesome free and cheap tools that can help you understand and more easily manage the essential (perhaps even “boring”) details.

Laying the Groundwork

• Craft, Inc. Business Diary: I’m going to start with an analog tool. The Craft Inc. Business Planner offers a good all-in-one reference for starting a crafting business. It’s the companion to the Craft Inc how-to guide. You’ll find tons of checklists so you won’ forget to register your business or be caught off guard by your operating costs.
• Enloop: Enloop offers a free, online planner for your business. Filling out its financial questions isn’t most people’s idea of a fun Saturday afternoon, but that’s almost the point. Perhaps you’ve never considered “How many days for accounts payable,” but you will now.
• MyCorporation: If you decide to form a corporation (the above resources can help you make that decision), this nifty online tool takes out much of the tedium and helps you avoid mistakes.

Managing Finances

• Freshbooks: Whether you’re selling on Etsy, at your local crafts fair, or all of these, you’ll want an efficient way to track your finances. Freshbooks is a godsend to anyone who’s ever had the misfortune of creating and filling out expense reports.
• Lemon: Be sure to save your receipts. Lemon (This site/resource is no longer available) makes it easier than ever. You can scan them into your smartphone or put them through a desktop scanner. Lemon does all the number-crunching and organizing for you, making tax season far less painful.

Buying Supplies

• Factory Direct Craft: If you’re going pro, you’ll want to consider saving money by purchasing wholesale from a provider like Factory Direct Craft. It’s not hard to meet the $250 threshold for its discount, but shop around and see what works for you.
• Arts and Crafts Coupons (This site/resource is no longer available): This is a simple, utilitarian app for Android that I’ve used before on my T-Mobile smartphone to find awesome steals. It’s a good resource if you’re running a small operation.

Reaching Out

• HootSuite: Hootsuite offers the best social media dashboard I’ve used for tracking keywords and mentions of accounts. Implement it to supercharge your online marketing, networking, and customer service.
• Constant Contact: Finally, don’t forget the awesome power of an e-mail marketing campaign. I personally recommend Constant Contact. It offers a good mix between ease-of-use and flexibility. You can get going whether or not you know e-mail protocols and HTML.
• Hover: If you’re creating a website, you can find good deals and customer service fromHover. Plus, you’ll be happy knowing no elephants were harmed in the creation of your web presence.

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Ashlee McCullen is a staff writer for Apron Addicts, a website about kitchen fashion and home style. She also writes about mobile technology and self-improvement. When she’s not writing, she takes care of her two small children, finds new ways to organize and decorate her home, and takes immense pride in her killer cheesecake brownies.