5 Ways to Stand Out and Boost Black Friday Sales
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, falling on Friday 29th November in 2024. It’s known for being a perfect time for snagging a bargain, opening the...
Did you know that only around 60% of time at work is spent productively?¹ Wasted time can equal wasted money for small businesses, but you can fight back with technology.
There’s a whole heap of helpful Android and iOS productivity apps out there, from virtual meeting apps like Skype, through to apps such as Wise to streamline your business finances.
So let’s take a look at the apps that’ll transform your working day.
Wise offers a business account to send, spend, and receive multiple currencies with the real exchange rate.
Automate payments and payroll with an open API, and integrate with your accounting software - to make global payments simple, fast and low-cost.
Create your account & take your business global. |
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More on that later.
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Financial Management
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Many business owners think they can handle accounting themselves, until they actually try to do it. Software can save you the headache of complex VAT returns, report generation and a thousand other tasks. You can sync it with other accounts and crucially, it can save you from making costly mistakes.
Take a look at our guide to the best accounting software for small businesses and the best free accounting software, to help you find the right tool for balancing the books.
If you need to pay overseas suppliers or sell to a global market, you’re going to need to find the fastest, cheapest and most reliable way to make and receive international payments.. Money transfer apps are just the ticket, offering all of this plus the convenience of managing money on the move.
We’ve put together a guide to the best money transfer apps for improving business performance and streamlining money management – take a look.
The key to success is making business processes simple, and automating where possible - to allow you to focus on building your company. Wise combines convenience,** speed** and** price** - to help make your financial operations a breeze.
Wise works for everyone - from small businesses to large enterprises. See how it can help you today - create your account in minutes.
Wise is 19x cheaper than PayPal for international payments - so you’ll benefit from a global market without losing out on fees and marked-up exchange rates - making paying overseas suppliers effortless.
You’ll also maximise profits, by receiving client payments with zero fees with local account details - that you can get in minutes. You can even spend anywhere with no hidden fees, using the Wise Business Mastercard®.
And, as Wise has domestic banking partners all over the world - your money can get to where it needs to be - faster.
Using the Wise payouts platform for global businesses, you can make payouts faster, and for less - all around the world. Easily pay multiple international payments to pay recurring invoices and payroll with one click.
Handle your accounting instantly, by automatically syncing your activity for over 40 currencies to Xero. It's like connecting Xero with your bank – but better.
You can also automate payments, connect business tools and create beautiful ways to manage finances, with our open API.
And, you can manage it all on the go with the Wise app.
Now, about that productivity…
Teams that work, communicate and collaborate well together, are able to streamline processes and get things done.
Slack is a powerful online communication app designed to make team communication more effective.
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Slack is an affordable (free for small teams) messaging platform that can cut email use down to size, as well giving your team a more dynamic way to communicate.²
For small teams, Slack is free - but if you have more employees or need the more exclusive features then you’ll need one their paid plans. There are:
*Voice and video calls are only available for up to 15 people, with paid plans. **Prices based on annual billing. Higher prices if opt to bill monthly. For full pricing details visit the Slack website.
Monday.com offers an innovative platform for tracking projects, managing tasks, meeting deadlines and crucially, team collaboration.
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When it comes to improving employee engagement to drive business performance, adopting an aesthetically-pleasing, user-friendly app like Monday.com is a great way to get your team on board.⁴
The cost of using Monday.com depends on how many people you have in your team, and the level of plan you opt for.. For example if you have 15 users, there are 4 plan options to choose from:
**Prices based on annual billing. For full pricing details visit the Monday.com website.
TameDay is all about steering your staff away from messy email chains, instead encouraging fast, dynamic messaging with its real-time chat app.
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Unlike some other tools which also offer project management features, TameDay has a central focus on helping people to work together more productively.⁶
Prices differ depending on the number of users that will access the platform. An overview is:
You can get unlimited access for 3.50 EUR per user, per month.⁷***
***Unlimited plans start at a minimum of 11 users. For full pricing details visit the TameDay website.
Project management apps bring together all of the many different tasks, team members and resources needed to bring a project home.
Asana is an established app used by big players such as Intel, Uber and Pinterest⁸, offering a full set of tools for organising and managing projects.
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If you need to be super organised to get a project finished, choose Asana. It’s easy to use, has a huge range of features and is an industry favourite.⁹
Asana offer 4 levels of account, they’re priced at:
One of the most widely used apps for project management, Basecamp offers a central hub from which to organise projects. In short, it gives you everything in one place.
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BaseCamp may be a little pricey (although it offers an all-inclusive monthly price, so no per-user fees), but it can transform the way you work.¹¹
Basecamp over plans for both personal and business users. For their business option, the cost is 99$ per month. This is for all business, regardless of the number of users need to access the tool. They have the option for you to try before you buy - with a free 30 day trial.¹²
This popular business productivity app is based on Kanban boards, helping you to make tasks visible to everyone and move them through phases all the way to completion.
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If you need to organise tasks and to-do-lists, share ideas and move projects along, Trello is a great tool, and it’s free to use.¹³
Trello let you use their service in a way that suits you, with pricing to match. The three pricing tiers are:
Pricing based on being billed annually. Cost per user of Enterprise package, decreases the higher the number of users you have.For full pricing details visit the Trello website.
When there’s a million things to do and remember - productive people tnd to write it down.
OneNote is the digital notebook from Microsoft, offering a similar interface to Microsoft Word (with elements of Microsoft Paint).
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While perhaps not as fast or innovative as some of the other top Android and iPhone productivity apps, OneNote is nonetheless a useful tool for Office users.
OneNote is a Microsoft product, and is free to download. If you want access to additional Microsoft products, then there may be a cost.¹⁵
Evernote is one of the most widely used productivity apps for Android and iPhone, for both business and personal users.
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Evernote offers all the bells and whistles you could want with a note-taking app, which is probably why it’s one of the most popular productivity apps for Android and iPhone.¹⁶
Evernote offer 2 account options: Basic, Premium and Basic - the prices for which are:
All paid account options come with the option of a free trial, so you can check if it’s right for you before you buy.¹⁷
Todoist offers a straightforward, user-friendly app for budding note takers, with a couple of handy extra features.
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As it’s so easy to start using Todoist, this is a great app for technology-shy teams who need a simple way to organise their workload on a Monday morning.¹⁸
ToDoist have 3 tiers of pricing based on the number of projects you have, and how many people will be working on them:
Time tracking apps give you a clear picture of what your team are spending their time on, helping you to analyse business productivity.
Popular among smaller businesses, freelancers and consultants, Toggl offers a quick, easy way to start tracking your time.
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Rather than wasting time adding, categorising and organising tasks, Toggl offers single-click time tracking. It’s really simple, and it’s free for small teams.²⁰
Toggl has something for everyone, from those who are just starting out and those who need more support as their business grows:
TSheets is a time tracking app by QuickBooks. It’s more advanced than some of its rivals, with a focus on payroll functions as well as team management.
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If you need an app that does more than simply log time tracking entries, TSheets is a good one to go for – particularly for payroll tasks and if you already use accounting software like QuickBooks.²²
To use TSheets, it’ll cost you $8 per user, per month + $20 base fee per month. However, you can contact their sales team to discuss volume pricing. There is also a 14-day free trial, so you can try before you buy.²³
RescueTime does things a little differently, which is perhaps why it’s one of the leading Android, iPhone, Windows and Mac productivity apps. It automatically logs time spent on digital devices.
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None of us quite realise just how much time we waste on our devices, but RescueTime gives you a clear, unflinching picture. Ultimately, it could transform the productivity and digital habits of your team.²⁴
RescueTime offer flexible plans to meet your time management needs, for both individuals and businesses. The plans are:
Social media can be one of the biggest time drains around, especially if you’re posting live. Among the best apps for business productivity are those that let you schedule social media posts, so you can manage your time.
One of the big players when it comes to managing social media content, Buffer enables content creation and schedules across multiple platforms with a single click.
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Buffer is a real time saver, letting you see at-a-glance what’s coming up in your content schedule, as well as any gaps.²⁶
There are different prices if you want to publish, reply or analyze your social media posts. Within these 3 areas there a different levels of pricing. The pricing that may be most relevant for business are:
All mentioned plans offer a 14 day free trial, except the Reply (Business) that only offers a free trial for 7 days.²⁷
Prices based on monthly billing schedule. For full pricing details see the Buffer website.
Hootsuite is a social media management platform offering content scheduling, plus additional features to help you manage your brand’s online presence.
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Hootsuite is a brilliant business productivity app, going further than some of its rivals by offering greater insight and more ways to plan effective social media strategies.²⁸
HootSuite’s pricing depends on the number of social accounts you have, and how many people will manage the accounts:
The 30 day free trial is only available for the Professional and Team plans, but you can request a demo for the Business and Enterprise solutions. ²⁹
MailChimp is a user-friendly email marketing tool, designed for businesses wanting to send large volumes of emails (without ending up blacklisted as a potential spammer).
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MailChimp is a top choice for planning email marketing campaigns, plus it’s quite easy for even total beginners to get used to. ³⁰
MailChimp offer plans that can grow as your business does. They offer 4 plan options, depending on the number of contacts you have, audience and features needed. The plans are:
How much time does your team waste travelling to and from meetings? Virtual meeting apps can save you hours, letting you speak face-to-face with clients and colleagues - anywhere in the world.
Skype is a web-based video calling platform offering all kinds of time-saving ways to chat, meet and collaborate.
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If you’re tired of trekking across the country for a 15-minute meeting, give video conferencing tools like Skype a try. It’s popular, so lots of your colleagues and clients will already be using it.³²
The cost of using Skype depends on where you want to make calls to. Here is an overview of some of the pricing plans for calls to mobile and landlines that are available:
All plans offer a free trial for a month - so you can try before you commit to a subscription. Skype-to-Skype calls are free.³³
Zoom Meetings offer enterprise video conferencing, plus content sharing, real-time messaging and more.
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Zoom is designed to be super easy to use, so that any workplace can adopt it. This makes it a great choice if you’re new to video conferencing.³⁴
Zoom has meeting plan options, no matter the size of your business. There is a free personal meeting option, but for all other services there is a monthly subscription cost:
For full pricing details and available features, visit the Zoom site.
Join.me is an online conferencing and meeting app. Use it to start or join a meeting – without having to travel – as well as collaborating with colleagues.
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Use Join.me for a flexible, customisable way to plan and host meetings, which could drastically reduce your company travel expenses.³⁶
Join.me offer 3 payment plans, with various features. The plans are:
For full pricing details and available features, visit the Join.me site.
Small businesses need to squeeze the most from every second in order to succeed.
With the productivity apps above, you’ll be able to reclaim time otherwise wasted on ineffective processes or time-draining admin. You can even manage your finances better with convenient apps, like Wise, and bring your team closer together with project management software.
Sources used:
Sources checked 07-November 2019.
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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