Our Top 6 Recommended Business Apps
You are much more organized, efficient and successful when:
You have timely and effective communications with your team and customers.
You have a clear vision for your company that is supported by achievable goals, identifiable priorities, and carried out through projects and tasks
You spend less time processing payrolls, remitting taxes, and filing reports
Your accounting records are current, customers are invoiced and pay on time, vendors bills are recorded and paid timely, and you understand the relationships between profit and cash flow
Manual processes, sticky notes, lost note pads, forgotten steps, etc. are keeping you from moving forward in the direction you want to go. There comes a point when you can no longer juggle the aspects of your business without clear systems and processes. Fortunately, there are cloud based mobile software applications available that can assist small businesses, with value and benefits for even the smallest of teams and businesses. The following are tried and true apps we use that can provide solutions to problems, relief from frustrations, and create opportunities for better business.
Slack
Your team is communicating by email, text messages, paper notes…. Move team communications to Slack, a central platform to bring together all of your team messaging. Slack is accessible and utilized on desktop, browser and mobile apps. It’s accessible on all of your daily devices. Get conversations and announcements out of your email, and out of direct/group texts. Slack handles all of this simply and beautifully. Use direct and group messaging, and move conversations to channels (for topics, projects, announcements, etc.). Slack offers a free version for small teams that works well for most. We use paid and free versions for various workspaces with great results.
Asana
Tracking goals, priorities, tasks, reminders, and work assignments can be overwhelming. Where are you tracking these currently….memory, phone reminders, calendar, planner, sticky notes? It’s far better to keep the most important items organized on an accessible, collaborative platform. For this, we use Asana. In Asana, projects and tasks are created, assigned to an individual, have due date options, are clearly tracked, and are available on all of your technology platforms. Start simply, and let Asana grow with you. Stay focused, on target, and progress forward with an organized team that sees what has to be done and who is doing it. Asana offers paid and free versions for small teams. We use both with great results.
Gusto
Modern payroll platforms are giving you back your time. The tedious calculations of gross pay, federal and state tax withholdings, and employer matching taxes, are all done in a matter of seconds. Direct deposits of employee payroll, drafts of payroll taxes from the business account, and automated preparation / filings of payroll reports, are automatic. Gusto takes the pain out of processing payroll. The integration with accounting applications also make it simple and easy to record and reconcile payroll transactions.
Xero
Accounting is not a shoebox of receipts, a once per month summary, or monthly bank statements turned over to your tax preparer. Accounting is the timely capture of customer sales and collections, vendor invoices and payments, banking and credit card transactions. It’s knowing your current and projected cash flows, which products and services are generating cash and profits, and where costs are incurred. Do you know your numbers? Can you read a financial report? Xero is the accounting application we most recommend. It’s cloud based, and integrates with other applications very well, including Gusto. Xero is beautiful accounting software.
Zoom
When in-person meetings aren’t an option, video conferences are a great alternative. In many cases, video conferencing is the preferred communication method. It is convenient, efficient, cost effective and can bring many people together at once. We’ve used Zoom for many years with pleasing results. We use it for internal and external meetings, screen sharing to present content, and for live broadcasting to Facebook and YouTube. Stay in touch with your people, and have better meetings with Zoom.
Loom
Video is an excellent way to send messages, present documents and ideas, and record tutorials and guides. We’ve received amazing feedback from recipients of recorded videos using the Loom app. Quickly record and send a news announcement or update. Respond to questions with a video response that includes a presentation / tutorial. If you make it a general video as a response to a common question, it can shared over and over as a resource. Loom is amazing. We use Zoom for live meetings and Loom for recorded asynchronous video communications.
Have questions about any of the above apps? We use all of these daily/weekly and are here to help. Looking for an implementation partner?