Phone Apps for Your Small Business

As mobile technologies have progressed, small businesses have benefited from being able to work out and about away from the office. This has been a vital lifeline for many small businesses whose work is site-based. Still, even if you do spend time in the office, phone apps now give you extra freedom to access what you need at the click of a button without navigating through endless web pages. So here are some phone apps for small businesses that could help you in your day-to-day life.

1. Office Software

Office type software is something that most small businesses will need, and Microsoft 365 remains the leading package of choice. Now it is completely portable and works on both Apple and Android devices, giving you access to everything you need, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneDrive. OneDrive is used to back up all of your data to the cloud, so you may not need that if you already use Dropbox or Google Drive; however, it’s a valuable option to have. 365 also includes Outlook, the online version rather than being through an app, and if you need access to Publisher or Database, you will have to use a PC to access these. Again, there are alternatives; if you have an iOS phone, you will be able to access the Apple version of the office, again each program is available as an app. They offer Pages instead of Word, Numbers instead of Excel and the standard mail programme enables you to integrate any email address. You can also back up to the cloud.

2. Accounting Apps

Another great thing about using apps is that you can send invoices and keep track of payments and expenses while on the go. If you already have invoicing software, for example, QuickBooks or Free Agent, you will probably find they have an app you can download and sign into your account. If you’re looking to get an accounting package, there are plenty to choose from, including FreshBooks, which is another cloud-based programme and is explicitly designed with a small business owner in mind. The app makes it easy to find precisely what you need, and you can integrate with other services as and when required, for example, WordPress, Mail Chimp, Zendesk and PayPal. It is a monthly subscription service, but the app itself is free to download, and you can take a 30 day or trial to see if it’s going to work for you. There are several different levels available, so you can customise what you pay a little bit, with the Lite version being the cheapest at just over 15 USD a month. This may well give you enough functionality as it includes invoices, time tracking, expenses, invoices and the ability to let your customers pay online as well as interacting with your banking service.

3. Project Management Software

Project management software is the perfect way to keep track of your work and ensure nothing gets missed. One of the best project management software packages available is asana, and this also has a perfect app that is intuitive and easy to use. Within the app, you can create all of your employees to directly assign jobs to them while you keep an overall eye on progress. It also enables to-do lists and reminders, so there is no danger of you failing to get things done on time, and each job has a notepad area where you can update details or add comments and instructions. There are also various reporting combinations to check who is due to be doing what and which projects they are assigned to. One of the great things about asana is that a lot of functionality is available in the free basic package. Still, if something is missing that you need, you can upgrade by paying a monthly premium to their Premier level.

4. Marketing Tools

Of course, we already know from personal use that all social media platforms are available as an app version. If you want to take your marketing to another level, something like a HubSpot marketing hub is an excellent idea. It offers not only content management and marketing tools but also sales and social media. It is a fully comprehensive package that means rather than coming in and out of different apps; you can run everything from the same space. You can control things like split testing as well as hosting your content and communicating with both your customers and the sales team. The analytics are brilliant, which means that you can track targets and goals. Once more, the company offers a free version of the software, and while this doesn’t include all of the functionality, it is plenty enough to see if you’re going to find it a valuable package for your business. The rest of the features are behind a paywall, but it could be worth releasing them depending on how you use it.

5. Gaming Apps

Finally, we think an equally important part of businesses is gaming apps. It is crucial that you are not just working 24/7. Studies have also shown that strategic gaming can be good for your brain and increase memory function and prevent decline as we age. There are certainly plenty of gaming apps available, including puzzles, crosswords, number games and more. So don’t forget to include these for your downtime to give your brain a bit of a rest.