Tools to Run Your Leatherworking Business
Running a leatherworking business involves managing custom orders, tracking inventory of hides and materials, communicating with clients about designs, and handling payments and invoices. The right software tools let you manage these tasks without hiring a full admin team. You don’t need expensive enterprise software—most leatherworkers can run their business with a combination of affordable, specialized tools designed for small makers and artisans.
Below is a breakdown of essential tool categories and specific recommendations for each area of your business.
Invoicing and Payments
Square Invoices lets you create and send professional invoices directly to clients, track payment status, and accept payments online. For leatherworking, this matters because many clients want to see a detailed invoice with photos of their custom piece before they commit to payment. Wave is a free alternative that handles invoicing and basic accounting; it’s solid if your order volume is under 50 per month and you want zero monthly fees. Stripe processes credit card payments on your website or through invoices and takes a 2.9% + 30¢ fee per transaction, making it ideal if you’re selling online and need reliable, fast payouts.
Order and Project Management
Leatherworking orders often have long timelines—sometimes 4–8 weeks from deposit to completion. You need a tool that tracks order status, client requests, and deadlines without becoming overwhelming. Asana lets you organize projects by order, assign tasks (cutting, dyeing, stitching, finishing), set deadlines, and give clients visibility into progress. Trello is simpler and free for small teams; create a board with columns like “Deposit Received,” “In Progress,” “Ready to Ship,” and move cards as orders advance. For a very small operation, Notion works as a database where you log each order with photos, client contact info, pricing, and timeline—it’s free and deeply customizable.
Scheduling and Booking
If you take custom orders and want clients to book consultations or fittings, a scheduling tool saves you from back-and-forth emails. Calendly syncs with your calendar and lets clients book 30-minute or 1-hour slots; you can set availability by day and time, and Calendly automatically sends reminders. Acuity Scheduling is more powerful and integrates payment collection, so a client can book a consultation and pay a deposit in one step. For most leatherworkers just starting out, Calendly is enough.
Business Communication
You’ll communicate with clients about design details, material choices, sizing, and project updates. Email alone gets chaotic when you have multiple orders in flight. Gmail with labels and filters is free and works if you’re disciplined about organization. Slack is useful if you have employees or collaborate with other makers; it keeps project chat separate from client email. For client-facing communication, many leatherworkers use email templates in Gmail or Mailchimp to send updates (like “Your wallet is in the finishing stage and ships next week”) to multiple clients at once.
Accounting and Financial Tracking
You need to track income from orders, material expenses, and tool purchases for tax time. QuickBooks Self-Employed ($15/month) automatically categorizes income and expenses, tracks mileage, and generates quarterly tax estimates. Wave again appears here as a solid free option; it syncs with your bank account, categorizes transactions, and produces a simple profit-and-loss report. FreshBooks ($15–50/month depending on features) combines invoicing, expense tracking, and time tracking in one platform and is built for service-based businesses like yours.
Email Marketing and Client Follow-Up
Once you complete an order, you want that client to come back or refer friends. Email marketing tools let you send newsletters or special offers without spamming inboxes. Mailchimp is free for up to 500 contacts and 1,000 emails per month; you can send a monthly email about new leather colors you’re using or special commissions you’re taking. ConvertKit ($25/month) is geared toward makers and creators and includes customizable email templates. For most leatherworkers, Mailchimp is sufficient starting out.
Cloud Storage and File Organization
You’ll accumulate photos, design sketches, client contracts, and leather sample swatches. Cloud storage keeps everything accessible and backed up. Google Drive is free (15 GB) and lets you organize folders by client, year, and project type; it integrates easily with other Google tools. Dropbox ($11/month for 2 TB) is slightly more polished and syncs instantly across devices, useful if you photograph orders on your phone and need those images on your computer immediately.
Social Media and Marketing
Instagram and TikTok are critical for leatherworking because people want to see your work and process. Buffer ($15/month) schedules posts across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, so you can batch-create content (film a stitching video, schedule 4 posts) instead of posting daily. Later ($25/month) is similar and includes a visual planner so you can mock up your feed before posting. If you’re just starting, post natively (directly in the app) for free and revisit scheduling tools once you have a consistent posting rhythm.
Website and Online Store
Shopify ($39/month minimum) is built for selling online; you upload product photos, set prices, and take orders with built-in payment processing. Wix ($14–27/month) includes both a website builder and ecommerce, so you can show your portfolio and sell directly. Etsy charges 6.5% per order plus payment fees but handles all the traffic for you—ideal if you want visibility without building your own site. For custom work, a simple website with your portfolio, pricing, and contact form (built on Wix or Squarespace) often works better than a full store.
Time Tracking
If you take on multiple orders simultaneously, tracking how long each step takes helps you price future work accurately. Toggl Track is free for one user and lets you start a timer when you begin stitching, dyeing, or finishing; at the end of the month, you see exactly how many hours went into each order. This data is gold for calculating your real hourly rate and identifying bottlenecks.
Free vs Paid Tools
Start with free tools: Gmail, Calendly, Notion or Trello, Wave, Google Drive, and Toggl Track. These cover invoicing, order tracking, scheduling, accounting, storage, and time tracking without any monthly cost. Once you’re consistently receiving 10+ orders per month, upgrade strategically. Paid tools become worth it when they save you more time than they cost—for example, if scheduling software saves you 5 hours per month of back-and-forth emails, a $15/month tool pays for itself instantly.
Your first paid upgrades should be a payment processor (Stripe or Square, both essential) and a project management tool like Asana ($10–25/month per user). Avoid over-subscribing; many leatherworkers waste money on tools they don’t use. Test free versions first, then commit to paid upgrades only for categories where you feel the pain most acutely.
The Minimum Tech Stack to Launch
- Gmail (free) for client email and order communications.
- Wave (free) for invoicing and basic accounting.
- Stripe or Square for payment processing.
- Trello (free) or Notion (free) to track order status and timelines.
- Google Drive (free) to store client photos, contracts, and design notes.