The 25 Best Small Business Apps
When running a small business, you're faced with countless choices, errands, and to-dos. It doesn't take long for your passion to turn into a chore. In addition to the everyday checklist, you have to deal with the formal side of business like payroll, marketing, time management, and customer service.
You have time, but never enough! Let's use your phone to reclaim some of it! After surveying small businesses, colleagues, clients, and endless blogs; I've compiled a list of The 25 Best Small Business Apps of 2017!
From the obscure to the tried-and-true, these apps are meant to be symbiotic and work within the same digital ecosystem. I hope that you give them a chance to take your business to the next level. Browse the alphabetical list below and let me know if any of your favorites made or missed the cut!
#1 - 1Password
From the developer - 1Password: the password manager that's as beautiful and simple as it is secure. Simply add your passwords, and let 1Password do the rest.
Why I love it - 1Password creates and manages passwords designed to stump hackers while allowing you to log in to everything in one tap. Security and simplicity all in one. win-win.
#2 - Acorns
From the developer - Acorns helps you save and invest small amounts regularly into your own diversified portfolio. Start with just your spare change and join over 1 million who have taken steps to improve their future. It only takes minutes!
Why I love it - Like a squirrel preparing for winter this app stashes away your change like an acorn and allows you to invest with peace of mind at your own pace.
#3 - AdWords
From the developer - The Google AdWords app helps you stay connected with your ad campaigns from anywhere, using your Android smartphone. You can easily view your ads’ performance on the go with this simplified companion to your desktop account.
Why I love it - In the digital world advertising has become a requirement. AdWords makes it easy to find and engage users on the world's largest platform.
#4 - Basecamp 3
From the developer - We’ve been studying highly productive groups for 16 years. We’ve discovered there are six core things every group needs to do their best work together. Basecamp 3 is the only product specifically designed around this bundle of six tools and methods.
Why I love it - Whether you have a team or you're looking for a way to manage projects, Basecamp 3 is an all in one solution to organization.
#5 - Burner
From the developer - Use Burner for everyday situations — create a second phone number for work, salespeople, web forms, deliveries, or shopping online. A perfect business phone number for solopreneurs, startups, small businesses, or side projects, integrate with productivity apps like Dropbox, Google Drive & Slack.
Why I love it - Not everyone wants to give out their personal phone number. Burner creates no cost phone numbers that link directly to your phone in one easy to use app.
#6 - Evernote
From the developer - Evernote gives you the tools you need to keep your work effortlessly organized. Write, collect and capture ideas as searchable notes, notebooks, checklists and to-do lists.
Why I love it - Turn meetings and brainstorms into reality with Evernote. This cloud-based is the Swiss Army Knife of note taking. You can even add in collaborators and edit in real time!
#7 - Expensify
From the developer - Expensify is the #1 tool for expense report management, receipt tracking, and business travel. Snap a photo of your receipt using SmartScan and Expensify takes care of the rest! Designed for small businesses, accountants, and individuals who are sick of wasting time with spreadsheets.
Why I love it - This one is simple; you save money! Expensify asks about you, then creates a custom plan allowing you to track spending and deduct everyday items!
#8 - Facebook Pages
From the developer - Manage your Facebook Page, right from your phone. With the Pages Manager app, you can stay informed and respond to customers immediately.
Why I love it - Forget the Facebook app, Facebook Pages Manager is the only way to monitor your business on Facebook and see insights you don't have access to anywhere else!
#9 - Flint
From the developer - The easiest way to accept credit card payments with just your phone. No card reader required. Get paid instantly using our Virtual Swipe technology or via mobile invoice. Low fees and deposits in 1-2 business days.
Why I love it - Payments anywhere and anytime. Lowest fees in the industry and no extra hardware required to process payments make Flint a no-brainer.
#10 - GasBuddy
From the developer - Save money, save time and never pay full price for gas again with a community of 70 million users. GasBuddy helps you save $340 a year by telling you exactly where and when to buy gas, and more! Use the #1 car companion app today.
Why I love it - GasBuddy is one of my daily favorites, I check it almost as frequently as the weather. Just like a forecast you get a fuel price forecast telling you when to buy. I can personally attest to tremendous savings!
#11 - Google Drive
From the developer - Google Drive is a safe place for all your files and puts them within reach from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. Files in Drive – like your videos, photos, and documents – are backed up safely so you can’t lose them. Once there, you can easily invite others to view, edit, or leave comments on any of your files or folders.
Why I love it - Google Drive leaves other file sharing programs in the dust. With modest free storage and ways to earn additional storage at no cost (surveys, security checkups, advertisements, and more) all backed up by Google's servers Drive is fast as lightning. Easy collaboration makes this my go to app for cloud storage and collaboration.
#12 - Go To Meeting
From the developer - Meet where you want with the power of GoToMeeting on your mobile device. You'll never miss another meeting — unless you want to. Use the GoToMeeting app to join, host or schedule a session from your Android device for easy online meetings when you're on the go.
Why I love it - Sometimes an email or call won't suffice. Go To Meeting allows you to share screens, webcams, voice, and text in real time. In a meeting, you can see who is talking and switch presenters in an instant.
#13 - Hootsuite
From the developer - Manage and schedule posts to multiple social media profiles on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and more, all from one app – Hootsuite!
Why I love it - When you run multiple social media accounts, for multiple businesses, on multiple platforms you crave a unified platform. HootSuite is that and more! Schedule posts ahead of time, or post everywhere at once; you're always in total control!
#14 - IFTTT
From the developer - Applets bring your favorite services together to create new experiences. Over 400 apps work with IFTTT including Twitter, Telegram, Google Drive, Twitch, Weather Underground, Instagram, Gmail, and devices like Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Nest, Philips Hue, and your Android.
Why I love it - While it's fun to turn house lights on and off with your voice IFTTT can also handle the business side of things. Enable notifications, updates, syncing, and alerts with almost any application you can imagine!
#15 - Invoice2go
From the developer - Create great-looking, professional invoices and get paid faster using one simple app. We are the on-the-go invoicing solution for all types of businesses: from contractors to dog walkers, web designers to musicians. All of your information is automatically synced online!
Why I love it - Keep track of your business and easily sync with other money management apps. Come tax season, print out everything in one click.
#16 - JotNot Fax
From the developer - JotNot comes with a built-in scanner, so you don't need to find a scanner or fax machine if you have a paper document. Just scan in the document with your phone's camera, enter the fax number, and hit send. It has never been easier to send a fax from your phone.
Why I love it - Let's be real, faxing is a hassle. But, sometimes it's unavoidable. Turn your phone into a fax machine and even generate cover sheets.
#17 - Layout
From the developer - Layout's smooth, intuitive process gives you complete creative control. Tap to mirror, flip or replace images, hold and drag to swap them, pinch to zoom in or out, or pull the handles to resize. You're the editor, so get creative with the way you stitch things together—you can tell a story, show off an outfit or just splice, dice and change the look of your regular photos to convey a mood or theme.
Layout - Channel your inner photographer and create stunning visuals in a snap with premade layouts that are sure to entice customers.
#18 - MailChimp
From the developer - MailChimp makes it easy to stay on top of your email marketing no matter where you are. Now, you can create and send campaigns directly from the mobile app so that you can manage your account while on the go. Preview and edit existing content blocks in a draft, and replicate your most successful campaigns to update them for a different audience. Then, you can view the results in your campaign reports, track campaign and subscriber activity, and more—all from your mobile device.
Why I love it - MailChimp makes email marketing snap. Upload your contacts, create your email, then send. Use results and in app suggestions to refine your content and grow your list.
#19 - Microsoft Word
From the developer - The familiar Word app lets you create, edit, view and share your files with others quickly and easily. Work with anyone, anywhere with confidence. With Word, your Office moves with you everywhere supporting you whether you are a blogger, a writer, a journalist, a columnist, a student working on assignments or a project working on documentation, it will be as handy as you want it to be.
Why I love it - No frills text editing, publishing, and sharing. This age-old program has a second life as an app and helps read industry standard file types.
#20 - Mint
From the developer - Mint is the free money manager and financial tracker app from the makers of TurboTax® that does it all. We bring together your bank accounts, credit cards, bills, and investments, so you know where you stand. See what you’re spending, where you can save money, and stay on top of bill pay in Mint like never before. You can even keep track of your credit score to help you be smart about it, no credit card required.
Why I love it - ALL of your money in one spot. Credit checks, bills, payments, budgeting, and tax information are all bundled into one of the most useful apps on this list. Never worry about forgetting a payment or checking your bank again.
#21 - Mr. Number
From the developer - Mr. Number is the most powerful call blocker on the market. Block calls and SMS texts* from a person, a business, hidden numbers, or the world. Pick up and hang up on callers or send them to voicemail - you decide. Keep the content of blocked texts or trash them. Browse comments from other users when you get a spam call or text. Add ‘Suspected Spam’ to your block list, and Mr. Number blocks them all automatically.
Why I love it - Like a personal receptionist for your mobile phone, Mr. Number screens scam calls automatically! The app also allows you to add suspicious numbers to the ever-growing worldwide data base. Don't waste time talking to telemarketers, get the app.
#22 - PayPal
From the developer - Send money or pay online to almost anywhere in the world in just seconds. Manage all the ways you send, receive, and spend money at a glance!
Why I love it - This time tested payment app is my go to for sending and receiving personal payments. No fees for non-business transactions (small percentage based fees based on usage for businesses) and one of the most secure payment methods on the web make this app a must have.
#23 - Scanbot
From the developer - Scanbot is the best document to PDF scanner app and very easy to use. Already 7 million people on Android and iOS use Scanbot to scan their documents, receipts, whiteboards, QR codes or bar codes. The scanner app already won numerous awards and achieves a satisfaction rating of 98%.
Why I love it - Combine photos, documents, drawings, and text into .PDFs. Edit received files in a snap. This no frills app turns a 15-minute job into a breeze.
#24 - Slack
From the developer - Slack brings team communication and collaboration into one place so you can get more work done, whether you belong to a large enterprise or a small business. Check off your to-do list and move your projects forward by bringing the right people, conversations, tools, and information you need together. Slack is available on any device, so you can find and access your team and your work, whether you’re at your desk or on the go.
Why I love it - Cloud-based collaboration made simple. Slack is one of the most appealing business platforms to date giving you real-time editing and sharing tools.
#25 - Slice
From the Developer - The leading package tracker gives you peace of mind with push notifications updating you on the status of your delivery. We're the only package tracking app that AUTOMATICALLY tracks your packages...so you never have to enter a tracking number again. After your package is delivered, we monitor for recall alerts and price changes--even helping you get a refund on items with low-price guarantees!
Why I love it - You can sit back and relax while keeping track of all shipments incoming and outgoing automatically with Slice's easy to use interface and import method.
Image Credit: Trim
Trim (Honorable Mention)
From the developer - We started with the easy stuff. Need to cancel an old subscription? Trim started doing that way back in 2015. We built more nifty features that save you money, like automatic Comcast bill negotiation and price protection for your Amazon purchases. So far, we’ve saved our users millions of dollars by automating little pieces of their day-to-day finances.
Why I love it - Earning an honorable mention as it is only available via Facebook Messenger (for now) Trim has personally saved me hundreds of dollars. From instant rebates, price drop protection, and bill negotiation. Trim automatically finds savings that you're missing out on!
Visit here: Trim
Image credit: Unsplash
Hopefully, a few of these apps can work their way into your daily routine and make a positive impact. I currently use 21 of these apps to run my business and truly believe they contribute to my success and I implore you to give them a download.
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All application imagery credit: iTunes
