5 Must-Have Apps for Entrepreneurs On the Go

Entrepreneurs all have one thing in common: an undeniable can-do spirit. It doesn’t matter the task, the business owner knows they can get it done … accounts payable, human resources, reception, custodial services. It’s not easy, but no one ever said it would be. Success is often determined simply by finding smarter ways to get all of these endless tasks done quickly, efficiently, and on the run. Any edge that you can gain in the everyday functions of your organization is something you’re getting over your best competitor.

Luckily, mobile technologies are evolving to put the power of all sorts of business expertise right in the palm of your hand. Your smartphone, tablet or other mobile device, and the apps it can enable, are changing the way business gets done and helping today’s entrepreneur build their fortunes, pay those bills, manage employees and more. Unfortunately, there still isn’t an app that can sweep the floors just yet, but here are a few that can help with the other stuff.

Telzio  

It’s undeniable that VoIP services can be a cost saver in the office by cutting the price per minute of voice calls to fractions of a penny. But what about mobile calls? Telzio offers a business VoIP app you can download to your smartphone that will allow you to make VoIP (voice over internet protocol) calls wherever you are.

Turning your smartphone into a “softphone” also saves on expensive roaming charges when traveling, which can rack up quickly with a traditional mobile carrier.

Desk.com 

Customer service is the heart beat of any business. Desk.com, from the well-established problem solvers at Salesforce.com, is an app that allows you to manage and monitor your customer operations on your mobile device from anywhere. The service sets you up with a customer service operation, provides feedback and insights into your customers’ experience and more.

The basic service will get you up and running with basic customer service strategy with e-mail, social media and phone support for $3 per month. Top-tier service includes language support in more than 40 languages and a 24-hour help desk.

Quip 

Collaboration on a single document is never a simple affair, but when everyone on the team is constantly on the move and working in real time, the “tracking” feature on your word processing program just isn’t going to cut it. Quip is an app that combines document sharing and messaging for fast, efficient real-time collaboration. Even when you’re offline the service allows you to make changes to a shared document. Best of all—everyone is working off the same draft. No more merging of edits and comments.

TribeHR 

From recruiting to employee self-service, TribeHR offers an online software solution and a companion mobile app to help manage the talent that is the lifeblood of any small to medium enterprise. TribeHR provides a central spot of collaboration to monitor your team’s progress with features like a real-time news feed and company directory. The TribeHR service also offers tools for your mobile device for managing nuts and bolts human resources functions like compensation, employee history and time-off tracking.

FreshBooks 

The FreshBook service boasts that it’s an accounting service for the non-accountant. Perfect, right? Its mobile app lets you track employee time, send invoices and manage expenses on the move. A running clock helps you accurately bill for the time you spend on a client. It also captures receipts via your smartphone’s camera for easy expense tracking. For the small business owner, FreshBooks mobile app also lets you monitor your company’s performance in real-time, wherever you are.