Kelly's Review of Bonsai

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Here’s a basic overview of of the top three things that lead me to select Bonsai to help run my business, and what attracted me to it.

PROS

  • Editable Contracts

  • Proposals

  • Invoices with payments (Venmo, Paypal, Credit Card, Bank Transfer (US))

  • Automatic late fee settings

  • Notifications, when clients view, files

  • Accounting (expenses + income)

  • Time tracker

  • Built for creative businesses and freelancers

CONS

  • Contracts are not fully customizable (I always like to have them reviewed)

  • No automatic Etransfer button for Canadians

  • US Company

 
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When starting my business there were a few things I knew that I wanted to have set up right away to keep things running as smooth as possible. Here are my top 3 favourite things about Bonsai:

  1. Proposal Templates: After working in different design agencies and designing proposals in Indesign for years I knew I wanted a much easier automated system. Bonsai allows you to set up different templates (Web Design, Branding, Strategy, Mini Brand package, etc) These are a great starting point when beginning to price out a project. Clients are then notified once the proposal is ready and you can set an expiration date so they know when these prices will expire.

    Additionally, I love the fact that I am notified when a client review the proposal and they are able to click “accept” right in the document itself letting me know that they are ready to move forward.

  2. Contracts: This was an area I was not familiar with when starting a business. All I knew was that I needed them and I wanted to make sure I was backed by a lawyer. Bonsai offers a ton of customizable templates that you are able to make your own to fit your business needs. These were a great starting point for me when getting into things. Creative contracts can be tricky because you are not always dealing with a tangible object.

    *Note: If you want to read more about the specifics that they offer here are more details.

  3. Invoices: Anyone else love sending Invoices because it means it’s time to collect your $$? As much as we love to send them it’s just another thing to keep track of. This is one thing I loved about Bonsai, once a client has accepted a proposal + contract the invoices are automatically created based on your pay structure and can be set up to be sent automatically or manually. Clients can then view the invoice and pay right through Bonsai.

Project Dashboard

 
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Additional Features

  • Manage your client directory

  • Project dashboard to keep everything in one place

  • Time tracking: This is a great tool if you bill hourly and it can be directly linked to your invoices if you wanted to share notes/entries with your clients

  • Money management

  • Tax help (US taxes only)

If you have any questions about how I use Bonsai to help run my business I would be happy to answer any questions!

Try a FREE month and let me know what you think!

xo Kelly
Co-Founder, Creative Roots Co.

 
Kelly Davidson