Separating humans from their smartphones is an impossible task. This creates an opportunity for small businesses to tap into to grow. There are many useful apps that can be used to implement and monitor many business processes and most of these apps are free.
We have listed below a few apps that can help your small business grow;
1. Enterprise-Specific Apps
These are business-specific apps that can be downloaded based on the type of business you do.
For example, if you are a trader, you can easily download an app such as VIX Index trading instead of using a laptop or a desktop to do the same.
With such apps you can leave your laptop behind as you can get some of your job done while on the move.
Apps like professional video and graphics editing apps as well custom apps that are customised to help you perform certain tasks more efficiently or to engage better with customers and potential customers fall in to this category.
2. Planner Apps:
While doing business you have to plan your entire week as there are a lot of activities that would require your attention whereas the time frame to execute is limited.
This is why planner apps are crucial for scheduling and time management. They can be used to schedule meeting and tasks for yourself, members of your team, or your employees.
Planning apps can be as simple as a calendar app, which is now built into most smartphones these days, or apps for creating and organising to-do lists.
Project management apps also fall into this category, since they help in planning and executing project of varying sizes for your small business.
3. Communication Apps:
In business, you will need to be in touch with representatives in various locations but for a small business to bear travel expenses would not be feasible and thankfully it is not necessary as there are so many communication apps in play store.
These apps will enable you easily communicate with your teams or employees as well as enable customers easily get in touch with your small business.
Communications can be done using text or multimedia messaging as well as video calls and conference calls.
Depending on the needs of your small businesses, you may consider communications app like Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, Telegram, Skype, etc.
4. Mobile Payment Apps:
These days it is all about cashless transactions which means you need not waste time in banks and utility offices, instead, download useful payment apps and make electronic payment.
Mobile Payment Apps like PayPal One Touch, Google Play, and Apple Pay can help you easily receive and make payment.
5. Project Management Apps:
Project management apps are planner apps, but are more versatile. They provide a centralised platform to enable you manage your teams.
Teams can communicate progress and collaborate via a project management app. These tools also enable clients keeps tabs on the progress of their projects. Monday.com and Asana are some cool project management apps to consider.
6. Automatic Social Media and Email Posting App:
To do effective digital marketing, you need to pre-plan your posts. You would be posting on different marketing channels. You can craft and schedule posts.
With tools like this your can schedule your post to be shared when your fans and followers are most active. That way you get more engagement on your post.
Some popular apps for scheduling social media posts include HootSuite, CoSchedule, and Buffer.
7. Analytics App:
It is one thing to engage in marketing, it is another to access the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. But, how do you know if your marketing is effective? Simple, download an analytics app to do the same.
There are apps like Buzzsumo to help you see how well your social media marketing is going. Apps like Facebook and Twitter also offer analytics to help you see how things are going.
If you own a business website or an online store, Google Analytics can help you see how well your website is doing. Diib is an app that combines data from Google Analytics and Facebook with artificial intelligence to offers useful insight on how to grow your business.
Analytics apps in general provides you with useful data that will help you determine which medium is giving best marketing results and which channel needs improvement.
8. Accounting Software
Keeping proper financial records is key for business success. An accounting software will help you keep proper records of your income and expenses.
Keeping proper financial records will make it easier to attract funding from investors or securing bank loans.
9. CRM Software
A CRM Software can help you manage your marketing and customer relationships. With a customer relationship management software you can better handle customer data and create a more personalised experience for your customers.
10. Invoicing Software
Keeping tabs with your invoices and payment is key if your small business will succeed. An invoicing software will help you track customers owing you for easy reminder. They can also come as part of your accounting software.
8. LinkedIn:
Apart from all the above apps, you also need to be updated about the latest trends in your business which can be done by using LinkedIn. Not only that, this app will connect you to people running a similar business which will give more insights into your industry.
Small businesses need to limit their expenditures which means limiting resources. While you cannot control expenditures on a few aspects of the business, why not limit spending on the areas which can be done for free using such apps? This will reduce the need for large investments, and you can utilize most of the capital in generating leads.
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