Starting a business can be extremely demanding. There’s a constant need to multitask effectively to accomplish more in less time. You’ve to drive your business towards long-term sustainability, while ensuring that everyday operations are managed efficiently. Thankfully, plenty of amazing applications are available to make your phone your very own IT workstation.
With every passing day, technology is making things possible we never imagined. Managing finances, accessing emails on-the-go, making to-do lists, delegating tasks, mobile marketing and so much more is now possible with a simple touch on your smartphone.
Exclusive applications are designed keeping in mind young start-ups and small business owners. Recent statistics show that 71% of small business owners in the United Kingdom run most of their operations through mobile apps. This helps in bringing down the administration cost and scaling the business.
From the endless list of apps, here are 6 mobile applications that assist startups across industries in staying functional, connected and organized:
- PayPal
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: Free
Since its inception in 1998, PayPal has facilitated millions of businesses and consumers through transactions in billions of dollars. PayPal Here, the mobile payment system, was launched in 2012 and has been a delight for small business owners as it assists seamless monetary transactions and instant money deposits. It enables contactless payments from Maestro, Visa or MasterCard credit and debit cards for a small fee. The charge levied ranges between 1.5% and 2.75% of the total sales volume.
PayPal account services are compatible even with your smartwatch. The app charges no monthly fee, and allows you to send and receive electronic invoices, process checks, and perform other payment-related services. Keeping the growing number of small-scale businesses in mind, the brand has launched a complete range of Point- of-Sale (POS) solutions, with countertop charging stations and lockable iPad enclosures.
- Dropbox
Compatibility: Android and iOSPrice: Free and upgradable at extra cost
One of the most popular and trusted solutions for cloud storage, Dropbox allows you to store, share, and sync important business data through its seamless app. This amazing app has over 500 million users and is growing continuously since its launch in 2016. Dropbox app supports over a billion files that are uploaded on a daily basis, and these files can be accessed anywhere through laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
The app offers excellent security features such as the SSL encryption, mobile passcodes, and two-step authentication. Opt for its paid version to avail 1TB of cloud space at $8.25 per month, and enjoy unlimited cloud storage at $12.50 per month. The paid version also includes enhanced security features, and support for phone and email.
- Wave
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: Free with country-based charges for payroll and credit card processing
A no-fuss app, Wave offers a free platform for small businesses to manage accounting books and send invoices. If your business has less than 15 employees, Wave is your best option. It takes care of expense tracking, invoices, and scanning receipts. The app allows you to integrate services with PayPal as well.
Wave has over 2.5 million paid and free users all over the world. It aids in both, cash and accrual-based accounting and comes to users at a low cost as compared to the other apps in the same category.
- Google Drive
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: Limited free space, upgradable at extra cost
Straight from the mastermind workshop of Google, Drive comes to young startups and small business owners as a comprehensive system for data management. It allows you to create new documents, worksheets, presentations. You can edit and synchronize them with email, once you connect it to your Gmail account.
New businesses that sign up for the amazing Google Drive app have to pay $5 per user every month. The entire suite including Google Hangouts, Calendar, Drive, Gmail, and Google Docs comes to you with 24/7 customer support and is compatible with Microsoft Outlook along with other email clients.
- Trello
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: Free
Trello can make your life as a manager extremely easy. The app is a brilliant productivity tool, yet simple to use. Don’t assume it to be just a to-do list app. It’s a great help in planning projects and keeping tabs on every project at any given point, thus enhancing visibility across all departments.
You can create task cards board to distribute work and keep tabs on the progress, completion and deadlines of the project. Leave comments and keep your team up-to-date with the developments and announcements. The app also gives you a historical record of the actions and changes you’ve made in a particular project.
- Local Vox
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: Free
Enhancing the power of your business on social media just got easier. Local Vox allows you to publish and promote your services across all major social media platforms. It helps businesses in marketing themselves locally and expand their circle through the network of publishers, email newsletters, search, and also the company’s own website.
Local Vox app facilitates easy communication with the push of a single button and optimizes your ranking on Google and numerous local directories such as CitySearch, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, and more. The app creates a mobile website and allows to publish updates automatically. It offers monthly reports that enable owners to access productive business metrics.
Conclusion
From among the various great apps available for small businesses, the one you pick for your trade largely depends on the needs of your business. An assessment of the budget, and compatibility and usability vis-à-vis the application needs to be done carefully to select the best app to accentuate the growth of your business operations.
About the Author
Swati is a qualified dietitian at Practo. She has a Masters degree in Dietetics and Food Service Management. She is a strong believer in spreading the goodness of ‘nutrition through healthy eating’. As a responsible dietitian Swati examines her patients’ health history carefully before recommending any diet or workout regimen, because everybody has different requirements.