10 Best Apps for Small Business Owners

As business owners, we know how time consuming managing a business can be. Fortunately, technology has come a long way in the last few years and we’ve found some amazing new gadgets to help us manage our time and our business tasks. Here’s our list of the top mobile apps every small business owner could use.

1. Dropbox – This handy service lets you take documents, photos, and videos anywhere. It’s especially handy for those of us with multiple devices because it lets you store and share things via a folder. What’s also great about this app is that it automatically syncs every time someone changes or adds a document in the folder. No more emailing huge files back and forth to team members or yourself. Best of all, it’s FREE.

2.  Yelp – If you’re a small business owner and you haven’t claimed your Yelp account yet, do it now. Yelp is one of the most popular social reviewing sites out there and the mobile app version of this site only continues to grow.  It’s important for business owners to know what their customers are saying about them, in real time. Download this free app and you’ll always be plugged into your customer’s conversations about you.

3. Time Master – A top-ranked time-keeping app, Time Master seems to do it all. For anyone that needs to keep track of time and expenses, this $9.99 app is for you. Organize tasks by client, track meals and mileage, track time by start, stop or duration, and so much more. The most popular users of this app are consultants, attorneys, and contractors. However, it’s only available on iOS. If you’re an Android user, we suggest you check out Timesheet. This free Android app isn’t as comprehensive as Time Master, but it still provides an easy-to-use interface for timekeeping. 

4. Square – For anyone that needs to accept payment on the go, we can’t say enough good things about this app. It’s free to sign-up, and the company will send you a free Square card reader that you can attach to any iPhone or iPad (also works with Android-based devices). The reader accepts all major credit cards and deposits the amount directly into your bank account for a small 2.75% fee – a fee much smaller than most merchant services. 

5. Freshbooks Minibooks – Need to send invoices on the go? This app makes it easy. You can manage your clients, send estimates, track time, send invoices, track payments, and sync it all back to your Freshbooks account.

6. Foursquare – This free app has more than tripled its user base since this time last year, and trends are indicating that it will only continue to climb in popularity. Just like Yelp, business owners need to claim their location. But taking it one step further and offering specials and tips will only help increase your customer loyalty. For more about how to use Foursquare for small business, read our article on it over at STLSmallBusiness.com: How Foursquare Can Help Small Business.

7. Hootsuite – For the social media savvy small business owners, Hootsuite can help you manage all of your social media accounts in just one app. Yes, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare and more can all be managed inside one simple and free app. And unlike its desktop counterparts, this app is internet-based, meaning you can log into your account from anywhere.

8.  Pulse – It’s important for small business owners to keep up on the news and trends within the industry. Pulse is a new, visual way to do all of that. Available for free on Android and iOS devices, Pulse takes all of your favorite websites and converts them into a colorful mosaic of articles that are much easier to browse than a standard RSS reader.

9. Wordpress – If you have a site built on the Wordpress platform, the latest update of the app from Wordpress makes it easier to manage your site on the go. Especially useful for bloggers, this app syncs with your Wordpress account, allowing you to access drafts and post photos directly to your site.

10. Google Docs – What CAN’T this app do? Google Docs lets you access and edit your documents and spreadsheets, print on the go, upload and share files, and so much more. It’s a fantastic app for those of us that are already familiar with the web-based version of Google Docs.

So that’s our round-up of the best apps for small business owners for 2011. If you have a favorite app that we didn’t include, please tell us about it in the comments.

Goals, when the going gets tough...

Heading into 2012 many of us are thinking about goals and what we would like to accomplish during the new year. Thinking back to last year you might be thinking about how many things you either did or didn't end up accomplishing. Many of us started last year with good intentions for our business, personal life, health and a variety of other things. We likely made some progress but fell short of our goals. It will probably come as no surprise then to find that research has found that goals get tougher to reach the closer we get to them.

When we set a goal we are recognizing our current state of affairs, the state we want to get to and the gap between now and then. This discrepancy promotes us to take action. As our actions close this gap and we get closer and closer to the goal state our motivation decreases, seemingly because our current state more closely matches our goal state and as humans we tend to satisfice, meaning close is usually good enough for us.

So how do you overcome good enough? It is suggested that you periodically reset your reference state from the initial state to the current one. As a simple (and popular) example we'll use weight loss goals. If you currently weigh 190 lbs and you started at 220 lbs with your initial goal being 175 lbs you should reset you reference point to 190 lbs. Taking time to thoughtfully recognize the current gap and set a new goal should help re-establish your commitment and theoretically prevent you from settling for 190 lbs being good enough.

So as you head into 2012 think about continually monitoring progress, adjusting your goals and deciding if close really is good enough.

Leadership vs. Management

There is a lot of debate about whether or not a leader is something different than a manager. I've heard leadership defined a number of ways. As an example it's been said that managers exist to maintain whereas leaders drive change.

Part of the problem with the word "leadership" is that it's not a word invented by academia but came into being over a period of time. While academia gives words very precise definitions words that "evolve" tend to apply in a variety of contexts and are fairly general. Leadership is one of those words.

Everyone wants to talk about leadership but no one really knows what it is. There are more books about leadership than you can ever read and researchers continue to do studies and surveys on what an effective leader does. Still, no one can decide what a leader actually is or does. Does being a leader mean that you have been gifted with a set of traits that make you a natural leader? Does being a leader mean practicing a specific behaviors? Is it contextual? Is it simply being the right person at the right time? As a member of the International Leadership Association and avid reader of research on leadership I see these questions all the time, without any real consensus. The literature is inconclusive.

What I mean is that I think leadership and management are different from each other, but a manager must have a reasonable level of leadership skill and a leader, ideally, has good management ability.

I'd like to sum all of this up though with an idea. Leaders are magnets, managers are lasso's. When an organization adds people those people have different ideas and motivations. Managers exist to attempt to align the personnel's behavior and use of resources with what the organization hired them for. This is done by setting expectations, monitoring progress and providing feedback.

Leaders, I think, are more like magnets. Instead of aligning personnel behavior and motives through corralling behavior (think of a cowboy on a cattle drive) a leader pulls people toward them and/or the cause. This might be done through personal charisma or by simply being the right person in the right place at the right time, think of a group of people lost in the wilderness, the leader is the one with the compass and orienteering skills. Many times a leader simply emerges because a situation demands one, other times a leader emerges because they have taken upon themselves some mantle or cause which people are drawn to. As an example, Steve Jobs wasn't a leader because he signed the paychecks but he was a leader because followers believed that he was the right person with the right ideas to lead Apple.

I hope this gives you some idea on the difference between leadership and management. The truth is however that no real consensus exists on this matter, at the end of the day as a leader or manager we're in the business of getting things done.

3 indicators that say HIRE AWAY!

Jobs, it's on the top of every one's mind. It's been awhile since we've had any great news on the jobs front. Unemployment remains high and the answers still seem unobtainable. One opinion remains constant however, small business is going to be what fuels jobs growth. Sure, lenders are tightfisted and as a small business owner you might be a little wary about adding help, since everyone else seems to be so reluctant. How do you know when it's time to make the jump?

Here are 3 hints that might help you decide.

1. Productivity. Are your employee's maxed out? Ask them. Can you re-work task flows to increase efficiency? If you can't lighten the load with work flow changes you might have to think about adding some help to keep your staff happy and working hard.

2. Growth. Your company continues to grow and things are trending upward. We're not talking about a one or two month spike, but if you are adding new products or services and customers keep coming consider this growth a key indicator that adding an employee might not be so risky.

3. Opportunity. Are there opportunities to expand or grow but you and your current employees can't find the  the time (or lack the skills) to pursue them? It might be time to add staff.

In the perfect scenario you have eliminated all waste, your staff is working hard and creatively, you are finding and retaining new customers and you recognize an opportunity for additional growth or stability that you could take advantage of by hiring help. Hire away.

Adding staff is a big commitment, if you are unsure about the future, or an opportunity you can try a temp worker, or even an intern to avoid the long term commitment. Growth and success requires risk however and our nation depends upon you.

Two Types of Customers

A great debate came up in our house this year regarding how businesses get customers. A little back ground: I have worked in advertising for the last 8 years and my wife works in Public Relations. The debate began one night after dinner followed by a little TV of our favorite recorded shows. Somehow, since the invention of the DVR, I seem to have lost control of the remote. My wife’s a strong advocate for what she likes to call “efficient TV watching” so she likes to fast forward through all the commercials. I, on the other hand, appreciate some commercials like an art. I mean who doesn’t love a talking baby, or gecko, or oven mitt for that matter? So my argument is if we fast forward through all the commercials how will I know what car to buy, cereal to eat, or movie to see? She calmly replies, “Just ask someone or research”. (This is when my head explodes.) To clarify, I am not an easy sell, but the wife is. I view advertising almost like a job interview; the company has a certain amount of my time to tell me why they are better than their competitors and why I should choose them. My wife loves to talk with people. She’ll look at reviews and make her decision based on what other people say about the product or “word of mouth” advertising.

There are two types of customers the risk taker and the researcher. The risk taker is the type of customer who pays attention to advertising and does not mind trying something new because it looks, sounds, or smells great. The researcher is the customer who waits until they know a little more about something. They will wait to see if the product or service is accepted by others before they try it. Which began the debate of which is better for a company: advertising (paid audio or visual promotion) or public relations (paid or free word or mouth)? The conclusion is that one isn’t necessarily better than the other. In fact, without one it would be very difficult to have the other. Without the risk taker taking a chance on a product or service there would be no one for the researcher to analyze, no reviews, and no ratings except for industry award companies. So to all you marketing and advertising budget makers: include a good mix of advertising and PR for your 2012 budgets. Take it from us, the Risk Takers and Researchers in the world.

The Mobile Movement

Remember the Dynatac? 1983, Zack Morris...well mobile phones have come a long way and it has serious ramifications for business. Smarter phones means smarter shoppers. 

Here are three ways mobile has changed the way people buy:

1. New ways to shop: QR codes, mobile aps and mobile websites means consumers have been given a whole new way to buy. Whether its one click purchasing via Amazon, a mobile store or adding an item to a shopping cart via QR code people can purchase in whole new ways.

2. Information gathering: Whether its through social networks, reading reviews, price comparisons, loyalty points, online chats, mobile coupons, text promotions, group deals or check ins people gather information on the fly and in real time. More than once have I delayed or changed my mind about a purchase due to a review I read on my mobile phone while standing in the store, product in hand.

3. Payment options: Payments can be collected online, via a mobile credit card or using a phone number or text. It's about convenience. Mobile options empower people to pay.

These are just some of the ways mobile is impacting commerce. More and more people are shopping online, mobile websites are becoming more common by the day, whole new industries are rising up around mobile marketing and shopping is becoming more informed and social. 

What does this mean for business owners? That depends. Certainly mobile is changing things and different industries require different levels of adoption. At the very least you should recognize that people are now experiencing your website via a mobile device. If your current site isn't mobile friendly then its time to design something that people can read on a mobile screen and which has clearly visible contact and location information. Adding features such as a mobile catalog and mobile coupons can come later.

Online Advertising, what's happening now?

Web based advertising is big...and changing. Remember the days when the flashy annoying pop up ad's were everywhere. Thankfully those seem less prevalent and advertisers have better options these days.

So what's happening now with online advertising?

1. Eureka!!! Social advertising isn't about "likes", it's about content worthy of being shared. People share ideas, not brands. Create content worth something.

2. Be sniper accurate with targeting. The internet is nothing more than data. All that data means you can really target your audience. Facebook ad's can be used to target folks by age, geographic location etc. You can search Twitter by hash tags to pick up on interesting conversations to take part in. Google Adwords can be honed down to very specific terms if you are willing to put in the time on research and running "split test's". Speak to your niche with accuracy, they are the one's who buy into and share your ideas with others.

3. As I said, the internet is data. That means you can actually measure ROI. If you aren't using analytics (Google and others) then you really have very little idea about how well your online advertising dollars are working.

4. Be BOLD! No-one shares stuff that is boring. Say what you really think. "Like us" is a weak call to action. Why?? Are you interesting? Do you have new ideas? In a world where viral and organic traffic can create an overnight sensation to the bold go the spoils. No one likes boring. Say something new, interesting, candid. Of course there is a difference between speaking your mind and sounding insane. When writing and conversing via social media just write like you would talk, let your mind empty itself out a bit, but don't turn off your filter. A person is always more interesting than a stuffy news release. In social media people talk to people not brands.