12 Best Apps Small-Business Owners should use in 2017

Small business owners are often pulled back in several directions due to the every changing requirement of customers. Being the owner of small business, you are not only in charge of daily operations, but must handle employee issues, payroll, and financial transactions, communicate with clients and so on. If you want to maximize the productivity of your business, you need to adopt latest technology and follow the current trends.

Today, mobile apps are ruling almost all the industries. There is hardly any industry or field where people do not use mobile apps to streamline the work. Mobile apps have the power of doing everything from managing day-to-day activities to handling the financial transactions. Here is the list of 12 best apps that every small business should use to enhance the productivity of their business.

 

1. 1. Slack

This is an amazing app in the category of communications with useful collaboration features and intuitive interface for your small business.  You will be able to use slack to its full potential by spending some time to figure out the best way to use app based on your business operations.

This app can streamline the way you collaborate with your team. There app gives you an opportunity to improve the productivity of your business by providing all those you need to communicate effectively with your team mates and clients.

 

2. 2. Quickbooks

Quickbooks allow business owners to access their cloud accounts from tablet and smartphones. Using this app, business owners can invoice their client from anywhere and get paid. This app includes features such as – creating invoices, estimates, seeing overdue invoice notifications etc.

Quickbooks is the bets app for business owners, as it helps them see who owes them money. Not only this, business owners can do business in multiple currencies.  It tracks the expenses and makes the business taxes much easier.

 

3. 3. Evernote

This app makes it easy for small business owners to keep everything together. Business owners can create notes and to-do lists, save photos, scan documents, save voice memos, share the documents and do many more. This app can sync notes across mobile and desktop devices with much ease.

Evernote app costs $12 per month per user and comes with a variety if administrative features. In short, Evernote changes the way the personal and professional projects are organized.

 

4. 4. Skype

This is a video conferencing app that hosts online meetings for all types of operating systems and devices, including iPads, tablets etc. This easy to setup app offers high-definition video and audio. It is free to download and can be used with much ease.

It features unified call history, landscape support, call records, call history list and many other improvements. You can even organize the contacts and send messages via app.  Stay on touch with the contacts through free messages, voice and video calls with Skype.

 

5. 5. PayPal

PayPal is the best app in the category of finance that allows business owners to send and receive money. This app makes it easier for small business owners to conduct business. Just download the app and pay directly with your phone.

Business owners can check the balance, transactions, deposit and withdraw funds anywhere and anytime.  The standard merchant plans for PayPal allow users to accept credit cards and PayPal on the site and in store. The pro plan comes with added features, but costs $30 per month.

 

6. 6. Clear

This app helps business owners organize their life. This is a to-do reminder app that helps users to focus on what matters most in their life. This easy to use app makes business owners more productive the instant they start using it.

The key features of this app include – iCloud sync, separate lists to get more organized, gesture based design and many more.

 

7. 7. Tripit

Tripit is a mobile app in the category of travel. This app consolidates travel plans into a single and master itinerary that can be accessed anytime and on any device, regardless of the online portal you are buying ticket from.

Business owners can forwards all their travel emails to Tripit and it will take care of the rest. It also provides real time information about flight delays, departure times, direction to airport, weather reports etc.

 

8. 8. Square

Square is a free mobile app that is perfect for small business owners. It help business owners save time by managing teams, viewing business analytics, tracking sales and inventory etc. The key features of this app include – recording cash, gift and other payment type, key in all major credit cards, track inventory in real time etc.

This app even connects to receipt printer, bar code scanner, cash drawer and kitchen ticket printer. Square offers a combination chip card reader that accepts mobile payments that costs 2.75% per transaction.

 

9. 9. Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the best apps for secure file sharing that scales your business, regardless of its size. Small business owners can share sync and collaborate with Dropbox for Business. This app works with common apps such as – Word, Excel, Acrobat and Photoshop. This app supports Android, Linux, Windows and Mac users instantly.

Drop box offers basic plan for individuals and pro plan for business owners. It also offers free trials on all devices and operating systems.

 

10. 10. Xero

Xero is an online accounting app that is designed to offer an enjoyable way for small businesses to manage its accounts. This app helps business owners import all the financial information into its database and link them to corresponding transaction. The slick dashboard of Xero allows you to get a complete picture of key accounts, upcoming bills, expenses report and pending invoices.

This app can boost the functionality of your operations by tracking the transactions effectively.

 

11. 11. Toggl

Toggl is the best app for business owners as it allows them to track time with much ease. The app syncs with the website and generates reports perfectly. This app is easy to use and flexible enough to modify times when the user forgets to turn it off.

The best thing about this app is that it will send reminders when you leave a task running for huge amount of time. This is a cloud based time tracking tool for accurate and transparent billing, employee time management and personal productivity.

 

12. 12. Google Drive

Google Drive is the best app for small business owners who want to access all their files from smartphone, tablet or computer. This app allows users to backup all their files including videos, photos, documents and related things.

The users can even invite others to view or edit the document and leave comments. The features of this app include – searching files by name and content, enabling offline file viewing, set sharing permission to view, comment and edit, share files and folders with others etc.

 

Conclusion

As you can see there are many mobile apps that small business owners can use to enhance their business operations. With the right combination of tools and apps, business owners can streamline their business process and save lot of time and money.

If you are using any other app that is worth mentioning in the list, please comment below.