How to run your business from your smartphone

Business today is run very differently from how it was years ago. Advances in digital technology have given us the ability to work from pretty muchanywhere in the world.

Indeed, the smart phone means we don’t even need to be sitting at a computer to do business. Thanks to a range of sophisticated apps the power is firmly wedged in the palm of your hand. Here are some of the types of apps that, as a business owner, you may find useful.

Notes, diaries and to do-lists Online diaries and notes live in the cloud and so are updatable from any device once you have synced them. Sharing options mean you can allow others to update lists and appointments from their devices and it will automatically update the calendar on your phone. Good examples include Evernote and Wunderlist.

E-commerce

Small businesses owners wanting to venture into the world of e-commerce can use a simple app to get started. With the Woocommerce app, you can set an online shop up in less than an hour and sell anywhere in the world. As your business grows your online operation will grow accordingly and you can manage everything from effortless payments and managing stock levels through to marketing and store management.

Accounts

Perfect for small and medium-sized businesses, Xero makes accounting simple by automating mundane and complicated financial tasks. You can send quotes, invoice customers, submit expense claims and even reconcile bank transactions via your phone. Here at Naylor Accountancy Services, we have also created our own app which is great for keeping track of your car mileage, handy tax calculations and up to date tax tables that can be accessed anywhere.

Social media

These days, social media isn’t just reserved for your social life. More and more businesses are using it to engage with both existing and prospective customers. However, managing updates on social media can be a chore, especially when you’re busy running your business. Facebook Pages Manager enables you to schedule newsfeed post and adverts and easily interact with your customers on that platform. If you want to look after a wider range of social media feeds, tools like Hootsuite can handle other outlets, such as Twitter and LinkedIn as well.

Integration

It’s all very well having lots of apps to help you run your business but keeping track of them all can be another exhausting task to add to the to do list. Zapier is a web automation app that enables you to automate parts of your business, or personal life by connecting different applications. This allows information to be moved between them automatically, thus simplifying workflow.

These are just some of the thousands of types of apps available to small business owners today, you can view more here. By using your phone as a business tool, you could make a real difference to your business.