Let’s be honest for a second. If you’re an entrepreneur or a freelancer, chances are your to-do list never really ends. Emails at 7 a.m., client messages during lunch, invoices at 11 p.m. Been there. I remember answering a client Slack message from a noisy café in Lisbon, laptop balanced on my knees, thinking : “There has to be a better way.” That’s exactly where automation comes in. Not to replace you, but to give you some breathing room.
In fact, the first time I really dug into this topic, I ended up spending hours hopping between blogs, tools, and resources like https://entrepreneurrebelle.fr, trying to figure out what actually works in real life, not just on shiny landing pages. And yeah, some tools are overhyped. Others ? Total game changers.
The real goal of automation (spoiler : it’s not laziness)
People sometimes hear “automation” and think you’re trying to work less by doing nothing. Honestly, that’s not it. The real goal is consistency and mental space. Less friction. Fewer stupid mistakes. Like forgetting to send a follow-up email or manually creating the same invoice for the 50th time.
Automation is about letting software handle the boring, repetitive stuff, so you can focus on what actually brings in money. Or just finish your day before it gets dark outside. Sounds fair, right ?
Automation tools for client management and CRM
If you’re juggling clients, projects, and follow-ups in your head… that’s risky. Very risky.
HubSpot CRM is a solid starting point. The free version already does a lot : contact tracking, deal pipelines, email logging. I was surprised by how far you can go without paying a cent. For freelancers, it’s often more than enough.
Another option is Pipedrive. More visual, very sales-oriented. I find it slightly overkill if you have only a handful of clients, but if you’re closing deals every week, it’s reassuring to see everything laid out clearly.
Automating emails without sounding like a robot
Email automation scares people. “I don’t want to sound fake.” Fair point. But done right, it actually feels more human.
ActiveCampaign is powerful, maybe even too powerful at first. Automations, tagging, behavior tracking… it can feel overwhelming. But once you get past the learning curve, it’s scary efficient. I’ve seen open rates jump just because emails were sent at the right time, not because they were magical.
If you want something simpler, MailerLite is calmer. Cleaner interface, fewer options, but easier to set up in an afternoon. Sometimes simple wins.
Automating invoicing and payments (your future self will thank you)
Manually creating invoices is one of those tasks you don’t notice draining you… until you stop doing it.
Stripe is almost unavoidable for online payments. Subscriptions, recurring invoices, automatic receipts. It just works. I still remember the first month I didn’t have to chase payments manually. Relief.
For invoicing itself, tools like FreshBooks or QuickBooks can automate reminders, taxes, and reports. Are they fun ? No. Are they useful ? Absolutely.
Connecting everything together with no-code automation
This is where things get interesting.
Zapier is basically digital glue. New client signs a form ? Add them to your CRM, send a welcome email, create a task. All automatically. The first time you see a “Zap” run successfully, it’s weirdly satisfying.
Make (formerly Integromat) goes even deeper. More flexible, more visual, a bit more complex. I personally like it, but yeah, you need patience. If you enjoy tinkering, you’ll love it. If not, Zapier feels safer.
Scheduling and productivity automation
How many emails start with “When are you available ?” Too many.
Calendly solves that in five minutes. You send a link, people pick a slot, done. It syncs with your calendar, avoids double bookings, and saves hours every month. No exaggeration.
For task management, Notion deserves a mention. It’s not pure automation out of the box, but with templates and integrations, it becomes a powerful command center. I’ve seen entire businesses run from a single Notion dashboard. Slightly crazy. Slightly impressive.
So… which tools should you actually choose ?
Here’s the truth : you don’t need all of them. Start with one pain point. Payments. Emails. Scheduling. Fix that first.
Automation isn’t about building a complex system overnight. It’s about small wins that add up. One less manual task today, one less mental load tomorrow. And maybe, just maybe, a free evening once in a while.
If you’re an entrepreneur or freelancer, that alone is worth it.
