The 8 Tools I Open Every Day (My Small Business Stack, With Links)
I've tried pretty much every tool made for small businesses. These are the 8 that survived, what each one actually does for me, and where to start with each.
I'm a self-proclaimed tech junkie and I've tried pretty much every tool made for small businesses. Most of them didn't stick. These 8 did, and the bar for every one of them is the same: it fits how I already work instead of asking me to work like someone else.
1. ClickUp is my project management tool and my longest relationship on this list, 5+ years across multiple businesses. Everything lives in there, and I mean everything: client work, content, and my personal life, so my assistant can pick up anything from the dog's vet records to my doctor's appointments. The reason it survives is flexibility; every brain on my team gets its own view of the same work. Start here: ClickUp 101.
2. Granola is my ride or die for meeting notes, and not just in meetings. There's a shortcut on my phone's lock screen so the 2am thought becomes a saved, searchable note instead of a lost one. Start here: Granola 101.
3. Claude is my bestie and roughly 80% of my day-to-day AI work: strategy, drafts, builds, analysis, all of it. Start here: Claude 101.
4. ChatGPT covers the other 20%. I find it better at certain jobs, and for me those are code reviews and design work. Start here: ChatGPT 101.
5. Wispr Flow is how words get out of my head. I'm a chatty Cathy, I talk instead of type all day, and dictating helps me process my thinking, not just record it. Start here: Wispr Flow 101.
6. Dia is my browser: a really slick setup with a different workspace per client, so logins and pinned tabs stay separate and my day stays clean. Start here: Dia 101.
7. Perplexity and Manus are a tie, and they're my research department. Perplexity for deep research that cites its sources (and lately, automating multi-step tasks). Manus for analysis and the bigger research projects. Start here: Perplexity 101 and Manus 101.
8. Superhuman is email I don't dread opening. Beautiful, minimal, keyboard shortcuts that make triage genuinely fast. Start here: Superhuman 101.
That's the whole stack. Notice what's missing: nothing exotic, nothing I keep paying for and never open. When I test a new tool (which is constantly), the question is whether it disappears into how I already work, and plenty of genuinely impressive tools fail that test. If it doesn't disappear, it doesn't make the dock.
FAQ
Which one should I start with if I'm new to AI? Claude plus Wispr Flow. A tool that thinks with you and a way to talk to it faster than you type. Everything else layers on.
Are any of these sponsored? No. Nobody on this list is paying me. (ClickUp, if you're reading this, hit your girl up.)
How often does this list change? I test constantly and the list changes rarely. The bar keeps most things out; the last permanent addition earned its spot over months, not days.
What about [tool you love]? Probably tried it! If it works for how your brain works, that IS the system working. This list is my answer, not the answer.
Draft notes (internal, strip before publish)
- Sourced from take 0013 and the July 14 newsletter. ClickUp standardized to "5+ years" (she said 5 in take 0012 and "at least six" in 0013).
- Per library convention: no pricing in body, vendors linked via the 101s. All eight 101 slugs assumed as /resources/[tool]-101; confirm at site build.
- The "hit your girl up" ClickUp line is hers from take 0012; kept because it doubles as a sponsorship signal she invited.
- Perplexity Computer named on camera; kept as "automating multi-step tasks" to stay evergreen if the product name shifts. Flag if she prefers naming it.
