10 Useful Mobile Apps for Small Businesses

10 Useful Mobile Apps for Small Businesses

When you own a small business, you’re looking to leverage every single free resource you can. In the coffee shop, you fill your bag with napkins. In the office, you often use your family members as slave labor. In the parking lot, you siphon gas from other people’s tanks.

Wait. Not that last one. (Sometimes, we confuse “free” with “stealing.”)

This is the Golden Age of free resources, though, because of all the free apps that are out there. The amount of extremely useful free apps we have access to now is staggering. In this article, we’re going to talk about ten of the best apps, including a bunch of free ones. (Some of these are services we actually would pay for, if we couldn’t get them for free. But we won’t tell the developers that. Now, where can we find that “restrict access to non-developers” button?)

1. Skype (Communication)

Unlimited free user-to-user calls and video conferencing! With Skype’s mobile app, you can connect your device to a Wi-Fi network, burn zero percent of your data plan, and chit chat with everyone from Chattanooga to China. For an upcharge, you can even call traditional phone numbers and get in touch with non-Skypers. Call quality can suffer sometimes, but the service is generally reliable.

2. Basecamp (Project Management)

With Basecamp, you can get your whole team on the same page, even if they live in different cities. You can assign tasks, track progress, load up documents, make shared notes, post pictures of pets, share calendar items, whatever. (Using Basecamp from your mobile device, you actually employ a browser, instead of launching a native app. They report that they spent a lot of time putting together a highly-functional mobile web version of their app, however, so you can rest easy.)

3. MailChimp (E-blast)

This app is great for businesses that need a way to manage newsletters and their email subscriber base, and who also want to track related data (who opens your messages, which links they click, login info for their bank accounts, etc.). MailChimp is also integrated with Facebook, so you can reach your adoring fans there with ease.

4. Dropbox (file sharing)

Load up a file to dropbox, and it automatically arrives at all other devices and computers you have connected. This is a great way to avoid sending people emails with 4 Terabyte attachments that crash the entire Internet. Please stop doing that.

5. GoToMyPC (Remote Access)

Need to access your work computer from outside the office? Then you need GoToMyPC (remember when we used spaces between words? Thosewerethedays.). The mobile app is great for situations where a client wants a document late at night, but drunk driving laws prevent you from making a trip back to the office to send it over.

6. OmniGraffle (Graphics)

OmniGraffle is an app for those who need to create really nice-looking presentations and other graphics (it’s a Mac thing, so you’ll need an iPhone or iPad). You get a lot out of this app, because there are tons of slick templates for various types of graphics. Trust us, it will be a huge improvement over your current ClipArt and paint program visuals. And we don’t care if your mother still puts them on the fridge - you need to Bring It now that you’re all grown up!

7. Evernote (Digital Post-Its)

Jot stuff down and share it easily. Evernote has similar features to Dropbox and Basecamp, mentioned above, but nothing beats it for those moments when you sit bolt upright in bed because a flying squirrel in your dream told you a great way to solve the company’s trucking and distribution issues.

8. Hootsuite (Social)

If you want to be the most social business out there, Hootsuite is a must. In one spot, you can manage the hell out of your brand’s social presence. Just don’t go overboard. Even the world’s most rabid fan doesn’t need a photostream of every shipment that leaves the warehouse. (Actually, now that I think of it, psycho Apple fans would probably love this. Gross.)

9. Mint (Financial Tracking)

Don’t be the last one to find out about your business’s impending bankruptcy - watch events unfold in real time with Mint! It’s designed for personal finances, but many small businesses will find it works well for their basic needs. And it’s a lot simpler than more intense programs like QuickBooks.

10. Pandora (Music)

Don’t forget the tunes! You didn’t start your own business so you could sit in a windowless room with nothing but the sound of typing to keep you company. Crank the ruckus for free with Pandora. Just make sure that Nas isn’t cursing in the background when you take a call (unless you’re trying to intimidate the caller).