Apps that your Business Needs
It used to be if you were an outside contractor (not at an inside office) you could not live without a pager for the office to reach you. Then that moved to you could not live without a basic cell phone, then a Blackberry, and now an iPhone, iPad, or similar smart device. With this increasing technology boom new applications or Apps as they are called are being made and coming out at an alarming rate, almost 1000 or 1 every 90 seconds are submitted to Apple every day. Of that number about 625 are approved and added to Apple’s list every day. The Google Play Store is just as prolific. With those kinds of numbers, it is no wonder I am hearing, seeing, and finding new apps every time I look that small business owners like pressure washing contractors could be using in their daily performance of their jobs.
Many now are kind of old hat-like job estimators, square foot calculators, directions, and map programs, but here are some other ones I think you should check out.
Flashlight for when you can’t find the one that should be in your truck.
Dropbox is great for sharing documents, photos, and more with anyone who also has the application.
Documents 2 by Savy Soda is an upgrade of a whole office suite and file manager that will work with any Microsoft file. Transferable to PC with USB or Wi-Fi. Includes Dropbox integration.
Task Pro by AlifSoft is not just a list maker, it allows subsets, easy emailing, searchable, and sortable. Allows for multiple lists at one time so you can make a list for every job, work crew, or task you need.
Evernote is one of the most used organization apps. This allows you to store notes, photos, and to-do lists, even dictate voice reminders, and is completely searchable. OneNote is the Android version.
Hours Tracker by Calos Ribas (Free with displayed advertising) was Voted the Best Time Tracking App for the iPhone. To remove ads you must pay for the app.
Device Tracker by iT Guy Technologies $1.99 Use it to list every piece of equipment you have. Can list by rig, add photo, list specs, part numbers, serial numbers, and warranty info.
GoPayment from Intuit is great especially if you use QuickBooks for seamless accounting integration and comes with a card reader.
Square Register enables you to scan cards with a free reader for a flat 2.75%, deposited in 1-2 business days to your account.
PayPal Here if you just need a lower-cost credit card application. Only 2.7% of payment amount per swipe and again no contracts with third-party banks or card processing companies.
or PayAnywhere which can handle credit cards with or without a card scanner. With the GeoTax feature on it can calculate sales tax based on GPS location. Also has cash drawer compatibility.
Scanner Pro by Readdle One of many scanning programs currently out there.
Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker can send data to QuickBooks and other programs or to Excel. Free download but it does cost for use with bought credits.
Mint.com Personal Finance makes it easy to track daily expenses in a single place. You can create a budget and the mint.com website can track your bank, credit, loans, and more budgets.
BillMinder helps you remember recurring expenses and reminds you when bills you enter are coming due. Has a complete group of reports and graphs for tracking.
Expensify lets you scan receipts with your phone camera and later syncs them up with your credit card transactions. With the GPS on it will track mileage and generate an exportable summary report that can sync with QuickBooks or Google Docs.
Dragon Dictation lets you use that dead driving time to get work done. It learns your speech pattern and allows you to dictate for later review, work, printing, or e-mailing.
These are just a few of the many app possibilities out there now to help you while you are mobile and out running your business in the field.
