Running a business can be defined as providing a product or service that you enjoy making while tolerating management tasks. One of the most notoriously unpleasant parts of managing a business is dealing with the money. It’s a struggle getting payroll, expense, and tax records under control while you’re putting out fires (figuratively, we hope) in the actual operations of the business.
When you’re on your feet moving from the stove to the cooler or the warehouse to the assembly line, you have a moment to check in on things, but doing it on paper is a nightmare. You can make use of that otherwise-wasted time if you have the apps to make it happen.
When your company is small, watching every cent matters. Let’s look at some cool business apps and some other uses of technology that will save you money, time, and blood pressure points.
Tracking Expenses
How would you like to log today’s business lunch into your expenses before you even reach the car? Expensify is an app that will let you scan receipts into your phone and properly allocate them into your expense accounts, making tax time a breeze. Well, maybe not a breeze, but at least a little more organized. You can get them into the system and toss that pesky, curled-up paper just as soon as your camera snaps. Imagine being finished with a receipt before your signature even dries!
Send money online to avoid hassle, too. You can make “the check’s in the mail” a fossil by using online payments to handle bills, refunds, and other expenses. And your logged transactions will tell the recipient, amount, and purpose, so that at year’s end, you have all those expenses ready to bundle off to the accountant.
Tracking Yourself
To-do lists are great as long as they are at your fingertips all the time. But they can get a little cumbersome if you have to include multiple steps or a lot of details about the tasks you want to accomplish.
Wunderlist is an iPhone app that will let you categorize your various tasks and then enter as much detail as you want about the specifics of what’s ahead. You can have a category for groceries that takes up a single line on your main screen, then tap on it to expand into your full breakdown of sun-dried tomatoes and gluten-free snacks.
So you can say farewell to a dog-eared notebook crammed in your back pocket or a marker board at the office that you can’t see when you’re on the move. Having tasks listed and organized right in your hand will increase your efficiency and profitability, as well as improving your personal life.
Tracking Your Web Presence
Your business web site is critically important. If you have already set up a site, there are apps out there that can help you improve it. One of the most important things for your customers is to be able to decide quickly what they want to buy from you, and if they can’t, they’ll seek out a simpler shopping experience.
Compare Ninja is an app that allows customers to peruse the various offerings you may have in the same category and generate a side-by-side review of which they would prefer. So if you have different weekend packages at your bed and breakfast, for example, clients can review the offerings of each and decide more easily what they want to book.
Carrying business management right on your belt can be a big boost to your profitability and efficiency. You’ll also be a happier entrepreneur. These apps just scratch the surface of what’s out there. You can track freelancers, monitor inventory, and do much more all with an app or a simple online system. Chances are, if you have a need, there’s already an app. A little digging will get it into your hands and at work for you.
