Five Free Apps for Small Businesses
As small businesses, we are often required to fulfil a number of functions ourselves – from salesperson to marketer, accountant to social media manager – even though some of the areas and required skills may be out of our depth. Luckily… There’s an app for that!
If the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown taught us just one thing, it would be that people and businesses are able to work remotely effectively, provided they have the right tools and technology at their disposal. The evolution of smart phones has enabled us to bring the office into the palm of our hands (quite literally) and the multitude of available apps means that no matter our challenges or requirements, there is more than likely a platform designed to overcome it (and many of them for free).
Here are some of our favourite free apps for small businesses:
DOODLE
Free Online Meeting Scheduling Tool
Have to schedule a meeting with a large number of participants and want to find a way to see which date and time suits the majority without going back and forth via email multiple times? Then creating a Doodle Poll will be your lifesaver! This app enables you to create a poll – which indicates the meeting subject and description and a number of set dates and times (which you have pre-selected) – that allows desired participants to indicate their preferences. The basic poll functionality is free (upgrades with more features and benefits are available) and enables participants to login and see the other respondents’ selections as well, making it possible to make a non-biased decision based on majority vote.
CAMSCANNER
Free Mobile Scanning App
Camscanner converts your phone into a PDF scanner. With lockdown and a move to more remote workspaces, many people have realized their reliance on office printers and scanners to perform basic office functions. Camscanner is a mobile, device-friendly app which enables you to scan documents, optimize scan quality, convert to PDF or jpeg files and share via email or on social media – all from your mobile phone! Premium subscriptions are available with more advanced capabilities but the free version is sufficient for basic scanning requirements.
Available from Google Play Store
MICROSOFT TO-DO
Task Management App
Battling to stay on top of your day-to-day tasks for work, home, kids, shopping and more? Microsoft To Do enables you to make shopping lists or task lists, take notes, record collections, plan an event or set reminders to increase your productivity and prioritise your daily schedule. Intelligent suggestions recommend tasks from across your lists that may be relevant for the day and you can also sync tasks from other Microsoft apps (such as Outlook, Planner etc).
Available from Google Play Store
CANVA
Graphic Design, Video, Collage and Logo Maker
We all know the importance of social media to businesses, but not all of us are in a position to employ a graphic designer to create professional images that are engaging, correctly sized and personalised for our brand. Canva is an awesome platform which brings out the graphic designer in all of us (ok not quite – but the drag-and-drop functionality makes it almost impossible not to create Insta-worthy artwork). If you need to create logos, cover photos, profile pictures, online adverts, posters, presentations and more for your business, Canva has a huge range of ready-made templates or you can create your own and store them for future use.
TRELLO
Collaborative Project Management App
Managing a team remotely and looking for a platform to share files and project status updates in real time? Then consider Trello – described by someone as virtual ‘corkboard’ enabling users to organise “cards” into actionable lists to enable teamwork and collaboration. It is an easy to use, highly visual tool which aids in better team management and enables the project manager to gain insight into the process flow.
Available from Google Play Store
