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21 of the best apps for small businesses
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24th August, 2022 |
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Owning your very own small business is a dream of many. But whether you’re just starting out or have been operating for many years, you’ll always be on the lookout for simple and easy ways to stay ahead of the competition. After all, you don’t want to spread yourself too thin and end up burning out.
Read through our ultimate list of apps perfect for small businesses and find one suited to your particular needs. If you’re a smart entrepreneur looking to automate some of your core business processes, then this guide is a must-read.
Just as with finding the best apps, speaking to the specialists when it comes to business mobile phone insurance will save you a lot of time and hassle.
Contact the helpful team at Gadget Cover and get your business mobile phone insurance needs sorted quickly and effortlessly.
1. Microsoft 365
The universally used and feature-packed office suite from Microsoft remains way above the competition when it comes to small business software suitable for use on your phone.
As you’d expect, this app package includes the big three essential office software packages that any business will need (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
Alongside other useful apps such as Outlook and Teams.
In addition, OneDrive is also available for online backups. Even if you already use Google Drive or DropBox, this is still a worthwhile place to store important business data.
After all, it’s always better to be safe than sorry and there’s really no harm in saving multiple backups just in case.
There are several different editions you can buy for your business.
These range from a Business Basic package costing £4.50 per user per month to the Business Premium package costing £16.60 per user per month.
2. Avast Business
When it comes to business security software, you’ll want a package you can trust. And there are few better names in the industry than Avast. This award-winning business antivirus suite will keep you safe from viruses, phishing, ransomware, spyware, zero-second threats, Wi-Fi vulnerabilities and so much more.
Essential Business Security costs £134.55 a year for up to five devices at the time of writing, and now comes with webcam and password protection included. Further security is also offered by the Premium Business Security and Ultimate Business Security tiers of protection.
These include unlimited VPN, USB protection, and even patch management to automatically fix any vulnerabilities on your software and third-party apps.
With AI and behaviour-based machine learning giving best-in-class protection there’s a lot to like here.
And there’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee if you’re not completely satisfied.
3. Business Calendar 2
Business Calendar 2 from Germany-based start-up Appgenix Software is a fantastic Android calendar app designed for business users who want loads of advanced features and customisation options.
The app has everything you need in a calendar app and allows you to view your schedule in a day view, a week view and a month view. While multiple events can be moved, copied or deleted at once using the helpful agenda feature.
You can also attach documents, photos or voice recordings to your events and tasks.
Choose between 22 different app themes and seven beautiful widgets that can be customised down to the last detail.
4. Evernote
For the busy small business owner keeping your meeting notes, tasks, schedules, to-do lists and personal reminders well organised can seem like an uphill battle. Get everything done much more easily using the Evernote app.
Features include the ability to create and assign tasks, scan important documents so they’re always at hand, save marked up web pages, and much more. Notes will sync automatically across all your devices. And powerful, flexible search capabilities make it so easy to find what you need, when you need it.
There’s a free plan worth trying out. But for extra functionality suitable for business then you’ll be looking at the Professional plan for £7.49 a month.
If you want the ability to collaborate and share knowledge among your team then Evernote Teams costs £10.99 per user per month.
5. Expensify
Whatever the size of your business, claiming for business expenses can be a real pain. This smart automated app aims to cut out all the hassle and allows you to manage expenses in real-time.
Simply scan your receipts with a click and the app will extract the relevant information and prepare an expense report for you to approve. Or get the Expensify Card and say goodbye to managing receipts forever.
There’s also a clever automatic reimbursement system, offering next-day reimbursement for those claiming expenses. Handy in these times of rising living costs.
Last year, Expensify launched a free plan targeted at small businesses that includes physical and digital Expensify Cards with cash back, free next-day reimbursement, free invoicing, free bill pay, and more.
6. FreshBooks
Cash flow is a big concern for any business, but particularly for smaller businesses that run on tighter budgets. FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting service with a user-friendly interface and plenty of depth and features.
Designed for non-accountants, stand-out features include easy invoicing, automatic billing, expense tracking, time tracking, mileage tracking, business reporting and the option to take credit card and direct debit payments.
The system also integrates seamlessly with over 100 other great apps. These include Shopify, MailChimp, Slack, WordPress, Gusto, ZenDesk, Indeed and many more.
From keeping track of unpaid invoices to making sure your business mobile phone insurance premiums are kept up to date, you’ll never fall behind on your accounts again! FreshBooks estimates you could save 553 hours a year by using their service.
Try it for free. And if you like it then sign up to one of the plans. These range from £11 a month for the Lite plan (perfect for those with up to 5 clients) up to £30 a month for the Premium plan (for an unlimited number of clients).
If your business has more complex needs then custom pricing is available.
For those needing a bespoke business mobile phone insurance policy then the team at Gadget Cover are perfectly placed to help.
7. PayPal
When it comes to payment processing, it’s easy to see why PayPal has become the preferred payment portal for many small businesses. With just a few taps of the finger and an email address you can be up-and-running in no time.
There’s no monthly fee for the app, but depending on your size of business there are transaction fees payable. If you’re a small business that needs to be paid on the go you can also attach PayPal’s card reader to a tablet or other device for payments.
Remember, if you’re using expensive gadgetry like tablets in your business that you’ll want cover for them, too. The perfect complement for your business mobile phone insurance.
Because PayPal has become so ubiquitous in modern business, it’s easier than ever to find new markets and new customers – almost anywhere in the world!
8. Sage Payroll
As your business grows, taking on and managing staff can become a bit of a headache. Sage has some excellent software perfect for small businesses grappling with the world of payroll.
Sage Payroll works on any desktop computer, laptop, smartphone or tablet device. And because it’s cloud-based, you don’t have to install anything on your phone. It allows you to quickly and easily create employee records and pay your staff.
Payments and deductions, PAYE, National Insurance and pensions are all covered. All without the need to hire an accountancy expert or outsource your payroll needs.
9. Sage HR
Available for both iOS and Android, the easy-to-use Sage HR mobile app helps you manage your employees from anywhere. With an intuitive design, you can book and approve absences, claim and approve expenses, send and receive feedback, and browse employee records.
To get the app for free you’ll need to sign up to Sage’s HR software package.
10. HubSpot
If you’re looking for an all-round sales and marketing toolkit and lots of features then HubSpot has got to be on the list. HubSpot offers a bewildering range of tools for marketing, sales, customer service, content management, customer relationship management, and operations. While there might be better individual apps, none has the range of HubSpot.
It really is a true market leader.
When it comes to delivering a superior customer experience there are few better apps than HubSpot. The app also integrates with other applications such as Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Salesforce.
You can try out plenty of HubSpot’s tools for free before choosing from their variety of paid-for plans. There’s bound to be something that suits your business and budget and makes your life that bit easier.
11. MailChimp
Another highly regarded app performing a similar marketing automation function is MailChimp. The app helps you build and manage your customer mailing list and lets you easily create and distribute engaging marketing campaigns.
Performance reports will help you track and analyse your campaigns. And will also help you send your customers more relevant communications. If you’re a growing company still in its early stages, Mailchimp could be the right solution for you.
12. Meta Business Suite
Facebook is a key tool for growing any small business and engaging with both existing and prospective customers. Unfortunately, we’re not all social media kings and queens. And keeping our business’s Facebook page up to date can be a chore, especially when you’re already busy actually running your business!
Meta Business Suite has been created to let you create, schedule and manage posts, ads and stories across your Facebook and Instagram accounts. You can track insights and trends and even automate responses to save more time. There are lots of helpful insights to optimise your efforts as you go.
Download this app as your first great step towards using social media to interact with your customers.
13. Hootsuite
Social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Youtube and Pinterest can be the mainstay for many small businesses trying to keep themselves in the public eye. Social media management app Hootsuite lets you schedule, share and measure the impact of your latest posts across all your social channels, from one simple dashboard.
By automating much of your social media output, you’ll be able to stay on top of customer messages, find out what works, save time creating quality content and get the support you need. Giving you more time to engage with potential customers and grow your business.
14. LinkedIn
Voted the number one most trusted network by eMarketer’s Digital Trust Benchmark Report 2021, if you don’t already have this app installed on your phone then you need to do so now.
LinkedIn is a great place to network but also potentially find that next great hire.
15. Asana
Effective project management is a big part of any successful business. To help you stay on top of all your jobs and work tasks we recommend the well-respected Asana app.
With its great range of features, you’ll have everything you need to stay in sync as a team, hit your deadlines and reach those business goals. Asana makes it so easy for your team to check the progress of projects in real-time, create to-do lists and reminders, share notes, upload and communicate.
As with many of the best apps on this list, Asana also integrates with other useful business tools such as Microsoft Teams, Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Drive, Vimeo, Dropbox and Slack. So, you can keep everything on track.
For individuals or teams just getting started with project management there’s a free basic tier available. However, if you want to create project plans with confidence or need to manage work across several initiatives then you’ll want the paid-for tiers that offer greater functionality.
Right now, Premium level costs from £9.49 per user per month while Business level costs £20.99 per user per month.
16. Insightly
Insightly is yet another powerful customer relationship tool that also lets you track contacts, leads and projects. Its free plan is useful but if you really want to get the best use out of this tool then you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan.
17. RescueTime
As a small business owner, your time is precious. So any tool that can stop you from wasting it is well worth considering. RescueTime is a market-leading time management app that gives you an accurate daily picture of how you’re spending your time.
Once you discover what’s interfering with your work you can set alerts to warn you if you’re getting off track and even block distracting websites.
18. IDrive
There’s plenty of cloud storage providers out there but those gadget gurus at TechRadar claim that IDrive stands out above all the competition. For delivering tons of secure storage for an incredibly small outlay across a wide range of platforms, IDrive is excellent.
It’s easy to set up, provides support for unlimited devices and an extensive file versioning system that retains up to 30 previous versions of all files backed up to your account.
And the IDrive Express service assures you of quick backup and retrieval of all data in less than a week if disaster strikes. When it comes to keeping your business on track, IDrive must be on your app download list.
When protecting your essential business gadgetry from harm, be sure to get the very best business mobile phone insurance before you step foot outside the office.
19. Zoom
With the rise in remote working in recent years, video conferencing has become an indispensable tool for any modern business. PC Mag recently picked Zoom as the best for small businesses based on its top-notch performance, affordability and generous free plan.
On the back of the COVID-19 pandemic the Zoom brand has gained global recognition as a glitch-free and uber-reliable video conference service.
Apart from the free tier there’s also Pro for £11.99 a month, Business at £15.99 a month, and Enterprise for £15.99 a month – all offering a range of great benefits.
20. Slack
As anyone who runs a small business knows, communication is key. When you have a small team it’s likely that team members will take on lots of different responsibilities and projects.
Download the Slack instant messaging app and help your team collaborate more effectively and keep on top of everything that’s going on. It organises conversations to ensure transparency and lets members easily drag, drop and share images, PDFs and other files.
21. RingCentral
The RingCentral app is a cloud-based business phone system that offers stand-out service for small business users. The single platform offers crystal-clear reception and exceptional reliability across messaging video and phone. And is particularly useful for those businesses with hybrid teams and remote workers looking for a service to turn any space into a virtual conference room for regular meetings or impromptu calls.
There are plenty of standard features including unlimited calling, call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, transfer and video meetings. Something that marks it out from the competition is the fact that it can integrate with over 2,000 business software apps and productivity tools.
Pricing for RingCentral's four plans – Essentials, Standard, Premium and Ultimate – range from £7.99 to £24.99 per user per month with an annual subscription.
At the time of writing, a free Beta version of RingCentral's new Webinar product was available at no cost, a saving of £328 a year.
Business mobile phone insurance with Gadget Cover
A small business owner is likely to never be far from their trusty phone and will always be alive to any fresh opportunity. Indeed, you might even have thought of a new business angle while reading this article!
Having your phone with you so much means you’re always ready to act. It also means your device – and the vital business data it contains – can be at risk.
Business mobile phone insurance policies arranged by Gadget Cover include protection for things like accidental damage, liquid damage, theft, breakdown and unauthorised usage.
For an additional premium, policies can also cover your phone and gadgets against loss.
Get a quick quote for business mobile phone insurance from Gadget Cover today.