Harness the power of technology

Small businesses can lose their competitive edge if they don't take advantage of some of the amazing technological tools available. One very convenient class of tools includes business apps. These mobile software implementations shift tasks to virtual environments, reducing the physical burden of running a business and helping to lower costs associated with several types of physical resources. Business apps come with many different designs, interfaces, purposes and functionalities. Thanks to them, managing a small business from the palm of your hand has never been easier: everything becomes faster, more accessible and efficient. Here are 5 great business apps for your small business.


Manage your social activity with Hootsuit

Social networks are arguably the most valuable online business tools. They are a prime venue to promote your business (either locally or globally), they provide excellent insight into customer trends, can boost your website's SEO rankings, and many other things. Hootsuit offers you the ability to manage all your social network accounts from a single dashboard interface. It can incorporate individual or corporate social media accounts, helping you keep track of all your contacts and activity on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Google+ and more. This app is an excellent tool to manage your online brand (and social marketing campaigns) in a consistent and efficient manner.

Hootsuit is free. It is available for iOS and Android.


Zeal for customer satisfaction with Salesforce1

Salesforce is one of the most powerful customer relationship management (CRM) platform in the world, and its mobile incarnation is easy and convenient enough to be used by small businesses. In addition to the CRM-related functionalities such as managing meeting schedules, centralizing customer information, automatically synchronizing contact information and sales performance analysis, it integrates Chatter, Visualforce pages, custom apps and many other things into a unified and highly-customizable mobile system. CRM is an extremely valuable asset to any business because it has a strong influence in customer loyalty and sales.

Salesforce1 is available for Android and iOS. Pricing starts at $25 per month.


Stay organized with Evernote

Evernote is an extremely comprehensive tool that helps you keep all your documentation, or 'notes', well-organized and easily accessible across most online platforms. It supports text, audio, pictures and webpages. It marries highly-flexible data gathering capabilities with numerous option for deployment and sharing, making it an extremely convenient utility for small business owners. It has so many features that, once you start, it seems impossible to manage your business without it.

Evernote has a free version with limited features. Two paid versions give access to more capabilities. All versions are available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.


Manage your business expenses with Expensify

Expensify allows small business owners to organize their finances, either by importing registered expenses into their bank account or manually registering them. From there, you can create financial reports. It functions as an expense manager, especially for companies that have branch offices, long-time street vendors, and sales representatives. The app enables you to scan invoices, receipts, and other proof of expenses with the device's camera. Expenses and refunds can be approved on the mobile device's screen. The program also generates PDF reports and exports the data to management systems such as Excel, Evernote, SAP, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics.

The free app is available for Android, Blackberry, iOS and Windows Phone.


Tie your webs with the LinkedIn app

Networking is fundamental to find new business partners. And the best way to access your professional network remotely is by using the LinkedIn app. There is no shortage of business opportunities in the world's largest social network for businesses and professionals. With the LinkedIn app, you can also post news or blog posts, engage with your favorite groups, track job applications and many other things.

The LinkedIn app is available for Android, Blackberry, iOS and Windows Phone, free of charge.