Taking Care of Business – From Your Phone

Smartphone apps have left no part of our lives untouched. Anything from a pepperoni pizza to a Saturday night date can be summoned by clicking a few buttons on a screen. Small wonder that our acclimation to convenience and instant gratification has spilled over into our work lives. 

As mobile devices become more secure, people are increasingly comfortable carrying out all types of transactions completely through their phones. These days, it’s possible for a one-person company or even a small business to find clients, send out deliverables, and even collect payments through mobile apps. If you’re contemplating starting a new business in 2022, having a smartphone makes it easier than you think. 

Benefits of Mobile Integrations

Eight out of every 10 Americans has a smartphone in their pocket, and more likely than not, that phone is internet-ready. By leveraging mobile apps, any company has the potential to significantly increase their reach, customer base, or talent pool.

With remote work quickly becoming the norm,  businesses can successfully pivot by channeling routine processes, like hiring and invoicing, through mobile apps.

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from adding mobile apps to their workflow.

Invoicing/Bookkeeping Apps

Invoicing is a businesses’ lifeblood. The proliferation of fintech has created numerous ways to receive and send money directly from a smart device. Long gone are the days of sending a check and then waiting for it to clear. 

Instead, apps like Paypal and Stripe allow customers to receive and pay invoices in the same smooth transaction. If the client doesn’t have said app installed? No problem, these apps integrate with loads of other payment types. Once the transaction is complete, these apps send off a receipt and store the invoice for posterity. 

Customer Management Apps

While technology is appreciated in most situations, customer service is not one of them. People want help from real people – chatbots just don’t cut it. While humans are great at empathy, there’s only so much one can do in a day. 

Enter the Nexa Client app, which gives any business the 24/7 customer care capacity of a multinational firm. Companies that sign up for Nexa’s monthly subscription have access to a round-the-clock call answering service manned by knowledgeable, bilingual professionals. This app ensures that customers always find a helpful voice on the line, no matter what time of day they call looking for answers.

By the way, Nexa also tracks all sorts of data, like client contact details and call notes. All of which are securely stored in the app. It’s probably the closest thing to having a secretary in your pocket.

Schedule Management Apps

Setting up meetings used to mean starting a seemingly endless email chain of checking each other’s schedules. Add in the complicating factors of multiple attendees across different time zones and scheduling becomes a logistical nightmare. Companies can now delegate all those tasks to handy mobile apps. 

Apps like Calendly and Acuity allow a user to pre-set their availability. When clients or colleagues need to set up a meeting, they can simply select a time slot that works for them – no back and forth messaging necessary.  

These apps also integrate with other project management app software like Google Calendar and automatically create events and reminders. Something came up? Canceling and rescheduling can be done in just a few clicks. 

Scheduling apps are also super useful for appointment setting. If you’ve ever set up a hair appointment or dentist visit online, chances are it was one of these mobile apps that made your experience so easy.

Payroll Apps

Payroll is one of the most essential, but also most complicated parts of running a business. Businesses have to make sure that everyone is paid for the hours they’ve worked, at the right wage, and all the correct taxes and benefits are taken out. 

Most of the time, this requires a small team. If you’re a single freelancer who only works with other contractors from time to time, that may not be an option. 

Luckily, there are several robust payroll apps that can do most of the heavy lifting. The Square payroll app works in tandem with its payment processing system. Workers can track their hours directly on the app. At the push of a button, their wages and deductions are automatically calculated. In some cases, workers can receive their payment instantly. Worst case scenario, their direct deposit will clear in four days.