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Many small business owners face the challenge of wearing many hats – bookkeeper, marketing manager, customer service rep, social media manager. No matter what industry you’re in, the ability to get tasks done wherever, whenever will let you build a more organised, efficient and productive business.
These seven small business mobile apps are some of our favourites – allowing you to work effectively whether you’re at your desk, catching public transport or on the couch.
1. Square POS app
Square POS is a free point of sale app with everything you need to start, run and grow your business. With Square POS, you can accept and process touch-free payments, provide customer receipts, issue refunds, send and track invoices, and view your sales and inventory in real-time.
When paired with Square Reader, the Square POS app lets you accept tap-and-go payments via Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and EFTPOS chip cards wherever you are, with money transferred to your bank account as fast as the next day. Square POS is free to download with no setup or monthly charge – you only pay when you take a payment (a fee of 1.6% per transaction on Square Reader).
If your business needs more tailored POS solutions, it may also be worth looking into Square for Retail and Square for Restaurants.
2. Xero app
One of Australia’s most popular accounting software platforms, Xero has plenty of time-saving tools to help you grow your business. The Xero platform app allows small business owners to handle their finances on the go with confidence – manage invoices, reconcile transactions and monitor their cash flow, wherever they are.
Xero is a subscription-based service that integrates with Square, allowing you to sync your sales with your accounting software automatically.
3. Zoom app
Zoom has quickly become a business must-have with COVID-19 changing the way we work in 2000 – global daily users have increased from 10 million to more than 300 million. Zoom makes it easy to host video meetings and webinars from anywhere on your Apple or Android device.
If you’re a small business, Zoom’s basic plan – which is free – may be enough to meet your needs. It lets you host unlimited meetings with up to 100 participants, but your calls will be capped at 40 minutes. If you need more flexibility or to record your meetings, it may be worth looking into the latest pricing for Zoom’s paid plans.
4. MailChimp app
MailChimp is a popular integrated marketing platform for small businesses. With the MailChimp app on your smartphone or tablet, you can manage your business’s email marketing strategy anywhere, anytime. Create mailing lists, send marketing campaigns and build landing pages on the go, supported by detailed reporting and analytics that let you track and better understand your sales and marketing performance.
MailChimp offers more than 250 app integrations, including an integration with Square that allows you to sell directly from MailChimp landing pages using Square’s flexible payment options.
5. Canva app
Canva makes graphic design accessible to the masses. You can create templates and designs for logos, business cards, flyers and invitations through to cover images, animated and video posts for social media platforms. Canva gives users access to more than 60,000 editable templates and 700 fonts, letting you create professional, customised design elements for your small business.
The Canva app is free, and there is the option to upgrade to Canva Pro for access to millions of photos and other advanced features.
6. Dropbox app
More than 500 million people and 200,000 businesses use Dropbox, the world’s most popular cloud storage and file sharing platform. The Dropbox app lets you upload and transfer files to the cloud and share them with anyone, regardless of where you – or they – are. With the Dropbox app on your smartphone, you’ll always have the latest version of any file you create.
Dropbox Basic is free and offers up to 2GB of storage, and Dropbox Business plans offer more storage and advanced team management features to make collaboration easy.
7. Acuity app
Using Acuity is like having a virtual assistant managing your schedule and appointments. Acuity lets your clients view your availability in real-time via social media, email or your website and book and manage appointments easily. Send customised reminder emails or SMS, and integrate Acquity with Square to accept a deposit or payment in full upfront.
If you’re finding there aren’t enough hours in the day, these mobile apps will help you to streamline, organise and automate the way your small business operates. With the ability to get things done 24/7 wherever you are, you can boost your productivity while ensuring you always have your finger on the pulse.
