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Hi there Bonsai payments itself as an all-in-one freelancing answer for the world’s finest inventive freelancers (truly, their identify is just Bonsai, however their web site is HelloBonsai.com).
However with so many freelancer invoicing apps or different productiveness instruments on the market for freelancers lately, it begs the query:
Is Hi there Bonsai a great match for you as a freelancer?
On this in-depth Hi there Bonsai assessment, I’ll dive into the great, the unhealthy, and the “simply okay” concerning the platform that claims it’ll enable you to “put your freelancing on autopilot.” I’ll additionally embody just a few voices and opinions from the freelance group—actual freelancers who’ve used Hi there Bonsai to run their freelance enterprise.
By the top of this Hi there Bonsai assessment, you’ll know whether or not or not it’s a great match for you and in case you ought to join Bonsai or not.
In full transparency, we’re an affiliate accomplice with Bonsai. I’ve executed my finest to not let this affect my assessment beneath and, to maintain issues fully balanced, we’re additionally affiliate companions with a bunch of Bonsai opponents. Should you click on a Bonsai (or competitor) hyperlink on this article, we might obtain a small fee at no additional value to you.
The brief reply: must you use Bonsai?
In case you are brief on time or don’t need to get into all the main points of this Hi there Bonsai assessment, then I can let you know proper now whether or not or not you need to use the Bonsai freelance suite:
YES: Should you’re a freelancer with a reasonably easy enterprise, not loads of over-complicated tasks, and a modest finances, then you possibly can attempt Bonsai fully free utilizing this hyperlink.
NO: Should you’re an company with a number of sophisticated tasks all working on the identical time otherwise you’re a freelancer hoping to massively develop, then you need to attempt one other invoicing app. (My prime suggestions are on the backside of this put up.)
For many who desire a extra complete assessment of the Bonsai app, right here we go:
What’s Hi there Bonsai?
Earlier than we go too deep into the Hi there Bonsai app, let’s discuss precisely what it’s and why it exists.
In an interview with Hacker Midday, Bonsai’s founder Matt Brown defined the freelance software was constructed to “deal with the issues that freelancers don’t like doing or don’t know the way to do, to allow them to give attention to the work they love and nonetheless receives a commission.
“Which means,” Matt continued, “we streamline proposals, contracts, time monitoring, invoices, bills, and accounting designed particularly for digital freelancers.”
So what’s Hi there Bonsai? Is a software (software or suite of instruments) whose goal is that can assist you run your freelance enterprise extra effectively.
Reviewing Bonsai’s High Options
With that intro, let’s dive into the complete Hi there Bonsai function assessment. From what I can see, Hi there Bonsai began by first providing primarily two instruments: Contracts and Funds.
Since then, they’ve added a whole suite of sources for freelancers who need to run their enterprise on autopilot.
The Bonsai freelance options which we are going to assessment beneath embody:
Bonsai Proposals
It’s no surprise the HelloBonsai web site lists proposals first of their listing of options. I’ve seemed carefully at a LOT of freelancer instruments and never a lot of them do proposals justice just like the Hi there Bonsai app does.
Positive, there’s the stuff you count on: add all the main points of the proposal, customise with photos and your emblem, and so on.
However as soon as the proposal is completed, that is the place Bonsai shines.
Inside your proposal, you possibly can create varied packages for shoppers to choose from to extend your revenue by upselling.
The Hi there Bonsai app may also notify you as soon as your shopper has considered your proposal so that you’re not sweating it out checking your e mail each 5 minutes to see in the event that they reply (I do know you’ve been there too).
As soon as your shopper does have a look proper throughout the Bonsai app, they’ll approve the proposal with one click on and also you’re able to go!
For extra about Bonsai Proposals, go to the HelloBonsai web site.
Contracts with Hi there Bonsai
Along with dealing with proposals extraordinarily nicely, Hi there Bonsai has a nice interface for freelance contracts.
To begin with, they’ve pre-vetted authorized templates on your contracts which implies you don’t have to rent a lawyer and incur that additional value.
Rating.
Secondly, all you need to do is enter all of your firm and mission data and, like magic, the Hi there Bonsai app will generate a well-written, skilled contract for you so that you don’t have to fret about writing in legalese.
Since Hi there Bonsai is obtainable from any gadget which means you possibly can create, edit or signal these contracts irrespective of the place you’re or what you’re in the midst of.
The good function of all of it? As soon as the shopper contract is signed throughout the Hi there Bonsai app, they auto-generate any invoices you’ll want for the mission and queue them up.
That’s most likely why the HelloBonsai web site boasts {that a} Bonsai freelancer sometimes will get paid 13x quicker.
Study extra about how Bonsai contracts work right here.
Time-tracking utilizing Bonsai
For a lot of freelancers, monitoring our time is essential—significantly in case you have a number of shoppers and a number of tasks all taking place without delay.
And whereas there are many freelance time-tracking apps in the marketplace, it makes far more sense to make use of a time tracker that integrates along with your invoicing software.
It simply makes every part way more computerized.
Should you resolve to go together with Hi there Bonsai on your invoicing software, you’ll additionally get time-tracking inbuilt. Win-win.
With the Hi there Bonsai time-tracking software, you possibly can observe your hours with a single click on. Or if wanted, you possibly can enter your time manually.
Bonsai may also enable you to ship actually fast invoices based mostly in your unpaid hours. So in case you have 70 hours constructed up below one shopper and also you haven’t despatched an bill but, all it takes is a fast assessment and you may submit these hours to be paid.
Study extra about Bonsai’s time-tracking capabilities right here.
Hi there Bonsai Challenge Administration
Alas, right here’s the place the performance of Hi there Bonsai begins to fall only a bit brief.
I used to be excited to see what the Bonsai app might supply by way of mission administration. However once I actually began to look into it, I’m afraid there’s no actual mission administration facet to the Bonsai freelance suite.
Unhappy.
I used to be confused as a result of there’s this web page that calls itself “mission administration” however in case you look carefully, it’s referred to as “Challenge Administration Time Monitoring” after which goes on to speak all about time-tracking as a substitute of mission administration.
Diving into the app cleared it up only a bit. Principally, while you click on on a mission, you possibly can see a fundamental overview of the mission itself which is absolutely slick.
From there, you possibly can add duties to every mission, see what number of hours you’ve spent and billed on every mission, assessment notes, and so on. It’s truly fairly good.
The place Hi there Bonsai does fall brief is on the “managing a number of tasks collectively” entrance. There’s no kanban choice, no timeline choice, nothing like that. So actually, it’s extra of a process supervisor than a mission supervisor.
Should you like easy, sortable, filterable to-do lists, then Hi there Bonsai is an efficient match for you. If not, you might need to attempt a special choice from our listing of mission administration app for freelancers.
Bills with the Bonsai App
Expense monitoring is essential to your freelance enterprise since overspending can put you out of enterprise in a short time.
Plus, when tax season rolls round, you’ll want you had a pleasant itemized listing of bills you need to use for deductions and different functions.
With Hi there Bonsai, you are able to do some fundamental expense monitoring, however I’ve to say it falls a bit wanting another instruments I’ve used.
For starters, it doesn’t appear to have a receipt scanner—which isn’t an enormous deal for some individuals, however for others saves them from a shoebox stuffed with paper on the finish of every 12 months.
I additionally tried to attach my financial institution and it wasn’t accessible to attach. Whereas I half-expected this as a result of small measurement of my native credit score union, I simply need to say: FreshBooks (a prime Hi there Bonsai competitor) can hook up with my small financial institution.
Except you need to enter bills manually, this will not be one of the best software for you.
Study extra concerning the Bonsai freelance expense-tracking capabilities right here.
Bonsai Invoicing & Funds
This subsequent part is the place I anticipated Hi there Bonsai to completely shine. And so they didn’t disappoint: Bonsai Invoicing is so cool!
Right here’s why:
To begin with, the Hi there Bonsai app will auto-generate invoices for you based mostly on proposals or contracts you construct of their system. So, in actually seconds, you possibly can ship an bill to your shopper.
Within the “mission” tab I spoke about earlier, you additionally get notified when a shopper sees your bill and so they can let you recognize after they plan to pay it.
Plus, Hi there Bonsai routinely follows up with shoppers who neglect to pay their invoices (or deliberately delay cost) so that you simply don’t need to waste time following up each week.
That’s a load off.
Instantly from any Hi there Bonsai bill, your shopper pays utilizing the standard choices: PayPal, ACH, Credit score Card. After which: they’ll additionally pay utilizing Bitcoin. Good.
See why I like Bonsai’s invoicing options right here.
Recurring Funds with Hi there Bonsai
I like that Hi there Bonsai has embraced the tradition of recurring funds for freelancers by together with it of their invoicing software.
You probably have a shopper you need to invoice each month, for instance, you simply change their bill from “one-time cost” to “recurring” (or my private favourite “recurring with auto-pay”).
The Bonsai app will routinely ship your shopper their bill each month (and if it’s set to autopay, you get your cash straight away).
Very good.
You possibly can be taught extra about recurring funds right here.
Experiences accessible within the Hi there Bonsai App
I’m unhappy to say, that is additionally a piece the place Bonsai falls brief for freelancers. Whereas the Hi there Bonsai app does have some fundamental earnings/expense reporting for accounting functions, I actually want this data-driven firm had some cooler experiences.
For instance, wouldn’t or not it’s cool if I might see my common hourly wage over time? Ideally, that goes up.
Or if I might see the typical period of time it takes to get an bill paid from the time I ship to a shopper? Or the typical length of a mission in any given class or shopper folder?
That might be actually cool.
It’s not a deal-breaker, however I personally really feel like they might do a greater job with their freelance experiences.
Built-in scheduling for your enterprise
With Bonsai’s easy-to-use scheduler, remove reserving and appointments forwards and backwards and pay for one much less subscription.
You possibly can create your reserving web page, and arrange your web page for shoppers to choose a session and decide a time in response to your availabilities.
It takes only a few clicks on your shoppers to ebook you, reschedule their conferences, and even cancel.
You possibly can automate your scheduling administration and unlock time to focus in your work.
Banking options
Obtain, spend and save your earnings with Bonsai’s banking answer. Easy to arrange, with no minimums required, zero hidden charges, and FDIC insured as much as $250K.
- A brand new enterprise checking account in simply minutes. No admin headache, no financial institution appointments.
- Put your funds on auto-pilot by splitting your earnings into completely different buckets.
- Categorize your card’s spending and add receipts to simplify accounting.
It is a new function and it means that you can handle the funds of your enterprise from anyplace and pay along with your bodily card, digital card, and even Apple pockets.
Customized shopper varieties tailor-made to your enterprise
Accumulate and centralize your shopper data from consumption varieties to end-of-project surveys. Ship varieties to particular shoppers, on particular tasks, for particular use instances with ease.
With customizable area sorts, you possibly can create the proper type to suit your wants.
Standardize your end-to-end shopper course of by reusing the identical varieties for brand new tasks. These varieties work along with your shopper listing and tasks. Embed your lead seize type in your web site or ship surveys through Bonsai.
Bonsai comes with a ton of type templates. ❤️
Does it have extra options?
Sure, you learn that proper. For a similar worth, you could have much more, together with:
- CRM for freelancers – From prospect to mission and contract to cost, now you can handle every part multi functional place.
- Accounting software program – Hold a pulse on your enterprise funds with earnings experiences, expense monitoring, tax reminders, and extra.
- Not sufficient? – Try the full particulars right here below the “Product” tab
What actual freelancers say about Hi there Bonsai (Good and Dangerous)
Okay, sufficient about what I feel. What are different freelancers saying about Hi there Bonsai? I reached out to a couple giant communities of freelancers which I’m part of (together with Millo’s personal free FB group) and obtained some good responses.
Freelance designer and artist Amy Kumo shared this with me:
“I exploit it for my backend – a lot of my shoppers are hourly (non-retainer) and it’s straightforward to make use of the timer function and convert these hours straight into an bill.
“I additionally use their contract builder. The one time shoppers interface with it’s to pay invoices.
“I exploit Asana for my client-facing mission administration system in addition to my very own process supervisor for issues like content material constructing; I just like the simplicity of simply having duties inside tasks and that’s it, no bells and whistles.”
She appears to have seen the somewhat-lacking mission administration options as nicely however in contrast to me, it doesn’t appear to trouble her an excessive amount of.
And need to agree: changing these timer hours into invoices with one easy click on is tremendous superior.
Sam Ochoa has been researching freelancer instruments for his enterprise and, in his opinion, Bonsai appears to be like promising however has come up a bit brief:
“Bonsai has a tremendous look and feels nice for designers however they gave me some supply points and the white labelling is pricey to get and wasn’t truly white labelled so I kinda handed on them.”
József Juhász feels the identical manner: “I attempted it however discovered it missing in some areas aside from proposals.”
However freelance marketer Joey Berrios advised me he has used Hi there Bonsai for some time with none situation. He significantly enjoys “the templated proposals and contracts, in addition to a number of cost choices for shoppers.
“I used to battle with contracts as a result of I always altered them to suit the shopper.
With the built-in legalese, it makes it straightforward to create one thing with possibly 5 qualifying questions.”
Conclusion: must you join Hi there Bonsai?
In spite of everything of this speak, the true query nonetheless stays: must you join Hi there Bonsai? Is it one of the best freelancer software for you proper now?
Right here’s my take:
YES:
Should you’re a freelancer with a reasonably easy enterprise, not loads of over-complicated tasks, and a modest finances, then you possibly can attempt Bonsai fully free utilizing this hyperlink.
NO:
Should you’re an company with a number of sophisticated tasks all working on the identical time otherwise you’re a freelancer hoping to massively develop, then you need to attempt one other invoicing app. If you wish to attempt one thing else, you possibly can assessment my prime picks beneath:
Finest alternate options to the Hi there Bonsai App
If after studying this assessment you aren’t positive Bonsai is the fitting alternative for you, there are different high quality choices accessible on the market.
Listed here are simply three of my prime suggestions:
What did you resolve?
Should you made it this far by my Bonsai assessment, bravo. You’re an actual trooper. That was loads of data.
And I’d love to listen to what you in the end determined. Did you join Bonsai? Did you resolve to go together with a Bonsai different? Are you continue to investigating? Have extra questions?
Let’s chat in Millo’s free FB group! I can’t wait to listen to from you.
Hold the dialog going…
Over 10,000 of us are having day by day conversations over in our free Fb group and we might like to see you there. Be part of us!
Written by Preston Lee
Editor at Millo.co
Preston Lee is the founding father of Millo the place he and his workforce have been serving to freelancers thrive for over a decade. His recommendation has been featured by Entrepreneur, Inc, Forbes, Adobe, and lots of extra.
Reviewed & edited by Alex Skinner, at Millo.
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