
Lois Kirkpatrick
Communications and Marketing Manager
Ask startup owners which mobile apps help them the most, and you’re likely to hear rave reviews about Evernote, DropBox and Dragon Dictation. Others are fans of time-tracking apps like TimeClockPlus, or receipt-management apps like Lemon. Depending on the type of business, apps that enable credit card payments on mobile phones also get two thumbs up. Learn how these (mostly) free apps for iPhones and Androids* can help you save time and money, and increase your productivity.
iPhone, Android
Free
Doesn’t everybody use Evernote? Maybe it just seems that way. This app lets you store and sort text, voice recordings, web content, photos and videos across all your devices.
iPhone, Android, BlackBerry
Free
Like Evernote, DropBox is also a frequent flyer on “best business apps” lists. It’s a “cloud-based, automatic, file synchronization service” (PC Magazine). Translation? You can store documents, photos and videos on DropBox and access them from anywhere on any of your devices. Also allows you to share files with colleagues remotely.
iPhone
Free
This app has been favorably reviewed in the New York Times and Business Week. It lets you speak the message you want to send by email, Facebook, or Twitter, or a post for your blog. Allows languages other than English. Nuance, the company that makes Dragon Dictation, states that using this app is up to five times faster than typing on a keyboard.
Android
$3.99
This app helps you accurately track your billable hours, and generates invoices. Also allows you to retrieve the data from your computer or laptop if your phone gets lost, broken or stolen.
iPhone
Free
Log how much time you spend per project, and know exactly how much to bill each client. Use it like a time clock, or plug in your hourly rate and track your earnings. A variety of reports can be generated and sent by email.
iPhone, Android
Free
Keeping track of receipts for your business records can be a hassle. With Lemon, you just take a picture of the receipt with your phone, and the app captures the data so you can track it, organize it, store it, analyze it – and throw the original slip of paper away. Mentioned in USA Today, TechCrunch and on CNN.
iPhone, Android
Free
Square allows you to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover payments on your mobile phone anytime, anywhere. Your customers just swipe their cards through a one-inch square credit card reader you plug into your phone. The buyer signs off on the transaction with a finger, and gets a receipt by text message or email. Transactions are fully encrypted for data security.
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*Although there are a wide variety of BlackBerry apps, 82 percent of the 152.3 million smart phones shipped from January – March 2012 were iPhones and Androids. Over the last year, the market share for BlackBerrys has fallen from 13.6 percent to 6.4 percent.
What smart phone app do you recommend for LoudounPreneurs? Tell us at LoudounBiz@Loudoun.Gov.
Interested in reading more? Check out issue #2 of LoudounPreneur!