Operating a small business is no small feat.
You need to establish a name for yourself by generating leads, meet a myriad of goals, connect with bazillions of potential prospects, and a seemingly endless list of more to-do’s; all while trying to compete with larger-than-life corporate entities. Starting a business among already established corporate giants can feel a lot like the story of David and Goliath, yet you are unsure if it will end in the same way.
In order for the small-timers to fill David’s shoes and conquer those unconquerable foes, one must apply every tool, service, solution, tip, and trick that makes tangible sense for their business. And thanks to the wonderful age we live in, there is a bounty of options available to increase the odds of success. The problem is finding the best of the best.
Mobile devices have made it possible to run a business while on the go; a supreme luxury in today’s insanely fast-paced society. It is for that reason that we are going to check out 5 powerful business applications to help you conquer your Goliath and build your business into a top competitor.
#1: Workflow
This personal automation tool helps keep mundane and frivolous tasks at a minimum by acting on your behalf for the less than desirable duties at hand. Workflow ’s drag-and-drop interface makes creating various plans of action incredibly simple. The iOS compatible app can call an Uber for you to ensure you aren’t late for your next meeting, create PDF’s to be shared with clients, post images to Twitter to keep audiences engaged, and loads more essential tasks. Simply set the criteria for a certain action to take place, and once that condition has been met, Workflow will do the rest. Best of all is that Workflow integrates with various apps like Dropbox, Evernote, and Facebook, with over 200 actions that you can eliminate from your daily routine.
#2: Expensify
Starting a small business likely has you jetting from coast to coast trying to land deals. In that time, you are sure to rack of plenty of expenses that need to be tracked; that’s where Expensify comes in.
Expensify provides “expense reports that don’t suck” by allowing users to scan and organize receipts simply and easily. The app’s “smart” mode even fills in various fields like purchase amounts automatically. But it doesn’t just track receipts as users can record time, mileage, and other things as well. At the end of the trip, you will have a detailed expense report ready to go.
#3: Nintype
Emails are the foundation of corporate communications, which means that there are loads to shift through and respond to each and every day. When responding on a mobile device, keyboard size is sure to slow down the process. Nintype eliminates that sluggishness forever.
This app leverages various combinations of double taps and swipes to help users to type over 100 words per minute. Backspace slides, edge slide shortcuts, and a correction bar at the top makes sending emails from smaller screens a synch. If you prefer normal typing, however, Nintype accommodates that as well.
#4: Periscope
Live-streaming video is hotter than ever as everyone from Facebook to Google hoping in on the action. Periscope , however, is still one of the most powerful and popular applications for this type of video solution.
Periscope is an incredible tool for helping businesses gain awareness and notoriety through broadcasting live Q&A sessions, how-to tutorials, special offers, and more. Live streaming presents the gift of getting up close and personal with viewers to build authentic, meaningful relationships with audiences. An invaluable opportunity for those who are just starting out.
#5: Evernote Scannable
Evernote Scannable is the best thing since a smartphone when it comes to managing contacts and documents from a mobile device. Users can scan and digitally store everything from receipts to contracts, business cards, and pretty every other type of document you could possibly need. Plus, Evernote Scannable has tons of other useful features like pulling LinkedIn information for business cards that are scanned, sending documents via text and email, file exporting and conversion tools, and so much more.
Running a business is a really challenging undertaking; growing it is even harder. Let technology do the heavy lifting so you can enjoy the fruits of your labors. Go get ‘em.