Top Business Apps to Help You Manage Your Business

Managing a business has multiple facets to it. First, you need to make sure there is sufficient capital to run the business, expenses must be paid such as utilities and salaries, and that the operations are going according to plan. Next, you need to make sure that the employees are executing what they were tasked to do and that sales are made, hopefully leading towards profit. These are just a few of the many things on an entrepreneur’s mind. Thankfully, there are numerous apps to help you manage your business.

A business app is a type of downloadable software, usually for mobile devices. It aims to help business owners manage their businesses. The wide variety of products and product categories help us manage our time, track sales, keep our businesses safe and assist with marketing endeavours.

This guide takes a look at the top technologies that help operations run smoothly.

Human resource management apps are applications that assist you with every aspect of HR. This can entail applicant tracking, managing benefits and payroll, tracking time and attendance, learning management, reporting, analytics, e-signatures, organisational charts, employee feedback and task assignments.

A few examples of this software include Sage HR, Zoho and Breezy.

Cybersecurity is a vital, but often overlooked aspect of managing your business. Cybersecurity protects your business from online attacks such as hackers. Criminals have become much more shrewd and phishing e-mails and scams are just a drop in the ocean when it comes to cybercrimes.

If you have an e-commerce website, this is an app that you can’t overlook. However, this isn’t the only reason to improve your cybersecurity. It also protects sensitive information from employees and customers. These data breaches can become costly as some request a ransom to release your website, or a breach can mean a huge punch in your reputation.

Two examples of cybersecurity apps are Kaspersky and Avast.

Social media apps are useful for social media marketing, community building and brand awareness. The first step you will need to take is to platforms you will use and whether your audience is also on it. After this, you will need to open profiles on the platforms and start generating content.

You need to be careful on social media because if you don’t use the right strategies on the platforms, you can easily waste your time.

Social media platforms that you can use include TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Threads.

To run a successful business, you need to constantly assess if your business is on the right track. This is where analytics tools come in handy.

Analytics tools identify the performance of your business in particular areas. Google Analytics, for example, will give you insight into the performance of your website. Similarly, on-platform analytics tools for social media platforms indicate what content, sponsored posts or social media adverts performed the best.

Customer relationship management apps help businesses serve their customers. This type of app is a system where all of a business’s interactions with customers are tracked. It assists you in recording all the e-mails and calls a salesperson makes and indicates which client was contacted. Ultimately, this technology contributes to improved profitability, streamlined processes and (as the name suggests) customer relationships.

The software helps your business to create an organised team that effectively uses tools that enhance data-driven processes.

A few popular names in the CRM software category include Salesforce, monday.com and Sage.

Inventory management once again improves the efficiency of your business because knowing what items are in stock and when you need to reorder makes operations run smoother. The other reasons why you should manage your inventory is that it helps your finances, and protects your reputation.

It protects your reputation because it prevents you from wasting money and selling old stock (which can make people sick). Additionally, it shows business owners which stock sells quicker than others.

Using software to help control stock not only makes these calculations easier but also links to your sales. At the end of the month, you are able to see that the amount of sales corresponds with the remaining stock – giving you insight into your financial health.

Examples of these types of software include SYSPRO or Oracle.

Communicating with your team is a vital part of managing your business. Using tech tools such as communication apps speed up the communication process much more than sending e-mails to-and-fro. These apps have also become quite robust, making them versatile in sending media, multiple communication styles and use across devices.

Some of these apps are Slack and Microsoft Teams, but some businesses also use Google Chat.

Whether a business is big or small, all can benefit from project management apps. The software organises, plans and allocates resources and helps project managers. This type of software helps to:

• Improve planning and scheduling,
• establish clear goals,
• manage resources,
• track progress,
• identify risks and issues,
• forecast for the pipeline.

ClickUp, Asana and Trello are some of the examples of project management apps that help your project management apps.

Often found in a mobile version, payment apps allow businesses and customers to complete transactions from their platform. It doesn’t matter whether you are paying for goods or services, any small business can benefit from these apps.

Many customers and small businesses might find this to be a safer option because neither person is carrying cash on their person. Furthermore, it improves cash flow with reduced banking fees, can often integrate with other apps such as accounting software and can easily be automated. Not to mention, it is also eco-friendly, because it’s completely paperless.

Snapscan, Zapper and Payfast are all examples of payment apps.

Accounting software is a must for any business. The software – although including other functions too sometimes – allows small businesses to invoice, quote, add tax calculations and track sales. All information related to your client’s bank account and account with you is also controlled by the accounting apps. These tools act as a vital part of managing your business financials. It can generate reports and reconcile bank statements.

Examples of accounting apps include SMEgo from Old Mutual, Zoho and Sage.

Both time-tracking and attendance apps can be useful for business owners. With these tools in hand, it means that they don’t need to check up on workers every day. Both the employees and employers can rest assured knowing that there is a digital log for their work.

Alternatively, where work needs to be done and clients are paying per hour, tracking the time that you or your employees spend on specific deliverables can give an accurate representation of what clients are receiving. This prevents you from selling yourself short and getting paid for the actual time you spend on projects. It’s also important to note that tracking the time you spend on certain tasks can boost your productivity. Why? Because seeing a visual representation of what you have completed in a particular time frame can make you feel a sense of accomplishment.

If you are marketing your business online, creating posters to put up in your storefront or designing your own business cards, then you need content creation apps. These tools vary in difficulty of use, but at the end of the day, they are powerful apps that help you generate content for social media as well as design creative elements for your marketing.

Apps such as Canva bring users an entire suite of elements and options to create videos, social media posts, and website banners. Other tools that you can also investigate are the Adobe Suite and PicsArt.

Two examples of these apps include Toggl and Clockify.

With the help of powerful technologies, managing your business can be a breeze. Keeping track of your project, the time employees spend on their tasks, paying salaries and balancing the books are all done through software tools. The best part is that many of these tools can be used collaboratively to automate and enhance the way you run your business. Whether it is managing client relationships or tracking sales, keeping track of finances is simple. You can also use content creation tools to develop videos or artwork to promote your business on social media and analytics apps show you how your business grows. Communication apps help you communicate important information and instructions to your staff members. Payment software makes sales transactions easier and cybersecurity apps ensure that all your private business and client information is safe and secure.

It is clear that each app has a way to improve the overall operation of your business, ultimately working to reach your business goals. There is no reason to delay; find out about the apps you need today and see how your venture grows!