As a small business owner, you are frequently pulled in multiple directions due to a constant change in your customer needs and requirements. Not only that, but you get to wear a lot of hats. You are at the same time an accountant, marketing manager, social media consultant, customer service specialist and the list goes on. All of this means that your time is very precious.
In order to maximize the productivity of your business and save time, you should embrace the latest technology and keep yourself informed about current trends. The more you automate tasks and streamline your processes the more productive and efficient your business will become. Being a small business owner, you are all over the place and most likely on the go a lot so managing your business just from your phone can be very tricky.
Fortunately, we are living in a time of virtual riches and mobile applications are reshaping the way we do business. They're vastly spread and more powerful than ever, and most importantly, they can help your business run smoothly.
To help you navigate through the endless sea of business apps, we assembled a list of our favorites ones.
QuickBooks Accounting
Quickbooks has been around for quite some time. The original release dated from the early 1980s. The latest version represents a cloud-based service which provides small business owners and freelancers a fully packed accounting and cash flow management service. A freelance option offers specific features specially designed for independent workers and self-employed consultants. In the app, you can also create invoices and view your profit and loss, as well as track sales, customers and review transactions and add them to accounting records all from your mobile device.
Dropbox
Dropbox is one of the best and most secure cloud storage services for sharing files that scales as your business grows. All of your files are easily accessible across various devices and you can sync, share and collaborate on the desired files with Dropbox for Business. It works seamlessly with apps like MS Word, Excel, Photoshop and Acrobat.
PDF Converter Ultimate
As we said earlier most entrepreneurs are constantly on the go, but at the same time, they have to deal with all kind of documents from various reports to plans and estimations. Since most of those documents are PDF file types it would be very hard to make some changes to them. With PDF Converter Ultimate you can convert those documents to more than 20 popular file formats for later editing with the appropriate app. The app can even convert scanned documents with great accuracy given that it is uses industry leading OCR engine. Beside files from your phone, you can convert files directly from Gmail, Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud and more.
Square Point of Sale
With Square Point of Sale, you can accept payments wherever your business is. You can basically turn any iOS and most Android devices into mobile POS terminal that accept mobile payments, credit and debit cards (even EMV chip ones). Besides that, customers can easily leave you tips, you can save payment details of your regular customers and you can manage your inventory, customer directories, and digital receipts. They promise that money will be on your account in two days or less. The app is free without any monthly fees, but they do charge a small fee of 2.75% for each transaction.
TripIt
TripIt app combines all your travel plans into one centralized master itinerary that is easily accessible any time on any device, no matter the website you bought your tickets on. You simply have to forward all emails related to your trip to TripIt and the app will do the rest. Weather reports, directions and departure times and delays can be all seen within the app.
* Guest Post *As you can see, there are countless mobile apps for small business owners that can prove to be very handy business tools. Our list is just the beginning and you should take into account that with right apps installed on your phone, sky is the limit. If you think your favorite apps are worth mentioning, please let us know in the comments below.
