5 Must Have Apps for Start Ups

When you are starting a business, it can be hard to know which tools will help your business to thrive, yet still be affordable. The great news is that there are many tools which are robust in functionality and low in cost – or sometimes even free – that will give your business the right foundations right from the start. Start-ups are most successful when they use technology to help scale their business fast. Here’s a rundown of some of Bx’s favourite tools and apps to help you structure your business and that will scale with you as your business needs shift.

1. Quickbooks Online

Every business needs to make and receive payments, and the right accounting software can streamline that process. At Bx, we love Quickbooks Online as it has pricing packages to suit varying business requirements and you can upgrade functionality as your business grows. Quickbooks Online makes it easy to generate quotes and invoices, and with the mobile app you can instantly upload expense receipts on-the-go. By connecting your bank accounts and credit cards, Quickbooks Online makes it easy to get an instant view of your finances – and all business owners know how valuable that is.

2. Asana

Asana makes it easy to allocate activities to team members and track projects from start to finish. By clearly outlining responsibilities and next steps, everyone knows what they need to be doing and by when. Asana helps business owners to see the status of projects at a glance and reduces unnecessary meetings.

3. Google Apps

With bucket-loads of functionality, Google Apps is worthy of its own post. Collaborating on documents and managing version control is made easy by sharing files on Google Drive. For word processing, spreadsheets, presentations and more, Google Apps makes working in teams a breeze and saves huge amounts on software licensing fees. As well as Google Docs, Google Apps includes email, calendars, video conferencing, intranet functionality and more. There’s also an ever growing number of third party add-ons to investigate.

4. Secret Server Online

Secret Server Online is a powerful password management tool. It allows businesses to create a centralised, web-based repository of passwords and assign various levels of user permissions to team members. It creates and stores strong passwords, and can also be used to securely store sensitive data such as credit card details and product license keys.

5. MailChimp integrated with InstaPage

Email marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. An important tenet of email marketing is that you should be able to trace where traffic has come from and measure the success of your campaigns. MailChimp provides excellent email management functionality that is easy to use, while InstaPage makes it easy to create landing pages to direct customers to. Used together, they provide a cost-effective platform to get the best results from your email marketing campaign. Make sure you upgrade from the free version (it’s about $10 per month) to take advantage of the automation features.

The next level?

In time, you might find that your business outgrows these tools, and we can help guide you in choosing new apps once that point is reached.
The right technology can make a massive difference to your business – what tools do you love? Let us know if you agree with our picks or if you have different favourites. If you are struggling to get the right technology to help your business scale, we’d love to help you out. Call Bx on 1300 068 229 or find out about our Business for Life Program