Apps For Starting A Small Business

Before you begin the journey of starting a new business, it is good to get some education about all the important details of owning a small business. The Small Business Guide is an interactive training program that will give you several tips in topics such as: types of business, finances, marketing, legal, HR, taxes, and more. For $9.99, this may be one of the least expensive ways to learn some of the most significant business information right on any of your iOS devices!

Once you have your idea of a business in mind, you need to put together a business plan. This will help you find investors, open bank accounts, and build other credibility in the business world. You could hire someone to help, or for $2.99 you can create one right on your iOS device! In addition, you will also learn some of the foundations to starting and running a business. There are templates for business plans, budgets, and marketing plans. Business Plan for Entrepreneurs’ Startups is based on the book The Dynamic Business Plan by Mogens Thomsen.

As you begin all the details of starting a business, it is helpful to have a useful database and project manager. Bento by Filemaker is a wonderful app to help you think about all your important business details. Bento helps you organize your daily to-dos along with projects, deadlines, databases and all of your contacts. Bento is not the cheapest app in the market, but you get a lot of bang for your buck and it works very smoothly with the iPhone and Mac app. Each device has its own app, the iPhone version is $4.99 and the iPad version is $9.99. You may want to consider the $50 Mac version as well to keep all your devices in sync. The interface is very simple to use, which is why it is highly rated in the app store.

A business card is a must-have for any small business owner. Create your business card right on your iPhone or iPad! For $.99, you will be on your way to crating a snazzy card with all your important information. The layout options are somewhat limited, but this may help you create something basic in a quick, easy and inexpensive way. You can print your own cards on standard Avery business card paper, which can be purchased at many retailers.

In order to effectively track your expenses to prepare for your taxes, obtain reimbursements, and other purposes, it is important to know how much you actually spent. Silverware Software helps this process with BizXpenseTracker. You can easily track your mileage, gas, food, and other expenses right on your iOS device. This full-featured app allows you to customize fields and have it work best for your situation. You can even break free from piles of receipts by taking a photo of them right within the app. All of your information can be exported to your Mac or PC in multiple formats, including CSV and PDF. You can also send it directly to your Dropbox account. For $5.99, BizXpenseTracker packs some powerful tools for managing your expenses!

The fun part of starting a business is dreaming about how you can grow. MindMeister will help you imagine how your business can take shape. By using a mind-mapping format, you can visualize your thoughts in a simple and creative way, right on your iPad. You can collaborate and share your maps with others, so they can give their thoughts as well. The app is free to use, with an optional in-app subscription purchase for $5.99/month or $50/year. The subscription provides access to even more helpful features such as exporting, adding images, online storage of your maps and more. The interface is simple and enjoyable to use, and it is worth checking out the basic free version to see how it works for you!

If your business includes points of sale, Square is one of the cheapest options for merchant services. Now you can accept credit cards right on your iOS device. There are no monthly fees for Square, and no cost for the app. There are only swipe fees which are competitive with others in the industry. Payments are directly deposited into your checking account within a few days. You can look back at your transactions, email receipts, and more. Proving to be secure and reliable, this may be the easiest way to accept payments for sales or services. You can either manually enter the credit card information within the app, or pick up a Square card reader at many electronic retailers. Currently, the reader costs around $10. The swipe fees when processing credit cards with the card reader are a little bit cheaper, so it may be worth the purchase. One note: you do need an Internet connection in order to process the credit cards.

One great tool for everyone in business is the ability to create a spreadsheet. Whether you are running sales figures or have other important data, Numbers by Apple is one of the best mobile spreadsheet apps in the market. For $9.99, your data will look great on either your iPhone or iPad as you create stunning graphs and charts, insert photos and more. You can import other spreadsheets from CSV, Excel or the Mac version of Numbers. There is also the ability to export your data to iCloud so you can access it in multiple locations. Especially if you currently use Excel or Numbers on your Mac, this app is a must-have for your iOS device.

Every business should have a website these days, but creating one can be daunting to the new business owner, especially if you lack the technical expertise to build one. Zapd is one of the easiest ways to get your info on the World Wide Web. Choose a theme, add some text, insert a photo and your website will be up and running. The app works incredibly fast, so you can move on to other important details of starting a business. There is no learning curve with this website builder!

Whether you are sending paperwork to the IRS or faxing a vendor, the ability to scan, email and fax documents is important while trying to set up a business. Unfortunately, the equipment to do all this can be expensive. Thanks to JotNot Scanner Pro, you will have all these abilities at your fingertips for only $1.99. Use your iOS device to take a picture of the document, which will transform it into a document that you can fax or email. You can even fax right from the app for $.99 for up to five pages. Not only is JotNot affordable, it is also easy to carry around!

If your business requires a lot of shipments, it is nice to have the ability to track them all in one place. Delivery Status Touch organizes all your shipments from multiple carriers in an easy to read format. Enter the tracking number under the correct shipping carrier, and you can follow your packages until they are delivered to your door. It is nice to have all this information all in one place, instead of looking it all up on multiple carrier websites. The app is $4.99, but will save you more than that in your time by tracking all your shipments at once!