Every entrepreneur and small business owner looks for ways to improve their productivity, drive revenue, and overall just make life easier. From doing the number crunching to scouting out the best credit card for business expenses, there’s a lot to take care of. Many turn to their smartphones for convenient and simple ways to make the most of their time – a wise decision. Smartphones and our proclivity to always being connected make the development of smart apps for business a naturally growing market. However, the iOS App store has over 1,000,000 apps (as of October 2013) and the Play Store has a similarly robust selection of 1,235,000 apps. Needless to say, finding the right ones to improve your business can certainly be like finding a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, you have purveyors of the web like myself who can filter out the noise and deliver you the gold! Check out these apps for small business owners…
Square
Take your entire store on the go and still accept credit card transactions with Square. Square offers retailers the ability to accept all major credit cards from their iOS devices including iPads and iPhones. The system charges a small fee of 2.75% of the swipe, and deposits the money into your account within 1 or 2 days.
Buffer
Every small business I have spoken to is looking for some advice on how to better manage their social media accounts. I always recommend Buffer. Buffer is a social media sharing aggregator that allows you to easily share content scheduled posts throughout the day. It is incredibly easy-to-use and one of the most effective ways to ‘focus’ on social media for a just little bit, while having you covered for the entire day.
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Google Drive
Despite Apple’s desire to make iCloud a competitor to Google Drive, they still fail by charging you for what Drive gives you free: storage space in the cloud. Google Drive is an incredibly easy tool that will enable you to access, edit, and save documents no matter where you are in the world.
DocuSign
I still see people printing off a PDF contract, signing it, and then faxing it back to the original person. What a waste of time! DocuSign allows you to securely sign your contracts with your touch screen (using your finger) and easily submit the signed document back to the person who needs it. It also has a sophisticated way to ensure you are the person signing. So these documents do hold up in court if it comes to that.
Wunderlist
Checklists are the backbone of the world economy, as well as the only way I remember to get milk when I run out. Wunderlist is the king of the castle. Wunderlist easily organizes your to-do lists into what is important to your career, your personal life, and your goals. The app is used by over 6 million people and is available on all devices.
TeamViewer
Remotely accessing your files is one thing, but have you ever needed to access your whole computer? TeamViewer has an app that allows you to remote access your computer from anywhere in the world. As long as your computer is turned on and has TeamViewer installed. The interface is simple and easy-to-use, and offers an incredible security system to prevent anyone else from ever accessing your computer.
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Wave App
These guys have your payrolls, invoices, and accounting all covered with their cloud-based integrated technology system. Geared towards small businesses (of about 9 employees or less), they’ve secured nearly $20 million in investments – so you know it’s an app that’s bound to work. No more lost invoices or forgotten payroll accounts with Wave.
What are some of your favourite apps for small business owners? Tweet us @ViewTheVibe.
