Today’s business world is all about apps.
Millions of employees are now working from home, which means remote collaboration has never been as important.
Of course, remote collaboration and efficient teamwork are not only possible through apps, but without them, you’re not going to achieve very much.
But this raises a big question: what are the best apps for small businesses?
Right now, there are thousands of different apps that small businesses can use across a variety of different devices, from computers and laptops to iOS and Android smartphones. Some of these apps are free, while others have to pay for them.
To make life easy for the small business owners reading this article, here are the 5 best apps you should use.
1. Microsoft 365
Let’s start with a classic: Microsoft 365.
According to Statista, Microsoft 365 is used by over 1 million companies worldwide. Microsoft offers a handful of affordable business plans (which allow owners to save money), so this is hardly surprising!
So, if you haven’t already, it’s a good idea to purchase a Microsoft 365 plan for your business and get your employees set up on their work computers and smartphones. From Microsoft Teams to Word and Excel, you’ll get access to all the tools you need.
After doing this, it’s recommended that you receive additional Microsoft 365 services help, from cloud migration to management of individual users.
2. Zoom
After the past couple of years, a lot of directors, managers, and employees are feeling a little ‘Zoomed out’.
It’s certainly fair to say that Zoom has become the face of remote working. Without it, many business teams would have struggled to communicate with each other – and many sales meetings simply wouldn’t have been able to go ahead.
Zoom is free-to-use and is a pretty simple application. Therefore, if your small business is passionate about remote collaboration and virtual meetings, this is a must-have app.
3. Google Drive
Google Drive is an excellent tool for sharing and accessing important work documents from anywhere around the world. Plus, if you purchase Google Workspace, each user within your organization can get unlimited storage space across their Gmail messages and Drive. However, you should only use Google Workspace if you create and share a lot of documents. Otherwise, you don’t need it.
4. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an amazing tool for small businesses and their employees.
Think of it as the Facebook of the business world. On LinkedIn, you can post important business updates, grow your following, reach out to other companies, post job vacancies, and so much more.
On top of this, you can also use it as a communications tool for chatting and video calling.
The standard version of LinkedIn is free, but can you can also buy the premium version if you want to unlock more features.
5. Dropbox
If you want a simple and basic app for syncing files and folders across various platforms, then Dropbox will be useful for your small business.
It works across Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS and even allows you to access it via the web without having to download the app. However, unless you pay for a subscription, individual users are only allowed 2GB of storage (which isn’t a lot).