Starting a business is like going into uncharted waters, and every small decision you make can be the difference between success and failure. Smartphone apps are always being developed with unique ways for you to plan, organize, manage, and grow your startup business.
12 apps to get your startup off the ground
There are thousands of apps geared toward businesses and startups, but only a handful you should care about
Bruce WatsonMon 31 Aug 2015 22.56 BST
For startups, it’s a tough road to success: about 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years, and tech startups fail at a rate that’s estimated to be as high as 90%. But, for hopeful entrepreneurs trying to get their companies off the ground, there’s a bright side: a growing number of inexpensive, innovative apps are available to fight those figures. From handling transactions and scheduling meetings to creating brand awareness and keeping track of receipts, there’s an almost unlimited array of online tools emerging every day to ease the path to business success.
To cut through the noise, we asked entrepreneurs for some of their favorites and put together a list of the essentials. Here are 12 tools you should download before you open your doors for business.
Squarespace (Free)
Sarah Kim, founder and editor of By Way of Brooklyn, a magazine that highlights female entrepreneurs, says that website building platform Squarespace has had a huge impact on her business. In addition to helping her develop an online presence, the Squarespace app, released as part of the company’s 2014 redesign, enables Kim to easily upload up-to-the-minute content. “We’re always on the move, and when we can’t get back to a computer to update our site, we use the Squarespace app – we can blog and post on the spot,” she says.
Available for iPad, iPhone and Android
Product Hunt (Free)
With the ever expanding array of startups, apps and other tech tools available to businesses, it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a way to organize it all. Product Hunt, a Reddit-style website where users can submit and vote on the latest technology, fills the bill. A must-use resource for anyone looking to stay ahead of the tech game.
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
VSCO Cam (Free)
When it comes to creating a professional public image, Kim recommends VSCO Cam, a photo-filtering app that works across multiple platforms. Many of her magazine’s photographers use it for filtering the photos that appear in the magazine, and the app enables her staff to quickly create Instagram and Twitter photos that match the look and design of the magazine.
Available for iPad, iPhone and Android
Periscope (Free)
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Some of the most useful business apps were originally intended for other purposes. Periscope, for example, offers users the option to “explore the world through someone else’s eyes”. For business users, that world can include meetings being held halfway across the world. And, with the ability to transform a smartphone into a body cam, it’s easy to take part in an important conference, even when you’re in a different time zone.
Available for iPad, iPhone and Android
Sunrise Calendar (Free)
For scheduling, Carl Waldekranz, cofounder and CEO of Sweden-based online retail platform Tictail, uses Sunrise Calendar to keep his schedule straight. “I am able to look at my entire day in a super concise and organized way,” he says. “Not to mention the push notification alerts I receive to remind me when an appointment is close.” Its newly released keyboard feature allows users to quickly view their calendar to schedule appointments.
Available for iPad, iPhone and Android
Mint, Zoho (Free)
It goes without saying that tracking finances is vital for startups, particularly for owners who are funding their companies out of pocket. One of most popular is Mint, a free app that made its name with a personal finance platform that seamlessly integrates multiple accounts. For those willing to pay for something more explicitly business-oriented, Zoho offers time-tracking, invoicing and expense management options, all with an easy-to-use interface designed for ordinary (read: non-accounting professional) business owners.
Both Mint and Zoho are available for iPhone, iPad and Android.
Square Register (Free, $10 for the hardware)
An older app that’s come of age, the Square Register app makes iPad-processed credit card purchases almost seamless. Dennis Lee, cofounder of New York-based Astoria Coffee, relies on it to process transactions, but has also found that it gives him insight into his business. “It has a really useful backend feature that allows us to track sales and organize data,” he says.
Square also provides a suite of other business apps, from payment and payroll processing to, most recently, an appointment manager.
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
When I Work Employee Scheduling (Free)
Scheduling can be an especially difficult part of running a small business, particularly as the number of remote employees increases. When I Work makes it possible to easily view a company’s schedule, the availability of each worker and the overall labor budget. When scheduling conflicts arise or a worker has to cancel at the last minute, it’s easy to quickly and seamlessly contact potential replacements.Advertisement
Available for iPad, iPhone. Android
Asana (Free)
Jason Ballard, founder and CEO of sustainable home improvement retailer TreeHouse, finds that navigating between multiple work-related concerns can get confusing. “Rather than clogging my email inbox with messages about all the things I’m working on, we use Asana,”, he says. Asana is a project management tool. “It lets me manage my fundraising, store openings, hiring, my ‘product radar’, and all my other projects into easily-organized buckets.”
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
Shoeboxed (Free)
One of the most important – and least discussed – aspects of small business ownership is paper management. Regardless of your business, chances are that you’re going to find yourself picking through piles of receipts and business cards, trying to remember the name of this supplier or figure out whether that meal was deductible. Shoeboxed makes it possible to digitize and store receipts and business cards in an easily searchable archive. As a bonus, the app also features a GPS-based mileage tracker, which can help simplify accounting and tax preparation.
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
Tiny Scanner (Free)
Speaking of paper management, Tiny Scanner makes it possible for your phone to easily convert documents to PDFs. So, rather than trying to find places to file all the tax documents, supplier letters and other pieces of information that flow across your desk, you can automatically convert them to electronic documents and organize them on your computer.
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
Slack (Free)
Getting employees on the same page can be extremely difficult, especially when team members are in different countries. Tictail’s Waldekranz gets around some of those difficulties with Slack, an app that offers chat rooms, private group spaces and direct messaging. Some refer to it as “Gchat on steroids”. All exchanges become searchable, which increases its business effectiveness. “I’m a big fan of Slack,” he says. “Wherever I am it feels like I’m close to the team.”
Available for iPad, iPhone, Android
Conclusion
There are probably hundreds if not thousands of Startup Apps out there, we’ve reviewed and compiled a list of only the best ones. You’ll find tools that will help you with social media, marketing, email marketing, messaging & much much more.