No matter your weapon of choice from iPhone to iPad, BlackBerry, Android or Palm device, apps make every entrepreneur’s life that much easier. But with thousands available for download on dozens of mobile gadgets, it can be hard to tell which are really worth their weight in microchips. Following are 10 of the top business apps for entrepreneurs to help you get started. All of them put the power to boost productivity right in the palm of your hand.
1. Square (Free, www.squareup.com) – Process credit card payments from anywhere using your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch with Square’s free card-reader accessory. An intuitive interface and single universal fee (2.75% on each transaction), with no monthly charges or contracts, makes it easy to use for both individual contractors, freelancers and small businesses. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are all accepted.
2. Evernote (Free, www.evernote.com) – Ever feel like the absent-minded professor? Stay on top of tasks with this service that lets you take virtual memos on-demand. Capable of storing text, photos and voice recordings, you can dictate, snap pictures and automatically synchronize updates across your computer, smartphone or electronic tablet. You can also tag notes by location.
3. Scanner Pro ($6.99, www.readdle.com) – Instantly transforms your iPhone into a portable, multi-page document scanner than can capture electronic copies of invoices, business cards and signed documents. From meeting notes to contracts, its high-quality image processing and automatic edge detection readily handle conversions. You can also produce and skim email-ready PDFs on-demand, set up custom page sizes and password-protect your files.
4. Flight Track Pro ($9.99, www.mobiata.com) – Staying on top of flight delays and gate changes is easy with this handy travel tracker. Import trip data from an airline confirmation email, and it will monitor your itinerary, alerting you to delays, cancellations and alternate boarding plans. The program also provides satellite and weather imagery and maps of airport terminals -- in case you need to sprint for a connection.
Related: 10 iPad Productivity Apps
5. MightyMeeting (Free, http://app.mightymeeting.com) – Upload presentations and product videos to the cloud, then access them nearly anytime, anywhere with this handy demonstration tool. Allowing you to quickly call up clips and slideshows on your smartphone or tablet PC, it makes it easy to showcase sales pitches or market overviews on-demand. Users can also connect mobile devices to a widescreen projector for added impact.
6. Gist (Free, www.gist.com) – Lets you organize and update contacts in a single location with minimal fuss. Capable of importing email, phone and address data from multiple sources (inbox, social network, smartphone, etc), the program makes it easy to keep up with ever-changing contact information. Also has an option to view colleagues’ real-time Facebook and Twitter feeds without exiting the program, which is nice.
7. LinkedIn (Free, www.linkedin.com) – Makes it possible to access the leading social network for professional users while on the go. Search for new workers, mentors or strategic partners; mingle with peers; and share business tips, news and insight with like-minded people.
Related: Need a Tech Upgrade? Eight Tools to Consider
8. Print n Share ($8.99, www.mobile.eurosmartz.com) – Dream of printing right from your smartphone or tablet PC? Wish granted. Wielding this nifty app, you can send documents straight to a WiFi printer, or one connected to a Mac or PC. Requests may also be issued remotely over 3G wireless networks, so you can pick up copies of contracts or insertion orders the next time you're in the office.
9. Jump Desktop ($19.99, www.jumpdesktop.com) – Offers the option to control your desktop remotely, regardless of where business takes you. Armed with an Internet connection, you can manipulate files or folders via touchscreen, and actively browse on your home or work computer. Compatible with Mac or PC systems, it lets you be productive without having to lug your laptop.
10. OmniFocus ($19.99-$39.99, www.omnigroup.com) – More expensive than most apps, but cheaper than an executive assistant, this full suite of utilities for task management makes plotting a daily agenda much simpler. Capable of organizing tasks by groups, contexts, tools, locations and resources, it helps you keep tabs on ongoing engagements and prioritize to-do lists. Also supports synchronizing between multiple devices.
Related: The Best Apps for Road Warriors
Life insurance as low as $14/mo for $250,000 or $21/mo for $500,000 of coverage. Contact MetLife®
Comments:
Perfect post. Here’s a tool that lets youbuild web and mobile appsfast and without coding! http://www.caspio.com/
Came across a mobile form app a few weeks ago, ProntoForms. Has helped a lot. You should consider that for your next list.
DocStoc is really good for sharing your Digital Documents online. MailChimp is also very useful.
Why isn't StereoPill on this list?
How about Receipt Catcher. It is new and the only one of its kind.
I found a lots of attractive things in your site particularly this discussion. From the several responses on your articles, I assume I am not the only one getting all the pleasure right here
An what about business card reader app from ABBYY? Many apps use it's recognition engine, that is why i prefer it.
I have found that Evernote is a great app for helping to make notes on the go. Without it I would have been stuck many times with my memory like a fish! Another App I think that should be added onto your list is the the WorkMobile™ app. This app allows you to capture data in real time and transfer it back to your office, saving the need for lots of paper trails. Have a look - http://www.esay-solutions.co.uk/
What does BB stand for?
Helping me adapt to the 21st century is not an easy task ,but this certainly will help
This is a very helpful article to me. Any gadget article enlightens me just a little bit more to what is available. Nos. 2, 5 and 9 will be of immediate use to me. Thanks.
Once again, terribly biased toward i***. How about a bit of balance for those of us who use android or something other than the industry monopolizers!
Apps are great if used consistently. With any system, in order to increase your productivity you need to utilize it on a regular basis & also, the apps you choose should be in sync with the way you function. Not every app is meant for everyone. So, use the trial versions (if available) before buying the paid versions.
So apps are only available on iS**t again, and only useful there.
Square, of course, does not work on BB. There's a swiper called ROAMpay that does the job nicely.
Palm? PALM? Credibility lost right then and there.
nice post, great tips to help me a lot thx. visit me and comment as well we can share new information
Scott, This is a great article. We took the approach of making LifeTopix a complete organization app where many aspects of your life are connected together. That way you don't need a dozen of separate apps that are disconnected from one another in order to manage to-dos, tasks, projects, trips, shopping, events, education, health, fiances, assets, notes, files, bookmarks, people, services, etc. You get the point! We think it's definitely worth taking a look at for a list such as this: http://lightarrow.com Best regards, Adi
nice on the look out for these myself, I have tried some of them but not all
I use a few of these will have to check others :-)
Thank you for the info - I'm going to try a few of these out (I've already tried some).
Nice list Scott! For any entrepreneurs out there with large sales teams, you should definitely take a look at the CustomShow app for the iPad - http://bit.ly/pKL9kj The design features are incredible and the slide library allows you to manage your teams' presentations from a single computer.
Expensify is another great app for businesses to manage their expenses on the go.
Check out Worksmart, an iOS productivity & business management app. Here's a video about the app - http://youtu.be/_5x7PLd-L4M?hd=1
I use a few of these everyday and will have to check out the others! Great information!
Great list of apps - especially Evernote! With leads rolling in and the business starting to grow, a simple sales management tool is also a must for many folks. If I may, I'd recommend PipeJump (http://www.pipejump.com) - it's designed from the ground-up for small business.
And Coaxion is coming for the iPad in a few weeks! We're releasing it here at Moprise to give SharePoint and Dropbox access, as well as sharing features, collaboration, and more. You'll be able to pull documents directly from SharePoint onto your iPad to get work done. Check Coaxion out.
There is so much technology everywhere that it is virtually impossible for one person to keep up with it all. Thanks for these insider tidbits, I know I certainly learned something...
To me ProfitScope is also a great buisness app - it gave me a new overview of my business in my Dentists waiting room
Why is LinkIn on this list?
Linked in? Really?
Cool list. In a self serving note, business people who do sales should give Lead Qualifier a try. It automates and shortens the process of logging and sharing lead (i.e. first call/meeting) qualification notes and it integrates with email and salesforce CRM. http://bit.ly/leadqualifier4iphone
The link for Gist actually links to Linkedin instead. I just said the word "link" way too many times. Great list though!
Love this check list. It will certainly help people be more productive and especially entrepreneur like myself who are always on the go.
TeamViewer: Remote desktop, even from your iphone, is free of charge for personal use. It works great.
Thanks for the suggestions...there are a few on this list that I haven't had an the chance to try. I wrote an article with my 6 favorite mobile apps for entrepreneurs if you're interested in reading: http://thinkspace.com/useful-apps-for-entrepreneurs/
Allow me to recommend our service - iCalledU (http://www.icalledu.com). It's a customers calls management tool for small businesses and it's free of charge.