The Five Best Small Business Apps for 2014
The once popular phrase, “there’s an app for that,” has pretty much died as a popular idiom since everyone already knows the value and importance of these handy, little applications. In 2014, the number of free downloaded apps fell just shy of 128 billion, projected to top 167 billion in 2015 and surpass the 200 billion mark by 2016.
Whether we’re gaming or gaining useful information, the popularity and success of our ubiquitous mobile, handheld devices and their associated apps, will only continue to rise. But for today’s small businesses, which ones are really useful? Even better, what were the best-of-the-best, the top ten, free business-related apps from the Google Play store in 2014?
In true David Letterman style, let’s start with number ten and work our way backwards to the number one choice:
Whether you’re protecting your smartphone from prying eyes or falling into the wrong hands, this vault app will put you in control of security when it comes to accessing your personal data, images, SMS and pictures on your device.
Buyer beware (even though it is free), this app has only this vague description available, “Facetime Plus Collections Trendy 2013,” and has a fair share of bad reviews, 3.4 stars out of five – no idea how it wound up in the top ten.
Definitely one of my favorites when it comes to expecting a package from one of their brown-suited delivery personnel, you can manage all your shipping needs, from location to tracking, without even logging in to your account.
In conjunction with your cash register and point of sale (POS) system, Square Register keeps track of sales and inventory, lets you manage items, and view analytics about your business—all from your point of sale
Somewhat self-explanatory, this employment app will allow you to job hunt from the convenience of your mobile device.
A cloud-based file manager for Android with tons of features and user friendly functions – so many, there’s just too many to list.
A great free application for managing documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDF files, even without a network connection. Once any of these are opened online, the data is automatically saved to your device and can be later accessed without internet access. Don’t worry, they are still available in the cloud in their original format and changes can be uploaded and saved at times when you’re connected.
Another somewhat self-explanatory solution to managing a multitude of social media pages aboard the number one networking platform. It allows you to connect with your online audience and keep up with activity on multiple pages, all from one location on your handheld device.
ADP (formerly known as Automatic Data Processing, Inc), provides mobile solutions to stay connected to a good deal of your company’s information anytime, from anywhere. It allows mobile, on-the-go access to a wide variety of HR, payroll and tax-related information and functions.
And now, without any further ado, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the number one, no-cost, absolutely free, business-related application, from 2014:
Brought to you from the fine folks over at Indeed Jobs, this employment-seeking app offers a comprehensive job search with access to millions of opportunities aboard thousands of company’s websites and board posts. From searching to applying for a new position, this powerful application will assist the job seeker through the entire process.
BONUS: In conclusion, here’s an added bonus, there’s even a mobile app for analysing mobile apps! Check out Google’s Mobile Analytics for Mobile Apps that will allow the user to analyze the performance of their downloaded applications.
About the Author
Nick Rojas is a business consultant and writer who lives in Los Angeles and Chicago. He has consulted small and medium-sized enterprises for over twenty years. He has contributed articles to Visual.ly, Entrepreneur, and TechCrunch. You can follow him on Twitter .
Related posts: