If you are a small business owner wondering if there are any apps out there that can help make your life easier, wonder no more! These days you can practically run your entire business through a tablet or mobile device. Your device can handle point-of-sale, time tracking, invoicing and much more.

Here are a few of our favorite apps for small business owners:

PayPal, one of the first online transaction companies, got into the mobile payment game with the PayPal Here.
Image credit: PayPal

Point of Sale

You’re probably already familiar with Square, the little plastic card reader that plugs into a smartphone. But Square is no longer the only card reader in town. Here are a few of the card readers currently out there:

• Square
• PayPal Here
• Amazon Register
• Intuit GoPayment

You can get all of these for essentially free (for example, the Square reader is $9.99 at retail stores, but it comes with a $10 mail-in rebate). The card reader companies make their money off transaction fees, which vary by device. You can read more about credit cards readers in this article.

Let’s talk about a different type of cards: business cards.

Business Card Readers

There are apps that will allow you to photograph, scan and store the information from people’s business cards, creating a digital Rolodex. There are two major apps. Abbyy’s is the tried-and-true original, Evernote’s is the new upstart:

• Abbyy’s Business Card Reader ($4.99 on Android and $5.99 on iOS)
• Evernote Hello (free)

Bookkeeping

A good bookkeeping app will not only connect to your various accounts and allow you to create invoices, but will categorize your expenses and income for tax purposes. There are a number of cool bookkeeping apps out there:

• Freshbooks
• Quickbooks
• GoDaddy Bookkeeping (formerly Outright.com)

Most of these charge monthly or yearly subscription fees. There is also a newcomer called Wave Accounting whose website is free to use. Wave also does payroll management for $4/month for the first 10 employees (and $1/employee after).

Productivity

You have two major options for productivity software. The first is Google Drive, which includes Google Docs and Google Sheets. This is free, but not as fully-featured as Microsoft Office. You can also get Microsoft Office 365, the cloud-based (read: online) version of Office. One user is $6/month.

Also, this is not exactly an app but we would be remiss if we didn’t mention Google Apps for Work. Do you want to have your own, custom email address that still uses the Gmail interface? Google Apps for Work can give you that. For instance, Ray@SmallBusiness.com could be accessed through Gmail and would also have full access to Google Drive.

Google Apps for Work is $5/user/month or $50/year.

Nicole Butler is a self-described geek. She is also the owner of Nicole Made This, a small business specializing in handcrafted items such as soaps, lotions, scrubs and other spa items. She was kind enough to sit down with Deemable for an interview while setting up for Art Walk. Art Walk is a fun-filled event held the first Wednesday of every month in downtown Jacksonville that features local artists and vendors. It’s a great place to pick up one-of-a-kind items and visit Nicole. She’s in the Visitors’ Center on Laura Street across from Chamblin’s Bookmine.

NB: A larger business is typically a less efficient “machine.”  As a very small organization, I can implement changes and improvements almost immediately.  Because I control all aspects of my electronic presence, I can carry those changes through my entire business within a matter of moments.  I have often joked that the ability to change with the times is imperative to growth and success – “adapt or die”.

Technology enables me to improve and evolve with the rapid pace of today’s market.

DT: What’s your favorite business app for the iPad?

NB: Square Register.  I can process payments and control my inventory and purchasing with the touch of a few buttons.

NB: I utilize the inventory controls in Square for in-person purchases, as well as the in-depth status tools available to me on Etsy.