Guest Article
Having your own business and being your own boss is a huge accomplishment. The mere fact that you have opted for a more challenging path to build a business is something to already be proud of. As many of us are running businesses on the go, it’s has become really important to stay up on the latest technology that will allow you to respond to customer and close business from anywhere. So, if you are looking for ways to leverage your smartphone as you manage your business, there is a huge range of smartphone apps intended to make running and growing a business much easier. Fortunately, there are solutions that can help you manage your life and your business as your enterprise grows. Here are a few smartphone apps for busy small business owners.
1. Slack
This is a messaging app that does so much more than let you and your workers communicate with each other. You can share files and reports on this app because you can link it to Google Drive. Collaborating on work is made easy through this app and you can download it for free.
Another advantage Slack can provide is it will allow you to easily keep tabs on your workers and check on the progress they are making with their tasks.
2. Hours
This is one of the most highly recommended productivity apps for smartphones. It tracks the time you spend on tasks versus the time you spend on non-work related activities. By the end of your workweek, the app will provide you a report which you can use to determine how you can make smarter use of your work hours.
3. Evernote
This note-taking app will help you keep a record of the many ideas you come up with for your business. Whenever a new idea pops into your head, you can quickly jot it down on Evernote for future reference.
4. Trello
This project management app will allow you and your workers to organize all your tasks or assignments in a highly efficient manner. You just create cards for your tasks and put them in respective categories or boards that indicate what needs to be done. For example, a blog post has to be created for your website. You put the task card for the blog post on the To-Do board. And when you are done writing the blog post, you move it to the Checking board so the editor can do his or her job. All in all, Trello keeps tasks organized so people who are assigned to accomplish the tasks can get around to each of them in a timely manner. With this app, you can ensure the productivity and progress of your operations.
5. All major social media apps
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube are crucial to have for marketing purposes, especially if you want to record video and pictures on the go. They make it easy for you to reach and enlarge your audience, promote your products or services, and interact closely with your followers or community. All these, social media sites can provide you valuable analytics to help you get to know your target audience and serve them better, and also gauge the performance of your content and marketing efforts.
6. Your business banking app
This will allow you to regularly check the financial standing of your business and personal accounts. You can see if checks have cleared or electronic payments have been received. You’ll also be alerted faster if there are questionable charges on your accounts. Why wait for a bank statement to be mailed to you?
7. Mint
This app is something that you can combine with your banking app because you can use this to manage your business financial resources. You can design a budget to present to your team that covers all your expenses but still have room for savings. But the best thing Mint does is it makes sure you are never late for your bill payments, which usually come with costly penalties. Mint automatically sends email and mobile alerts to remind you of when payments are due.
Running your business can be daunting, but with the help of these mobile solutions, you can become a highly effective boss. Leverage technology to communicate with your team, monitoring time, keep yourself and your team on task, track payments and keep you bills paid on time. If you are using apps for these things you can focus on building stronger better customer relationships.
About the Author
Azhar Abulhamayel is the Head of Marketing – National Segment and High Value at Zain KSA. The company was the first operator in the Middle East to commercially launch the 4G/LTE network. Zain serves +10M customers, has extended its network coverage to 94% of the population, and attracts thousands of new customers daily.
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