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As technology steams ahead there is an increasing focus on business-related mobile technology. You have a computer in your pocket, after all, surely it can be harnessed to improve your business. Well, yes, as it turns out there is a whole world of business-focused apps now available. With just a little effort, and a small cost in some cases, you can transform your smartphone into a useful business ally. No matter which business you run, or how you run it, there’s a good chance that an app is available just for you.
Here are some of the best smartphone apps available in 2023 to help streamline your business.
WhatsApp Business
You probably already use WhatsApp, but haven’t really thought of it as business software. What can all the silly emojis and goofy memes offer your customers, right? As it turns out WhatsApp has an entire division focusing entirely on business communication. With automate responses, create built-in product catalogues, and much more.
Imagine no longer having to manually respond to every customer personally, with a customisable automated service doing most of the basic communication on your behalf. When you want to take over the conversation, you can do so, simply by stepping in at any time.
The best part? WhatsApp Business is entirely free. If you’re a small business owner there is no better client communication ally than WhatsApp Business.
Slack
Slack is quickly gaining a reputation as the must-have app for inter-office communication. With Slack, you can quickly and easily set up multiple work-related communication channels, allowing numerous employees to easily interact. The user interface is sleek and accessible, the levels of customisation are immense, and the functionality outstanding. Yes, the days of having to send emails back and forth really are over.
Once again, you might find it surprising that Slack is also completely free.
Asana
Asana is similar to Slack, but offers a far more feature-rich set of tools. With Asana you and your team can access project details, log the progress of tasks, and collaborate on various details. Just about every project, no matter how big or small, can be integrated into the system. Simply put, if you or your team work remotely, there is no better tool to have at your disposal. Though Asana is useful even if your team doesn’t work remotely.
Asana, unfortunately, does come with a cost. Though there is also a free, less extensive version available. Try it out, see if it lives up to expectations, and perhaps consider getting the paid version later.
Forecast
If your company is not operating efficiently, consider integrating Forecast into your productivity pipeline. Forecast, as the name suggests, not only logs every important step of your business, it Forecasts if there are going to be any problems in the future. This includes business aspects like conflicting deadlines, potentially overrunning costs, and much more.
Perhaps the best part of the software is that, amazingly, every cent spent at your company is carefully catalogued. So, the days of having to sit after hours to work out where all the money went are well and truly over. You can perhaps use all the extra time to head over to Black Lotus online casino instead.
Forecast is completely free, with no paid version at all.
Mileage Tracker
If any part of your company involves travel, you need Mileage Tracker immediately. Mileage Tracker, as the name says, keeps track of the distance you, and your team, cover for your work-related trips. The software automatically works out fuel consumption costs, logs the numbers, and predicts how much you’re going to spend versus how much you’re earning per trip. So, if you’re thinking about the cost of travel versus actual profit, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Mileage Tracker is also free, so be sure to download it to the phone of every team member that travels on company time.
RingCentral
RingCentral is a very versatile, extremely useful app that helps link you can your employees. Again, this app is primarily for companies that work remotely, though can still be useful in a larger office. The idea is that RingCentral keeps you and your employees permanently linked, allowing for quick video calls, the easy transfer of files and other data, and even remote collaboration on projects. Perhaps most amazing is that up to WhatsApp Business you can
100 employees can link to the same group. There is no telling how chaotic a video call with 100 participants will be, but the system is built to handle the data transfer.
The basic version of RingCentral is free, but you can pay to unlock extra features and premium content.
Meta Business Suite
Meta Business Suite is, as the name suggests, an all-inclusive system that lets you keep track of everything under the Meta umbrella. That’s Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the rest. Meta Business Suite easily links to all your social media accounts, allowing for easy access via a single entry point. More important, Meta Business Suite provides fast, easily accessible statistics and other analysis data at the touch of a button. You can see how much traffic your social media profiles get, as well as other, more specific information about each visitor. From the age and gender of each visitor, to how much time they spend browsing your catalogues, it’s all now easily available.
The Meta Business Suite is free, but there are multiple built-in paid services that unlock additional tools.
Conclusion
As you can see, no matter the business you run, or how you run it, there is software that can help unlock true productivity and potential. The real trick is, however, using the various apps effectively. Remember that integrating an app is about far more than just installing it on a phone, then sitting back and expecting it to work flawlessly. It is wise to have you and your team all fully on board about what the app is, and how it works. But, make no mistake, once these apps are properly set up you’ll see productivity soar.
