Derek Goodman is the Creator and Owner of Inbizability. Visit Inbizability.com for more information on how to grow your small business.

Today’s small business apps make it easier than ever to perform what used to be considered highly complex and time-consuming tasks with the touch of a touch screen. Business functions like communication, collaboration, financial, and operational tasks can now be automated, making it easier and more cost-efficient to run your business from anywhere. Sherre Webb can help small businesses operate with maximum efficiency.

How Apps Help Productivity

Apps for small businesses are designed to boost productivity, allowing business owners to save time, money, and frustration. Apps can make it easier to do some jobs faster – for example, time management apps like Timecamp and Rescue Time help track time on various projects, both to help workers stay on task and meet deadlines, and for business owners to better gauge how long various projects take to complete. Adobe Spark also helps you save time with intuitive features to remove background from photos (and more) to help you easily create attractive graphics for your marketing campaigns.

Apps That Foster Collaboration

Today, many people collaborate across miles or even time zones, and having project management apps in place allows everyone to work together cohesively.  For example, apps like Basecamp and Asana put collective work tools in one central place, like discussion groups, shared files, and check-ins. The apps also centralize notifications to help reduce the amount of traffic through inboxes while still keeping everyone on the team linked and in the loop from an information-sharing perspective. These apps allow all team members to collaborate on the go, ensuring no one is tethered to a desk at all hours of the day and night.

Top Communication Apps

Staying connected is critical in every business, and coms apps can help you do that in myriad ways. From video and phone conferencing platforms to document-sharing and editing tools, it’s easier than ever for teams to communicate efficiently. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and Skype allow you to stay in touch with co-workers, contractors, vendors, clients, and customers. In addition to having social media apps Like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram in place, other marketing apps like Mailchimp and Salesforce Marketing can help you streamline marketing outreach. You can develop and implement email marketing campaigns and even live stream events on social media using nothing more than an app and your smartphone.

Life-Balancing Apps

Finding a healthy work-life balance can be a challenge for entrepreneurs, but fortunately, there are apps to help you schedule and manage your time in a way that’s workable for your life circumstances. According to Idealist, for many small business owners, there’s a lot of overlap between work and home. While you want to maintain healthy boundaries, there are apps to help you in the process. For example, Toggl offers time-management functions, and Outlook allows you to integrate work and family calendars. Apps for meal delivery, like GrubHub, or grocery ordering, like Instacart, can free up extra time in your day and make your home life more relaxing.

Money Management Apps

Apps that help you be fiscally responsible and responsive can save both time and money. PayPal, Zelle, Venmo, Mint, and Square are well-vetted and reliable apps. Not only can you make and accept payments, but you can also manage payroll, set up automatic deductions, and even oversee budgets and work hours. You can also track expenses, which can go a long way in helping you with bookkeeping and accounting, as well as tax preparation. Banking apps can also help you better track and manage the financial functions of your operation.

Technology continues to advance, streamline, and improve the ways we stay in touch, work, communicate, and collaborate. Learning how to better utilize apps in your business could help you increase efficiency, create better cohesion among staffers, and give everyone more freedom to work. Don’t forget to invest in key tech like wireless chargers to keep your devices running efficiently as you let these apps do the work.