If you’re a business owner, you’ll know how tough it is to turn leads into profits. It doesn’t matter what kind of industry you’re in – whether it’s running a multinational IT enterprise or startup – you’ll need help to get things moving as efficiently as possible.
Along with a handpicked team of skilled personnel, your choice of commercial hardware and software is crucial to success. The digital revolution dictates that you have to have key business processes available at the fingertips – and this is where productivity apps are an essential part of the savvy business owner’s toolkit.
Here are 8 of the best business apps in terms of features, functionality, and cost:
Monday.com
Monday.com is my top pick when it comes to task management. Its intuitive user interface and the wide range of integrations help you increase your productivity to a whole new level. When compared with Trello, Asana, and Mesitertask, Monday.com comes with premium features and support for all premium users. It is one of the best project management software.
HubSpot CRM
Effective customer relations management is at the heart of any business. Maximize your relationship with existing clients and the odds are you’ll attract dozens more through positive reviews and word of mouth.
With the HubSpot CRM app, you can set tasks, follow leads and conclude deals with a tap and swish of the fingers. You can also make notes, follow-up actions and store important business contacts in-app.
There is a host of handy communication features built-in:
- Reusable email templates make it a breeze to correspond with all the key players in your business network – from team members to demanding clients
- Real-time notifications ensure you’re always on top of your game
- If emails appear a bit impersonal you can always communicate with your clients via a quick call or live chat
HubSpot CRM is free to install at the Google Play store.
TMetric
Managing your time optimally can make the difference between business failure and business success. The TMetric app is a nifty time management tool that tracks employee activity, billable hours and project costs.
It’s the go-to guy in your pocket that allows you to pay your team members according to attendance and performance and guarantees workstreams and projects are completed well within time and budget.
The TMetric app has an intuitive interface and is free to install at the Android App Store.
FreshBooks
The FreshBooks app is the ideal invoicing and accounting solution for freelancers and small business owners. It’s an all-in-one accounting software package you can access on the fly.
The app allows you to track and record incoming payments and outgoing expenses, invoice clients and get paid quickly online. You can also store all your business conversations in one accessible place.
The FreshBooks accounting app is available at the Google Play store… and if you hurry, you can take advantage of a 30-day free trial.
Hootsuite
If the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are central to your marketing strategy – which, by the way, they really should be – then you know how tedious and time-consuming it can be to manage multiple social media accounts.
Enter Hootsuite, the agile social media management app that streamlines and simplifies the process of connecting with existing and prospective clients in the ever-increasing social media space.
With the Hootsuite app, you can schedule social media posts and tweets to be spent later in the day, publish and share photos and images simultaneously across multiple social networks and receive notifications every time your brand or selected keywords are mentioned in cyberspace.
It’s the kind of tool that will allow you to get your business brand up in lights on a platform that has more traffic than Lexington Avenue in New York!
The Hootsuite app is free for up to three social media accounts and is available to install right now at the Google Play store.
Dragon Anywhere
Dragon Anywhere allows you to dictate documents of any length… wherever you are. According to the developers, the app has a 99 percent accuracy rate.
If you do need to edit or change the contents of a document, you can do just that with a few taps of a button. The voice formatting feature allows you to select the words and sentences you want to amend or delete altogether.
You can add the personal touch to your correspondence by integrating custom words specific to yourself or the business or industry you’re in. When you’re done with the dictation you can import and export the content to cloud-based document sharing and note-taking tools and apps like DropBox and Evernote.
You can download the Dragon Anywhere app at the Google Play store and enjoy a one-week free trial.
Quip
The Quip app is a multifaceted document sharing and task list management tool that streamlines teamwork and collaboration in the business setting.
It allows multiple users to create, share and edit task lists, documents, spreadsheets, charts, graphs and slides in real-time – and chat and interact simultaneously.
Documents are automatically synced across all devices and can be imported from cloud-based services and apps like Box, Google Docs, Evernote and DropBox and exported to Microsoft Word and PDF.
The Quip app is free to install at the Android app store.
Pushbullet
Pushbullet is an award-winning notifications management app that allows you to share files and links across all devices.
This means you can view and manage text messages and notifications on your phone, tablet, laptop or PC via the app. It’s an easy way to get a handle of your communications on one user-friendly platform.
You can install the Pushbullet app for free at the Android app store.