Start your business off right with technology for entrepreneurial success!
Starting your own company is in no way easy—in fact, it’s downright scary. However, when you consider all of the support and resources we have access to in the current day, starting your own business is a lot easier than it was in the past. One of the things entrepreneurs can be most thankful for are the cheap, and even free, smart phone applications that will help you build a profitable business and keep it afloat in times of economic stress.
As an entrepreneur, starting a new business can be very overwhelming and knowing where to invest your money and time when it comes to day-to-day business concerns—including finding an office space, setting up office infrastructure even when you might be asking yourself, “what is a data plan?”, creating an online presence for your business, making contacts, registering a business name, and backing up your most precious files—can be a full time job for 20 let alone one person. So because your plate is already more than full, I’ve put together a handy list of bare-bones apps that will help kick start your small business and take the guesswork out of running a successful start up venture…
1. Start up Checklist (Free – for Android)
Attention start-up entrepreneurs: How would you like to have access to a tool that teaches you the ins and outs of dealing with the U.S. Government and guides you through all the necessary steps you need to take to set up and get your small business running—legally? Um yes please! The Start-up Checklist is like your welcome kit to the world of entrepreneurship. It contains everything you’ll need—including resources, tips, advice, and timelines—to get your small business registered and making profits. The thing that sets most entrepreneurs back is doubt and fear. However, this app will tell you straight up what you need to know about legally setting up your business and provide the proper sequence of actions to take in order to do so. Think of this app as your 36-step checklist head start package for business owners. It contains all of the information you need to set up your very own business—including all of the necessary government forms, spreadsheets and templates for setting up business plans and websites—to set up and grow your dream enterprise.
2. Yammer (Free – for iPhone)
Creating open dialogue is vital for any company—including small businesses trying to work together for one common goal (i.e., to lure new customers). An app like Yammer is vital for creating a strong common mission for start-up enterprises that everyone involved feels a part of. Yammer does this by creating a sort of mini Facebook within your company, to allow secure, private, real-time communication between employees and teams working together on projects. And like, Facebook, Yammer features the same rich communication tools, by letting employees to set up and invite coworkers to discuss projects, provide feedback on ideas, and invite others to attend work events, share links, videos, and images for inspiration. Plus, the Yammer app, let’s employees tag and group their posts and messages using specific key word topics, sender name, and etc., making information easily searchable.
3. Business Card Reader Lite (Free – for Android)
When starting any new business venture contacts are vital to laying the groundwork. Apps like Business Card Reader Lite makes collecting and managing contacts a synch. You can collect and store business cards in 3 simple steps:
I. Snap a photo of a business card
II. Save the contact in the Business Card Reader Lite app
III. Collect more information about your contacts via their LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter profiles—such as addresses, phone number, company name, job title, email, website, education, specialty skills, and even hobbies
This app will save all of your business contacts and corresponding info to your searchable address book.
4. Dropbox (Free – for iPhone)
Utilize the power of cloud computing with the Dropbox smart phone app. This app will simplify your business life by allowing all users (your employees) to share, edit, and download files from one another in a secure, collaborative cloud environment. Plus, if this business mobility wasn’t enough, Dropbox also provides a simple, secure backup for business owners, which is far superior to hard drives and multiple USB sticks, and provides adequate bandwidth for start-up enterprises.
Author bio: Jane Johnson is a writer for GoingCellular, a popular site that provides cell phone related news, commentary, reviews on popular providers like T-Mobile