10 Apps Every Small Business Owner Should Have [Infographic]

Colette Cassidy http://allfinancetax.com 5m 1,211 #businessapps

The views of this article are the perspective of the author and may not be reflective of Confessions of the Professions.

Get These Must-Have Apps For Your Business!

Managing a small business is a career move that means you will need to be switched on almost 24/7, with a whole company’s future depending on your decisions and strategies. It takes a great deal of work ethic, self-belief, analytical skill and an ability to make tough decisions in order to succeed in business, even on a small-scale level. As well as having the necessary personality traits to make it as an entrepreneur, you also need to be able to master common business skills such as managing time, projects and staff.

You can make these important tasks so much easier through the use of a series of apps for such purposes. For example, Slack is great for communicating with team members, Asana helps you to track the progression of certain projects and IFTTT can even program one app to instigate action in another, providing a magnificent multi-tasking facility.

The people at All Finance Tax have created this really useful infographic which features a few of the best apps for small business owners, sub-dividing them into categories such as time management and keeping organized. If you run a small business and you haven’t added some of these apps to your collection, get to iTunes or the Play Store and download them right away! You’ll more than likely notice their impact right away.

Check out the full list below.

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10 APPS Every Small Business Owner Should Have

If you own a small business, you will know all too well that time is a precious commodity as you consistently try to juggle numerous important tasks. This selection of magnificent apps will help you with essential activities such as communicating with team members, tracking time, and keeping organised.

APPS FOR TEAM COMMUNICATIONS

Skype for Business

Available on iOS, Android

Skype doesn’t really need any introduction – for many business owners, it is the first port of call for video conferencing, VoIP calls, and instant messaging. Skype for Business integrates with Microsoft Office and allows you to stage a call with up to 250 people.

Features

• Hold online video meetings, messaging & calls with up to 250 people simultaneously
• Transfer files during the course of a meeting or conversation
• Share your video & view speaker’s video during a conference
• Control a meeting by adding, muting, or removing attendees
• View upcoming meetings & join with 1 click

Cost £1.79 ($2) a month, additional features available for £4.93 ($5.50) a month

Slack

Available on iOS, Android

Slack is a brilliant app for streamlining team communication. Conversations are sorted easily, file transfer is straightforward and it has been proven to reduce the need for time-consuming meetings.

Features

• Real-time messaging & file sharing for 1-to-1 group conversations
• Simple archiving to find information easily
• Integration with apps such as Dropbox, Google Drive & Twitter
• Instantly syncs across all devices
• Customise notifications so that you only get those that you need

Cost Free – can upgrade to a more advanced version for £6.20-£7.20 ($7-$8) a month

APPS FOR PAYMENTS

Paypal Here

Available on iOS, Android

Paypal is a great platform for paying staff, allowing you to connect a series of bank accounts for quick, easy transactions. This app also enables you to process cheques, electronic invoices, and payments from a customer’s existing Paypal account.

Features

• Full flexibility for making payments
• Accept credit card & debit card payments
• Track payments easily
• No long-term contracts
• Only pay 2.7% of transaction fee for each swipe, chip & pin for contractless transaction

Cost Free – Pro Plan with extra features is £26.91 ($30) a month

Square

Available on iOS, Android

This app uses a small, portable credit and debit card reader to make transactions quick and simple. It is especially convenient for businesses that rely heavily on point-of-sale purchases.

Features

• No Internet connection needed
• Text/email receipts
• Enable customers to leave a tip
• No monthly fee
• Sales transferred to your bank account within 1 working day
• Real-time inventory tracking
• Access to real-time sales data & full sales history

Cost Free

APPS FOR TIME MANAGEMENT

RescueTime

Available on Android

RescueTime keeps track of the amount of time you spend on applications and websites, reporting back with a detailed breakdown so that you can see exactly where your hours are going.

Features

• Accurate time tracking for all mobile apps
• Logs time spent on voice calls
• Logs time spent on a website
• Goal setting to help with meeting productivity targets
• Historical productivity reports to track progress
• Suggests way in which users can be more productive with their time

Cost Free

My Minutes

Available on iOS

My Minutes is ideal for business owners who struggle with keeping track of time. You can use it to set time limits for specific tasks and it will notify you when the time has elapsed.

Features

• Set minimum/maximum time periods for specific tasks
• Set tasks to repeat on specific times or days
• Receive notifications when time has elapsed, or when time targets are achieved
• View a weekly track of how you’re progressing
• Keep motivated with a series of inspiring quotes!

Cost £14 ($15.65)

APPS FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Basecamp 3

Available on iOS, Android

If a team within your workplace is collaborating on one project, this app is a great way to share files and updates so that everyone on the team is kept in the loop about the progress being made.

Features

• Trade information easily & quickly between group members
• Scheduling for both project activities & non-project activities
• User-friendly interface
• Record all client & member feedback
• Instant messaging ‘pings’ for time-sensitive discussions

Cost Free

Asana

Available on iOS, Android

Asana is great for viewing a checklist of tasks in one window and quickly assigning workers to specific tasks. It can also be integrated with several other programs, including Google Drive and WordPress.

Features

• Easily add tasks & assign team members to tasks
• View due dates & progress of tasks
• Use conversations to communicate with team members & give feedback
• Customise inbox to only receive relevant notifications
• Upload large documents & files

Cost Free

APPS FOR KEEPING ORGANISED

Evernote

Available on iOS, Android

For business owners with a constant need to take notes for future reference, Evernote is a dream. You can save everything from Word documents to images, video, PDF files, and audio in one easily accessible place.

Features

• Saves files in a variety of formats to 1 place
• Scan physical documents to create soft copy files
• Sync to any computer or mobile device
• Work on 1 device & pick up where you left off from another
• Share documents & communicate with other users of the app
• Plan meetings or company events
• Set reminders & compile to-do lists

Cost Free – paid upgrade options available

IFTTT

Available on iOS, Android

IFTT (If this, then that) is a hugely convenient app which automates actions provided that certain conditions are met. For example, you can ask it to post all of your tweets to Facebook or even switch off some electrical items in the office when you set your Skype status to offline.

Features

• Use 1 app to instigate actions in another
• Compatibility with more than 200 apps
• Save time by prompting activities from 2 apps simultaneously
• Complete rudimentary yet essential tasks by collaborating between apps

Cost Free

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