As applications become more accessible and affordable, small businesses are relying on these resources to help them run their firm. From accounting to remote communication, data storage to data collection, here are 10 apps that can help you manage and grow your small business.
- Google Apps
Google offers pretty much everything you need to run your small business. Gmail, Google Drive and Google Docs cover most bases and are all user-friendly and affordable. In fact, each Google Apps for work user can store up to 30 GB for free.
- WordPress
Every business today needs a website to operate. In today’s digitally driven world, you almost don’t exist if you don’t have a website. A website doesn’t have to cost thousands of dollars. In fact, you can roll out a beautiful design template on a WordPress platform for just a few hundred dollars. WordPress isn’t technically an ‘app’, but is rather an open source content management platform that is optimized for search and is pretty much boundless in terms of its capabilities.
- Square
If you manage credit card transactions or own a retail operation, you should check out Square. It empowers anyone with a smartphone or tablet to accept credit card payments. No sign up fees or monthly costs – instead, Square claims 2.75% of every transaction.
- Evernote
Evernote is a wildly popular app that allows users to capture ideas as they present. You can store, organize and share photographs, audio recordings, text, website clippings – pretty much anything. All of your ideas are available at your fingertips for inspiration, when you need it.
- Skype
Skype lets you talk for free. Whether you need to communicate with remote employees, outsourced resources or customers, Skype is a seamless meeting app that provides you with video and audio access to all of your stakeholders in an instant.
- Dropbox
Dropbox provides easy, affordable storage, sharing and file management for all of your small business materials. When you save your documents to Dropbox, they are synced to your computer, phones, and other devices. Because everything is stored in the Cloud, documents are easy to access and retrieve.
- Asana
It’s easy to assign tasks and track team progress with Asana. This simple and streamlined tool facilitates collaboration and organization, and enhances efficiencies amongst teams. Projects are easier to manage and deliverables can be coordinated with greater ease.
- Hootsuite
If you have a presence on social media (which, let’s face it, every small business owner should have), then you should be using Hootsuite. It allows you to coordinate your social media effort across platforms in a thoughtful and strategic manner.
- Mailchimp
If you communicate via email with a large audience of prospective customers, then you should be using an automation tool to coordinate that effort. Mailchimp is a user friendly application that allows you to customize, automate and measure the impact of your email campaigns. Make sure that you are compliant with Canadian anti-spam legislation.
- Quickbooks
Quickbooks helps accountants to effortlessly access their clients’ entries and reports. Keep in mind that no application can take the place of an informed and skilled accountant, but Quickbooks goes a long way to keep your business finances in order.
Today, businesses can save time and money with the variety of applications available on the market. What small business applications do you find useful? Do you agree with our Top 10 list?
