What's the best planner for a small business owner?

Sarah and I are both mad for stationery - it's one of the very first things we bonded over. Our office cupboards are overflowing with beautiful notebooks, cards, pens in 37194 shades of pink and stickers... oh, the stickers! It's not just us, right?!

Running a small business, it's vital that we can keep on top of our to-do lists, when bills are due, products customers are waiting on, blog post ideas, goal planning, notes from our meetings that need following up on... you name it, we need to have it on hand.

I've always been a paper diary person too, preferring to see my weeks laid out ahead of me, and in the past I've gotten myself in muddles by using a separate diary and notebook for work stuff - invariably, I would have written notes to myself in my diary but then would take the notebook with me to meetings, and vice versa. 

But what does this all mean? That I was constantly hunting for the perfect, multi-purpose planner to keep all things Natural Supply Co in one place.

And I found it - oh boy, did I find it!

I think it was through Instagram that I first came across Canvast - or perhaps it was the Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine Facebook group (terrible name, great support) - but either way, I stumbled on to the Canvast planner and straight down the rabbit hole of reading every page of the website to see if this might really be the solution I needed.

It really didn't take much convincing, and I ordered two - one for Sarah, one for me.

Why is it the ultimate planner for small business owners?

I know, it's a big call - but I feel entitled to make it, because I really have tried a lot of options. I love the Canvast planner because:

• it has room for lists, like 'books to read', 'Instagram tags', 'podcasts to listen to' and 'places to eat'
• it has month-to-a-view pages as well as week-to-a-view pages; and it's a big planner, so there is lots of room for writing things on each day
• there is a double-page spread each month dedicated to goal planning, with room for notes, steps to get your goals done, and the date you want it done by. This has been a huge motivator for me, firstly to set goals each month and secondly to look back and tick them off, or check where I am up to in completing them
• there are pages for budgeting each month, and keeping on top of finances. I will admit it... this is where I need to do more work to get the most out of my planner!
• each week has a perforated To-Do list, which you can tear off and take with you or pop in the recycling once you've completed it. HANDY
• there is room for notes every month; I use these for meeting notes, which means everything is in one spot for me to keep track of. 

It's also funny - a bit swear-y (which I like!), it's motivating, and it has the perfect colour palette for my taste; black, white and Natural Supply Co pink! It also comes with a matching drawstring bag to protect it, which I use to carry around a nice pen alongside my Canvast, so I am never caught without. I can also add any documents from meetings, to keep everything in one spot.

I am already excited to get a fresh new Canvast for 2020 - a new slate to start planning again (and hopefully with neater hand writing next time around!) but I know that one thing is for sure... this is a planner I will be using for years to come.

One thing I want to clarify before I go - this is not a sponsored post. I paid for our Canvasts, and I genuinely love it. At Natural Supply Co, we are all about supporting other small businesses, and I wanted to share this fab Aussie product with you because it has really helped me in my business. Just so you know this is a genuine recommendation!

If you're interested, you can find out more about Canvast planners here.

Are you a paper planner person, or do you prefer digital? Have you tried out a Canvast? I'd love to hear from you below. Lest x