The development of technology has constantly been improving all aspects of our lives, and work productivity, running a business or project management are no exception here. Whether you’re a small business owner or you manage a branch of a bigger corporation, you may find yourself overwhelmed by an abundance of hardware and software designed to help you. It is true that you can find many valuable solutions that will increase your company’s efficiency and profits, but you need to choose it right.
Apart from advanced systems and expensive machines that can certainly bring a lot of advantages to your business, there are also smaller solutions that you can begin with. So, to make things a little bit easier for you, we have prepared a list of 5 office apps that may help you run your business smoother and more efficiently.
FaxBurner
FaxBurner is an app designed to eliminate one of the most common frustration sources in every office – a fax machine. There’s no need to spend endless minutes waiting for a slow machine to finally work, which usually doesn’t only waste your time and other resources but also adds to your employees’ frustration. And all that can significantly decrease the productivity of your team. With a FaxBurner app, you will be able to conduct your fax correspondence using only a mobile phone or a website. Sounds convenient, right? The great thing is that you can get a free version of the app to check if it suits your needs. If yes, you may extend your plan for $12.95 or $22.95 per month, depending on your requirements.
FreshBooks
If you like to keep track of all aspects of your business, FreshBooks will enable you to stay up to date with your company’s finances, even if you’re not an accountant yourself. It is highly-recommended cloud-based accounting software that features time tracking, expense tracking, invoicing, and more. You can even take and process credit card payments with it for a %2.9 plus 30 cents transaction fee. It’s extremely easy to use, whether you want to access it with your computer, phone, or tablet, and it doesn’t lack any necessary options. Plus, you may integrate it with other financial and non-financial services, such as PayPal or WordPress. To try it out, you can use it for 30 days with no strings attached. Then, if you like it, you can choose a plan for between $15-$50 per month, but you can also add users manually for an additional fee.
Customers are the biggest stakeholders and employees are the greatest assets for any business. To run your business successfully, you need to ensure that both of them are satisfied. And to ensure satisfaction, you need to know what they think and feel about their experience with your business. Zonka Feedback is an easy-going survey app and customer experience management platform with which you can create effective customized surveys to collect employee and customer feedback and measure satisfaction.
The software works with multiple channels – SMS, email, website, Android tablets, and smartphones so that you can gather responses anytime anywhere at every touchpoint, and even offline. It is extremely easy to set up and use, and can be integrated with powerful tools like Slack, Google Sheets, Zendesk, Shopify and more to make your work more seamless. To try out, you can go for a free trial for 15 days. After that, you can go ahead with the starting price of $29/month and also get other higher plans to choose from like Professional plan at $79/month, Growth plan at $169/month, and Enterprise Plan@$429/month and Custom plan.
Microsoft 365
Previously known as Microsoft Office 365, it is one of the most popular business apps on the market – and for a good reason. It is reliable and offers a wide range of products and options for you to find something that will suit your needs. Microsoft 365 is so much more than the essentials you’re undoubtedly familiar with – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. You can get an app with cloud storage available to ensure that all your work is safely kept and can be accessed from any place or device. It also allows workers to work on the same document and see all the changes in real-time. You decide how much space you need for your OneDrive, even if only for backups. Have you already been using Google Drive? It won’t harm to have multiple backups – you may thank yourself one day for that decision, when there will an urgent need to, for instance, recover a deleted contact in Office 365.
SurveyMonkey
You can’t run a successful business without knowing what your customers think, and you can’t always rely on Google, Yelp, or Facebook ratings and reviews. SurveyMonkey will enable you to communicate with your clients, get to know their opinions, and ask for precious advice. After all, you are in business for and because of them, so there’s no better way of expanding a small business than asking people what they expect. Surveys can be shared with different team members without the need to share all the account details. There’s a free version of the app available, some premium options, as well as discounts for students and educators.
Slack
Most employees are sick of impersonal emails, and it’s not always possible to reach each other in person, especially in today’s reality, where so many companies operate remotely. Even a small business can benefit from a good communication app, and Slack is definitely an excellent choice for this purpose. It allows you to communicate with your employees and co-workers directly, as well as create channels to discuss things with the whole team. Getting things done is surely easier this way; plus, it enables people to get to know each other more than through official emails. You can choose from plans between $0-$12.50, or get customized pricing by contacting their sales team.
Final Thoughts
Of course, these are only some examples of our favorite business apps that can make it easier for big and small business owners to eliminate daily frustrations from their offices and increase productivity. Whether you’re struggling with slow devices, the lack of control over one aspect of your operations, or the overall organization of your business life, you are almost sure to find an app, software, or hardware that will help you deal with it. And it’s clearly worth it!