The Best Apps for Small Businesses

October 10, 2017

Running a small business can be incredibly rewarding, but along with it comes a lot of responsibility, and the demands for your time can be quite overwhelming at times. Because we are now living in a world that is technology driven, using apps to simplify your day-to-day operations will help you relax a bit and to be able to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Of the myriad of apps out there that can help you with productivity, delegating tasks and staying on top of your expenses etc, knowing which ones to choose to use will depend entirely on your business needs (and your own preferences). This is a little daunting, but don’t worry, we have cherry picked out a few firm favourites to make it much easier for you.

 

Managing the cash

Expensify is an expense reporting mobile app that’s designed with you and your accountant in mind. Receipts are uploaded using SmartScan and you can review expenses, reimburse employees and even close your books with it as it can connect direct to Quickbooks, Xero, Oracle, Sage and more.

 

It’s highly likely that you are (or your accountant is) already using QuickBooks. With cloud-based QuickBooks Online you can view customer information, send invoices, accept electronic signatures to approve estimates etc. all while on the go. Plus it integrates with your ABSA, FNB, Nedbank or Standard Bank account too. Starting from ±R60 a month, this is a must. If you are on a tight budget though, then Wave is the app for you – you can use it for invoicing, accounting, receipt scanning and more with no limits and no fees.

 

Streamlining productivity

Evernote has been around for a long time, but it’s certainly no relic. If used correctly, you won’t look back and with Evernote Business you will be able to share relevant content from notes, to collect research and manage individual and team projects all in (and from) one place.

 

If you have not heard of Slack, then you are behind the times as globally almost everyone is using it! Slack brings a team’s communication together within a shared workspace and the conversations are organised and accessible. If you want fewer meetings, less mail, video calling, screen sharing and a need to streamline workflows, then Slack is for you.

 

If you are looking for project management tools, then Trello or Asana could work for you. For the more visually inclined, Trello uses ‘boards’, with each board having a set of cards that represent tasks which are used to track a project’s progress or just to categorise things. Asana offers a basic version that’s free for up to 15 people and integrates with a number of different services including Evernote and Slack. To help you decide which one to go for, read a comparison here.

 

One or two of the above will be perfect to start with and when you’ve mastered those, you can see The 75 Best Apps for Small Business (The Ultimate List) for more.

You might need to start using Business Mobile Data as data costs could become quite expensive. Contact us today to find out more.