Setting up a small business and running it successfully can be a tough ask. Entrepreneurs generally have to start off by themselves and need to handle everything from production to marketing, accounts, inventory management, logistics, and financial planning on their own. According to inc, successful entrepreneurs have the ability to stay focused on the job and are able to prioritize tasks and manage time effectively.
Given the volume of tasks that they need to oversee, it can be helpful to use the great variety of business productivity apps that allow the entrepreneur to stay on top of all the important tasks more easily and use the time saved to focus on business growth. Some of the best small business productivity apps detailed:
Asana
Asana is a very useful project management app that allows you to create projects, set the goals, and manage all the steps involved in the process. The app allows you to create different boards so that you can move tasks from one to another, as they are finished and also facilitates communication among the team members involved in each task via conversation threads. The app also builds in visualization tools for making better sense out of team calendars and project timelines.
A multi-faceted productivity tool, Asana empowers small business owners with the ability to manage all-important tasks using one single platform. It also provides easy integration with other business apps like Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, slack, etc. While a free version is available for download, the paid version with the full set of features and tools is priced at $9.99 per month following a free trial period.
Basecamp
Basecamp is projected as the universal solution to all business management issues. It provides communication tools that you can use to coordinate with your team members or engage in communicating throughout the company. You can set up different projects with each having their different sections so that you can manage the process better; you get a list of things to do, a message board, a task scheduler, a specific place to save and store all your files, as well as a chat provision for general communication with your team.
The app makes extensive use of threaded communication, which makes it very each for users to follow the progression of the individual subject or even the entire discussion with just a quick look. At $99 per month, it is more expensive than many other apps in the market, however, many users swear by its integrated features that enable it to deliver a better solution than its competitors do.
OneNote
Developed by Microsoft, One Note is ideal for small business owners who have the requirement for compiling voluminous information on multiple projects in one place. The notebook layout is easy to operate and very intuitive as it divides each project into sections that you can customize.
The app has a lot of nifty features that users will appreciate; for example, a note copied from an online source will automatically include the relevant URL for ease of referencing it later. The app is compatible with both smartphones and tablets with users having the convenience of being able to use a stylus to input data into the program. The app is free to use; however, you do need a subscription to Microsoft 365.
Tide
Tide is a free app that delivers soothing sounds to relax your mind and also keeps tabs on how long you are working and how long are the breaks. The app incorporates the Promodoro technique of time management that recommends working for half an hour and then resting for five minutes. The app helps your mind to remain fresh, focus better on the task at hand, and not fall prey to procrastination. You can also use Tide to help you to get sleep that is more restful.
Todoist
With Todoist, you can build a list of all the things that you have to do and then track them. The app makes it very easy to create a new task and log in under a project that has been already created or even create a new project. You can then assign the task to someone and set a time for it to be completed.
The main purpose of the app is to log in all the important tasks so that you do not need to remember about it until it needs to commence. The visualization tools that the app provides are quite impressive and allow you to track the progress of the tasks at a glance. The app does not provide advanced document management or messaging features that you can find in more advanced project management apps.
Freshbooks
This app provides a very simple way for small business owners to manage and monitor invoices. The app has a feature that lets you create professional-looking and customized invoices that match your business sector. Clients that need to be billed the same amount every month can be invoiced automatically. Very usefully, the app lets you accept credit card payments on your smartphone.
On the expense side, the app lets you organize and track expenses and create completely customized financial reports like balance sheets and profit and loss statements. The app works on both Android and iOS phones and is also compatible with desktops.
Slack
Slack provides a useful instant messaging platform that allows you to organize the conversations of your team members in different channels that may be either private or public. You can even message them directly if you so wish. The app has a simple drag-and-drop feature that allows you to share documents and images in the chat itself for easy access by the chat participants. The app allows unlimited users and automatically indexes and archives all messages, files, and notifications so that retrieval is very simple.
Conclusion
Small business productivity apps that come in a large variety to address different issues and concerns of entrepreneurs can make life easier by offering technology-backed features right in their smartphones. When entrepreneurs are hard-pressed for time, using these apps can significantly boost their efficiency and allow them to boost business operations without stress.
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