When you’re an entrepreneur, it’s all about working smarter, not harder. After all, you are your own boss, so you want to be able to be in control of the hours you’re working. You have a long to-do list and lots of projects to keep track of, all while maintaining communication with your clients and reaching out to new ones. It can be overwhelming! So when there are tools at your disposal, you definitely want to use them.
If you’re a new entrepreneur, it can be even more overwhelming. Below are six apps that can help you to organize your work and manage your time, so that you can celebrate your new business (rather than just stressing).
Sometimes in the course of your workday, you stumble onto a great resource or article. But if you’re in the middle of something else, you might not want to take the time to read it right then– and next thing you know, the article is lost in your browser history, never to be seen again.
The Pocket app allows you to save anything from nearly 1500 mobile apps and web browsers. You can download the content and access it from any device, even without internet access, so that next time you’re stuck on a flight and can finally relax a little, you can go back to that article you thought was interesting last week.
2. Mint
Managing the budget might be the most important and least fun part of launching a startup. With Mint, you can easily manage your budget and make a better financial decision. The app brings together your bank accounts, credit cards, bills and investments so you know where you stand and can see what you’re spending. This can also, of course, help you figure out where you can save money. Best of all, Mint is free and doesn’t require so much as a credit card.
Trello is especially helpful if you’re managing a team and delegating tasks. The app allows you to categorize your tasks as per priority, activities, and timeline. You can assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and keep track of progress on a simple, easy-to-use interface. That way you can stop worrying about juggling a million different tasks at once, and trust that your team members are on top of it.
So simple, yet so useful. Dropbox means you don’t have to keep emailing team members that one file– instead, you can create, view, edit, and send different types of documents whenever you want. You can comment on files and access them offline, as well as share them with people who don’t have a Dropbox account. You can also get massive amounts of space, so it’s especially useful for sharing videos and pictures.
5. Sendible
One important part of startups that can easily fall through the cracks is social media management. In truth, there are loads of social media management tools out there, so Sendible is more like an example: but using a tool allows you to schedule posts to multiple platforms at once, provides collaboration and communication tools, and will even offer content suggestions. Many tools also provide in-depth data about the content you post so you can see how effective it is.
6. Wunderlist
An organized to-do list is the staple of the entrepreneur. This virtual to-do list management app is accessible from any device, and you can set reminders corresponding to all the tasks’ deadlines. You can even add images and other types of media to the list. You can also share the list with others and use a built-in messaging platform.
These apps won’t do the work for you, but they will make the work move a little easier. Good luck– we’re rooting for you!
