5 Apps Every Entrepreneur Should Know About
As every entrepreneur knows, life would not be the same without that mini computer in our pockets! Our phones can do so much both personally and professionally, helping with everything from social media posts to banking to turning the office thermostat up.
When was the last time you had to balance a checkbook to figure out your account balance?
Here’s a little story to kick off our list of amazing Apps for entrepreneurs:
I am an entrepreneur on-the-go, and the other day I left my smartphone—the hefty iPhone 6 plus—at home when I went to buy groceries. No, not on purpose. I realized within two seconds that I didn’t have it, but I continued on with a laugh at myself just to prove I could. Honestly, I missed it a lot.
...What was I supposed to buy? Did so-and-so pay that invoice? I need to respond to that email. And reschedule that coffee date. When is that project due again? I have to add that to my story...
Sound familiar? Think of all that apps do for you—and your business. Even in the grocery store!
Listing the apps we use daily is not hard. But finding truly helpful apps can be. That’s why we’ve put together this list of Apps that every entrepreneur should try.
These apps are for everything from productivity to time management, communication, finances, and sales!
Most of all, they’re for simplifying that brain fatigue from trying to think of too many things:
Task organization and team management is so much easier when you have your goals and to-do’s in one place. We especially like Asana’s streamlined interface, so your task list at least seems less cluttered. It also allows you to create recurring tasks based on dates or days of the week.
Good for: task management, To Do lists, team organization, keeping everyone on track!
Is it also on desktop? Yes
TripIt
If you travel a lot for work (or play), this app is great for keeping all the logistics in one place. You just forward confirmation emails to the TripIt account and they automatically go into your app in an easy-to-follow itinerary. It’s worth learning the system to save you from searching your inbox for confirmation numbers next time you fly.
Good for: travel planning saving time at the airport; organizing emails, tickets and itineraries.
Is it also on desktop? Yes, even offline.
MailChimp
While the app lacks all the functionality of the site, it is great for what it does—makes checking your Mailchimp stats, sending emails on the go, and collecting addresses easy. You can create full campaigns in the mobile app, but it’s best to do that on your computer and then use this on-the-go to monitor. Pro tip: create a list when you’re at an event and easily add people through the app, rather than inputting a stack of business cards later.
Good for: creating and sending e-blasts, checking campaign analytics, collecting emails on-the-go.
Is it also on desktop? Yes.
Quickbooks Accounting
Like Mailchimp, this app is awesome for monitoring and okay for actual invoicing on-the-go. You can track your bank activity and see who’s paid easily. Drafting invoices and even sending them is not hard. And for quickly tracking expenses, the app lets you snap photos or receipts or use the Quick Add button to make sure you don’t miss any expense.
Good for: invoicing, billing, managing bank accounts, tracking expenses.
Is it also on desktop? Yes.
TripLog
Game changer! For anyone who does work on-the-go or drives a lot for business, tracking mileage for taxes is a pain. This app not only tracks your mileage; it will even do standard deduction calculations for you. You can input common destinations into the app and set it to always label a trip to/from there as business/personal/volunteer etcetera. Maybe it’s a little creepy, but it will actually show you a map of every trip you’ve gone on.
Good for: Monitoring mileage, tracking expenses, getting you a tax refund.
Is it also on desktop? No.
If you are going to run a business these days, you are going to use a smartphone for work.
That’s the way work works. Good news is there are genius apps to make life as an entrepreneur easier (and many not-so-genius ones),
When I told my fiancé that I’d left my phone and didn’t come back for it, he was so legitimately perplexed—”Why would you do that?” He has the iPhone X, of course. Why? Just to see what it’s like.
Truly, the entrepreneur in me hopes I never have to do business without my phone, or these helpful apps.
