We check our phones about 85 times a day. Chances are, you’re reading this on one right now – or it won’t be long till you check it again. A staggering 70% of internet traffic now comes from mobile devices.
This ‘smartphone addiction’ gets bad press these days. For any small business owners, rather than a distraction, the smartphone is now their secret weapon. It’s the operating system for your life – your connection to the world, from keeping in touch with colleagues and loved ones to answering any question instantly (thanks, Google), to managing projects, teams, tasks and expenses from anywhere. There are many great apps for entrepreneurs, in every industry, for every need.
We’re witnessing the rise of the smartphone entrepreneur. In fact, Xero asked young entrepreneurs, back in 2014, what the single most important tool for running their business would be in the future. The answer? Smartphones. No surprise, then, that the ‘app economy’ could be worth an eye-watering $6.3trillion by 2021.
Do you often find yourself managing tasks and teams from your smartphone? Here’s our pick of the five best apps for entrepreneurs managing a business on-the-go.
Xero – Accounts in the cloud
Having beautiful, simple accounting software that can scale with our business is essential, and the ability to switch integrations on through the Xero Marketplace is a real bonus.
Trello – Task management made simple
Task management apps like Slack and Asana are great for growing teams – but if you need a simple, quick, shareable dashboard for tracking and managing projects, Trello is a life saver. Create a board, invite team members and start collaborating within minutes.
Curve – Simpler business spending
Curve simplifies the way you spend, cuts out FX fees on business trips, and allows you to automate expenses by sending them straight to Xero.
Wetransfer – Getting files from A to B
On mobile and on a desktop, WeTransfer is a simple, secure, fast way to share things we’re working on – whether it’s with someone on our team or in another organization altogether.
Citymapper – Getting me from A to B
Frequent travel is often part of the job – but tight scheduling often means it’s vital for to get around like a local with minimum fuss, no matter what city you’re in. Citymapper is a powerful, simple solution for that need, and it rarely lets me down.