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March 4, 2016

Top 10 must-have apps for business owners in 2016

Apps can transform the way you do business

Smart phones and mobile apps are now an essential part of our everyday working lives. In fact, it’s hard to imagine how we coped without them. They have become an invaluable tool for almost everything from collaborating with colleagues to teeing up travel arrangements.

So what are the must-have apps for busy business owners in 2016?

We’ve taken a look at the best apps currently available and have come up with our top ten ‘must-haves’ designed to make your day-to-day work life just that little bit easier.

1. Evernote – Take notes, do some competitor research, save things you find online, devise task lists, share and discuss documents with colleagues and sync everything between your phone and your computer. Once you have this handy app in your life, you’ll never look back!
2. WhatsApp – You may already use this app socially but it works extremely well for business too. We’ve found this is one of the smartest ways for team members to communicate and collaborate quickly, effectively and completely free of charge. In addition to basic messaging, users can create groups of up to 50 people and send each other unlimited images, video and audio messages. It’s ideal if you have staff working remotely or team members regularly on the move.
3. TripIt – Forget copying long customer IDs and boarding pass details, TripIt automatically creates an itinerary for you from forwarded hotel, airline, car rental and restaurant confirmation emails. Travel plans can be accessed at anytime – including offline. It also provides directions and maps, syncs with your Apple, Outlook or Google calendars and allows you to share your travel plans with colleagues and friends.
4. Boomerang – If you use Gmail, you’ll find this handy extension a god send www.boomeranggmail.com . It allows you to schedule emails to be sent in the future when it’s more convenient, automate follow-up emails, remind you when someone doesn’t reply so you never forget to follow up contacts or leads and it will even take important messages out of your in-box until you need them.
5. Xero – You can use Xero’s mobile app to manage your business while you’re on the move as it lets you use your iPhone or mobile device to scan receipts and then automatically send the receipt to your accounts. The Xero app also enables you to send invoices and chase outstanding payments anywhere at any time – on your iPhone, iPad or Android smart phone.
6. Box – Allows you to safely access share and edit confidential files with customers and colleagues when out of the office, all done securely using cloud storage. With this handy app you can work productively from anywhere without the need to come back to the office. If you are worried about security, using Box as your secure content platform keeps sensitive documents out of email.
7. iZettle – This app is an affordable solution for entrepreneurs, sole traders and small businesses to get started with accepting card payments. Similar to more traditional point of sale systems, the iZettle platform is a credit and debit ‘chip and PIN’ card machine. Two models are available, a free ‘lite’ version and a more advanced, contactless card reader which has competitive charges that reduce with increased monthly use.
8. Roambi Analytics – Spreadsheets are essential for business but they don’t always display information in the most presentable or client-friendly way. Roambi Analytics allows you to take data from Microsoft Excel, Google Spreadsheets, Box, databases, and a number of other sources and convert them into colourful charts and diagrams.
9. GetFeedback – Delivering great customer service is vital if you are to grow your business. GetFeedback is built to help you create engaging online client surveys that display perfectly on smart phones, tablets and browsers.
10. Skype – It’s an ‘old’, tried and tested favourite but its widespread use makes it a must for business owners everywhere. You can instantly communicate with your team members and customers in a one-to-one capacity and it supports video and voice calls as well as instant messaging. Skype also now offers free conference calling for anyone with a Skype account while competitor apps such as GoToMeeting have an upfront charge.

There’s a huge amount of business-related apps out there. We’d love to hear from you if you have any apps you couldn’t live without to help your business run smoothly. Email us with your suggestions.