Tool Spotlight: Trello...Your Visual Workflow Sidekick

Running a small business means wearing a lot of hats, and sometimes juggling them all at once.

If you’ve ever thought “𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦…” or “𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣?”.....then this one’s for you.

Let’s talk about Trello, a simple, visual tool that uses Kanban boards. It can tidy up your systems, get your tasks out of your head, and give you a clear picture of what’s happening in your business.

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘿𝙤𝙚𝙨 “𝙆𝙖𝙣𝙗𝙖𝙣” 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙣?

Trello is built on the Kanban method (a Japanese word that means “visual signal”).

Essentially, it's like a digital whiteboard with sticky notes:

✔️ Boards are your big picture (like a project or business area).

✔️ Lists are the columns (for example: To Do → Doing → Done).

✔️ Cards are your sticky notes (the actual tasks you can move along as they progress).

It’s visual, flexible, and easy to understand at a glance, which is why it works so well for small businesses that need less chaos and more clarity.

𝙒𝙝𝙮 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙎𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝘽𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨

Trello is simple enough that you don’t need a manual to use it, but powerful enough to grow with you.

Here’s why it clicks:

✔️ Everything in one place, no more scattered notes, emails, or “mental to-do lists.”

✔️ Clear visibility, you can see exactly where tasks are at and what still needs doing.

✔️ Easy to customise, set it up to match your way of working, not the other way around.

✔️ Collaboration-friendly, perfect if you’ve got a VA, contractor, or small team working with you.

𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡-𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙀𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨

Here are a few ways Trello can make life easier:

✔️ 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸:  Track onboarding, proposals, and project steps so you never miss a deadline.

✔️ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴:Map out blogs, socials, or newsletters in a calendar-style board so you can see what’s coming up.

✔️ 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Assign tasks to staff or contractors and keep everything transparent without long email chains.

✔️ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝘂𝗺𝗽:  A place to throw all those “must remember to…” tasks so they’re captured and organised.

𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙄𝙨 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙁𝙤𝙧

Not every tool fits every business, but Trello really shines for:

✔️ Service-based business owners (coaches, consultants, designers, VAs) → Track projects, proposals, and onboarding with ease.

✔️ Content creators + marketers → Use it as a simple editorial calendar to plan and track what’s going live.

✔️ Small business owners with growing teams → Keep an eye on what’s happening without micromanaging.

✔️ Project-heavy businesses (event planners, agencies, creatives) → Break big jobs into smaller steps that feel achievable.

✔️ Overwhelmed solopreneurs → Get everything out of your head and into one clear, visual space.

𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝙈𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙞𝙩

Trello’s brilliant, but it’s not for everyone. You might find it frustrating if:

❓ You prefer spreadsheets or lists → If you’re a die-hard spreadsheet lover and like rows and formulas, Trello’s card-based layout might feel too “visual” and not structured enough.

❓ You need complex reporting or analytics → Trello is great for managing tasks, but it won’t give you deep reporting or number crunching out of the box.

❓ You want an all-in-one business tool → Trello manages tasks beautifully, but it doesn’t handle things like invoicing, time tracking, or CRM (you’ll need to connect it with other tools for that).

❓ You won’t keep it updated → Trello only works if you (and your team) actually use it. If you don’t log in regularly or move cards, it’ll quickly become out of date.

In other words, if you’re looking for simplicity, Trello is a winner. If you want a tool that does everything in one place or crunches data, you’ll need to look elsewhere.

𝘼 𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙎𝙚𝙩𝙪𝙥

Here’s the truth: Trello isn’t plug-and-play magic. It does take some thought and time to set up properly. If you just throw together random boards and lists, you’ll likely end up with clutter that doesn’t help you at all.

The trick is to map out your processes first, then build Trello around them.

That might mean:

➡️ Sketching your workflow on paper first.

➡️ Creating consistent names for boards, lists, and labels.

➡️ Blocking out a couple of hours up front to design a reusable template.

➡️ Tweaking as you go (because no system is perfect from day one).

The good news? Once it’s set up, Trello pays you back with clarity, structure, and a lot less mental load.

𝙏𝙞𝙥𝙨 & 𝙋𝙞𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨

𝙏𝙞𝙥𝙨:

✔️ Keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate your boards.

✔️ Use checklists inside cards for step-by-step tasks.

✔️ Try the calendar view if you’re deadline-driven.

𝙋𝙞𝙩𝙛𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙙:

✔️ Too many boards, things get messy fast.

✔️ Forgetting to maintain it. Trello only works if you actually use it.

✔️ Overloading it with “someday” tasks, keep it focused on what matters now.

How to Get Started (Simple Workflow You Can Try Today)

Here’s a mini workflow you can set up right now — 30 mins or less:

1. Create a board called “Weekly Tasks”.

2. Set three lists: “To Do”, “Doing”, “Done”.

3. Add your tasks for the week as cards in “To Do”.

4. Add a checklist inside each card (if tasks have steps).

5. Add due dates to priority items.

6. At the end of the week, drag finished cards to “Done” (or archive).

7. As you get comfortable, add one Power-Up (e.g., Calendar), then later add an automation (like when the card moves to Done, send yourself a summary at the week’s end).

Once you're comfortable, you can scale to client boards, team boards, templates, etc.

𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨

Trello isn’t about fancy features; it’s about giving you a simple system to run your business with less stress. Whether you’re a one-person show or growing a small team, it’s flexible enough to fit the way you work and keep you moving forward.

If you’ve been feeling like your admin or project management is a bit all over the place, Trello could be the tidy-up tool you need.