12 must-have apps and tools for busy entrepreneurs
Time management is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs struggle with. There are often many urgent tasks that must be accomplished within a set period of time, but there is seemingly not enough time in the day to tackle everything. After all, everything from conducting market research and collaborating with strategic partners to managing your finances and attending meetings requires your attention.
Today’s entrepreneurs who embrace technology can simplify their lives in many ways. Simplification could lead to saving your both time and money. There are easy-to-use apps that can assist you with financial management, productivity, customer service and more. So without further ado, here are 12 must-have apps for entrepreneurs that are worth taking the time to check out.
Pocket is a free app that is available for Apple and Android devices, and you can even use it in your web browser. When you come across something that you need to save for viewing or use later, you simply store it in your Pocket app. This prevents you from having to backtrack or duplicate efforts later when you need to find that important file, website, picture or something else.
Basecamp is available with a paid subscription and is accessible through most devices. It is a robust project management tool that lets you link chat messages, emails, schedules, lists, documents and more all in one place. This keeps you, your team and even your clients all on one page. Because all efforts are unified, you may have far fewer fires to put out or miscommunication issues.
Trello is a free collaborative tool that has a user-friendly dashboard interface. Everyone in your company will have their own dashboard with their specific projects, teams and calendars. Team members can link together to consolidate all documents and conversations for projects they are working on. This is an efficiency tool that lets your entire team work more productively, and it can help you to collaborate better with a remote work team as well.
Sending and receiving money can be a hassle for entrepreneurs as well as for your clients and customers. Wave is a user-friendly and secure app that is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Unlike some other funds transferring platforms, this sends funds within seconds, and the fees associated with transactions are much more affordable. You will not have to deal with billing and collections issues or high financial fees when you use this app.
This is an excellent tool that you can use to save time and add organization to your personal and professional life. Saving time and reducing stress in your personal life can trickle over to boosted productivity in your professional life. Through this platform, you can scan and save documents, such as business cards and even handwritten notes. These can be stored, shared and even found later with a fast search tool.
For entrepreneurs who struggle to produce cost-effective marketing in a timely manner, Mailchimp is an excellent resource that can help you to produce, deliver and refine your content with better results and in less time.
This robust application facilitates the creation of email marketing messages, integrates data for customer analysis benefits, automates the send process and even analyzes your results. This application has a free version, and more robust applications are available for a monthly fee.
Dropbox is a cloud-based file-sharing platform that lets you save time and stay more organized. It is available for one-man operations, and it allows you to save your files in one location and access them later from a different device.
In a team environment, it ensures that everyone on the team has access to the latest version of a file, and it eliminates redundant efforts. Multiple paid plans are available based on your needs, and the program can be used on a mobile device or on a computer.
When your team is out of the office frequently or when you have a remote team, Slack brings everyone together in an organized and collaborative manner. Communication is easy and focused through tailored messaging groups. Workflow is streamlined, and the efforts of the teams are transparent.
A basic free version is available for smaller and less robust needs. Two paid versions give you access to more substantial features, the ability to integrate external guests into a project, security features and more.
Social media marketing and account management is essential for small businesses because it helps you to find leads, establish relationships and more. Hootsuite has free and paid versions, and its many features are designed to help you monitor and manage your social media accounts in one location. It even has report generation functions.
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While there are many customer relationship management programs available, Salesforce is among the most established and robust. You can upload entire contact lists, sort leads, assign leads to different groups and more. Emails and files can be linked to specific contact profiles to keep you organized, and you can even log phone calls, set reminders and generate reports. This is a paid service with multiple subscription plans to choose from.
Skype has both personal and professional applications, and it gives you an easy way to communicate with your customers and contacts via your Internet connection. With Skype, you can eliminate the need to have a landline in some cases. You can set calls to ring through your computer when you are in the office and through your smartphone when you are away. You will never miss an important call. You can also use video chat features for a more personalized approach.
For professionals who struggle with time management, Toggl can help you to stay on track. This application monitors what is taking up your time each day, and it lets you easily track how long you spend on each task. With this information, you can take serious action to improve personal productivity. Toggl also has budgeting functions, and there are enterprise-level plans available for more robust time management needs in a larger company.
Each of these tools can improve your professional life dramatically in different ways. However, using too many tools may slow you down in some cases. Add one or two tools to your routine to get accustomed to their usage before you try any additional tools.