When your business is growing, staying on top of everything can be difficult. Without proper organisation, things can get messy when approaching deadlines, making payments or figuring out where your next meeting is. When you can’t do these simple things on the run, it can end up costing your business. These 10 apps will help.
To help you keep on top of all these little details, here’s a list of 10 apps on my iPhone that help me run my business, that are available for any SMB to use. If you’re looking to update your website, edit an Excel file or find a customer in minutes – there are some smartphone apps that are simply must haves.
1. Mail:
This is an inbuilt app on the iPhone that keeps me up to date with all my emails. Getting overwhelmed by emails on a daily basis can be a big issue especially if you start to miss important emails. Organising multiple accounts separately allows me to check every email in each inbox – making it easy to stay on top of an email thread and download an attachment on the go.
2. DocumentstoGo – OfficeSuite:
This app allows you to create word documents right from your smartphone. You can access Word and Excel files, edit them and with the Premium app at a small monthly fee allows you to create PowerPoint files as well. You can upload to Google docs, Dropbox, Box.net, iDisk and SugarSync and open and edit files as well.
3. JotNot:
This little app allows you to use your smartphone camera to scan documents. Once you have created the image, you’re able to adjust or crop the sections you want, and then the image is processed to a higher quality. So, if you’re on the road and need to send a contract, a receipt or any other document in full colour, you can email them to other clients or your office.
4. LinkedIn:
This great little app logs you into your professional network. It allows you to instantly respond to messages and stay up to date with what’s happening around your professional network. This is a great way to stay in touch with your network and also share content from anywhere.
5. Skype:
This is an instant messaging tool I use to keep in touch with the office when I’m on the move. I can join group chats and send files to the team in the office – it’s a very handy app to check in with when you’re out on the road.
6. Trello:
This management app is designed to allow you to access projects, messages, to-do lists and much more. You can create multiple boards for different projects and across various teams in the office. In one glance, you’re able to instantly see what tasks are priority to move forward.
7. Dropbox:
Dropbox is an easy to use app that increases production time tenfold. It operates like any other folder on your computer but can be shared across the whole team, making it easily accessible for the team to upload, move or access different files or documents. Once items in the Dropbox are changed, it syncs the latest changes to any connected smartphones for easy access.
This is a great app for website owners and bloggers because it keeps track of traffic to your site. It also gives you a choice of creating 47 different reports, which are well-organised and easy to understand, as well as custom reports for several different accounts.
9. Evernote:
This little app does so much, and it’s free! It keeps track of your life for you and makes your tasks a little easier to remember. You can keep notes, voice memos, ideas and even photos all on your phone and easily transfer them to your desktop. It organises your ideas and business notes and works well with both PC and Mac.
Whether you’re using an Android or iPhone, or other smartphone device, most of the applications listed above will work for one or the other, or in many cases – both.
10. TripIt:
This little app can help those who travel extensively for business, storing itineraries for all of your travels, as well as details about airline e-tickets, hotels, meetings and auto rentals. It also includes travel maps for whatever city or state you are visiting, TripIt can even help you re-schedule a flight should it be canceled, and goes as far as finding the best alternative flight, prompting you to reschedule your hotel and car rentals as well.
This app also offers a ‘Pro’ version, which will allow you to have your own personal travel assistant, at a meager price per year.