Entrepreneurship
30 Apps That Turn Your Phone Into A High-Powered Mobile Office For Your Business

30 Apps That Turn Your Phone Into A High-Powered Mobile Office For Your Business

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Most business owners say that they lack time to get everything done.

This is especially true if your job involves travel. Travel puts extra pressure on our ability to deal with email, meet with our teams, review deliverables, etc. It doesn’t help that we rarely have access to the technology and tools that help us stay productive when we’re away from the office.

The truth is that the ability to run your business from anywhere, at any time, can substantially boost your productivity.

Five years ago, this kind of freedom came at a cost. Mobile apps were often “lite” versions of desktop applications and lacked critical features allowing business owners to be untethered from the office.

A lot has changed in five years.

Cloud-based applications (aka “software as a service,” or SAAS) are widely available and cover most business owners’ needs with few compromises. Toss in readily available high-speed mobile Internet, and you have the perfect mix of access and apps to make any small business owner fully mobile.

To help turn your phone into a powerful business tool, we’ve gathered some popular, valuable apps and services that can make running your business on the go a reality.

Scheduling

The days of paper schedules or wrangling with online calendars or spreadsheets are over. Cloud scheduling services are plentiful, and many offer robust mobile support. Some cater to the needs of specific industries (e.g., food and hospitality, consultant services, and house call services), and some target shift workers.

Here are a few popular scheduling apps:

  • TSheets – A full-featured scheduling service with integrated time tracking and shift work support,
  • Acuity Scheduling – An appointment-based scheduling system for consultants and their clients, and
  • 7Shifts – A scheduling service designed for restaurants and their staff.

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Hiring

Finding and hiring new staff can be fast-paced, complicated, and messy.

You must track who has applied, where you are in the application process and your top candidates. Not having an effective recruitment workflow and being unresponsive to your candidates promptly may mean you’ll lose out on hiring great talent.

There are many excellent options to make recruiting easier for everyone involved. For example, a CRM for recruiting or an Applicant tracking System (ATS) can be extremely helpful in streamlining your entire hiring process.

These apps have extensive mobile support and will make the hiring process much easier. Check out:

Remote access

Regarding file-sharing and storage, the choices are innumerable: Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, SpiderOak, Google Drive, and more. But what happens if the file you need isn’t in the cloud? What if it’s sitting on your computer, unhelpfully languishing at your office?

Remote access apps allow you to access your computer or network remotely. There are several services available with a broad mix of features. Some make your office-bound files available remotely, while others give you full access to your entire computer.

  • TeamViewer – Free for personal use, has collaboration and remote support included,
  • AnyDesk – Another app that is free for personal use, affordable, very fast, and
  • LogMeIn – This one is a bit pricey but includes excellent mobile support and online storage.
  • AirDroid Remote Support – Provides fast and secure remote assistance & control to unattended devices.

Fax

The importance of faxing has decreased significantly as technologies like digital signatures and mobile phone scanning apps have caught on. Still, every once in a while, only fax will do.

Many VoIP providers include fax capability as part of their service. If you currently use a VoIP phone system for small business, it’s worth checking with your provider to see what’s available. If you don’t use VoIP, you can still sign up with a VoIP provider offering fax services.

Many dedicated fax services include mobile access. Some only let you send faxes, while some send and receive.

  • eFax – The oldest online fax service. 24/7 customer service, with a decent mobile app,
  • HelloFax – A simple, intuitive interface and a free option that allows five pages free a month,
  • MyFax – A well-rounded service with native mobile apps and a 30-day free trial, and
  • RingCentral Fax – A cost-effective solution from one of the biggest cloud phone providers.

If you need more options, FaxCompare has extensive fax provider reviews, how-tos, and other information.

Accounting

Accounting and finance apps benefit significantly from the general public’s acceptance of SAAS. Options are plentiful, and many apps boast extensive feature sets and third-party integrations. The power and flexibility of cloud-based solutions have made them attractive to small business owners.

Whether you need a full-fledged accounting system for a large business, a solo consultancy, or more specific requirements like expense tracking, there’s an app for you.

  • Intuit Quickbooks Online – This software veteran has a raft of online or desktop products with broad mobile support and financial institution support,
  • Xero – A close competitor to Quickbooks, Xero has an impressive list of features and support for iOS and Android, and
  • Wave – Wave has accounting, invoicing, expense tracking apps, mobile support, and is free to use. The company makes money from credit card processing fees and premium services.

Expenses

Tracking and filing expenses can be a real chore. Fortunately, an abundance of mobile-friendly services is available to make it less painful for you (and your employees).

Many cloud-based accounting services offer receipt and expense tracking. There are also dedicated options for anyone who may not need a complete solution.

  • Expensify – Cheekily boasting “to make expense reports not suck;” their mobile support and third-party integrations go a long way to making that a reality,
  • Shoeboxed – You can go paperless with this service, which integrates a mobile app for scanning on the go. It includes the option to mail in paper receipts and have them scanned and added automatically, and
  • Receipt Bank – Another option with similar features to Shoeboxed, including mail-in physical receipts.

Payroll

Running payroll from wherever you are is now possible, thanks to payroll service companies adding mobile support.  Payroll services used to be quite expensive, but increases in competition and advances in cloud applications have brought prices down.

  • ADP – One of the largest managed payroll services offers mobile support, powerful HR tools, and a well-established brand,
  • Intuit Payroll – Intuit’s good reputation extends to its payroll solution, which has extensive integration with the rest of Intuit’s products as well as mobile access, and
  • Paychex – Another well-known company that, like ADP, offers HR services, retirement planning, and other features.
  • Gusto – a company we use and like at crowdspring. Very popular with startups and small businesses.

Customer service

It’s a well-documented fact that great customer service will make or break your business. Answering customer questions quickly and responding to any issues they are experiencing effectively will make the difference between a positive customer experience and a frustrating one.

Luckily, customer support services are just as mobile as those they support. Here are some excellent apps to help you serve your customers on the go:

  • Zendesk – This app offers a mature suite of support products with extensive third-party integration (we use Zendesk at crowdspring),
  • Desk –  A part of Salesforce, Desk is deeply integrated with the renowned customer management system and boasts excellent social media integration, and
  • Freshdesk – This is another option with comparable features to Zendesk and Desk but with a different approach to workflow. There are native iOS and Android apps available.

Find the right solution

We’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s available in any of these categories or what’s available in other categories, like mobile apps for streaming. Small business owners are not suffering from choices regarding services and apps that let them work from anywhere. The options can be overwhelming, and choosing a solution can be challenging.

Fortunately, some sites aim to catalog the vast number of SAAS options available and help business owners narrow the field. In addition to feature lists and pricing, many sites also have user-submitted reviews and comments to help owners find the best service.

If you’re still searching for the right solution for your business, spend a little time and look through some of these sites. There’s a good chance you’ll find just the thing to help you keep your business humming along, no matter where you are.

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