Apps such as Invoice2Go, Fitbit, Cardmunch, Ingogo and more can improve your small business

BUSINESS can be made surprisingly easier with a raft of simple apps to help organise your work and your life. Check out what you’re missing out on.

There are myriad apps to help you alleviate some small business challenges.

TECHNOLOGY consumes every inch of our every day lives — from Googling how to get to your next appointment to looking at the computer, (not out the window) to find out if it’s going to rain tomorrow.

Information has never been more valuable — or more available. So how do we use all that’s at our fingertips to help improve the life of your business, and your own?

Well, that’s easy. Come on, get appy.

DRAGON DICTATION

Voice recognition apps saves you time on transcribing.

Small business consultant Linda Hailey says Dragon Dictation is a great way to record meetings — saving you HOURS apon hours. And it’s free! Score.

“Once upon a time I used to record meetings and thoughts on an MP3 recorder for transcribing — now I’m two steps ahead with Dragon Dictation,” she says.

“Once done, I email the voice file to myself, cut and paste into a word doc and voila, meeting notes in minutes — not hours.

“It can take a little time to train your Dragon but it’s well worth the effort for anyone who loves the face to face and wants to cut down on computer time.”

SIMPLE MIND

The Simple Mind app is a great tool for mind mapping.

Ms Hailey says she is she is always on the lookout for bright ideas that can help her work faster and be more efficient — and mind mapping app Simple Mind does just that.

“This is my go to app when it comes to planning and brainstorming with clients,” she says.

“I can work on new ideas and strategies on my phone between calls and share it on my iPad with clients.”

PARKPATROL

ParkPatrol helps with dodging those pesky parking tickets.

“If I’m heading into the city for meetings my number one parking app is ParkPatrol, which reminds you when your meter is due to run out and also lets you know when the parking rangers are on the prowl,” Ms Hailey says.

“This is a crowd sourcing app where you also get to contribute so you can also alert others when you spot the parking police!”

CARDMUNCH

Physical business cards are so last century.

Ms Hailey has gone from certified business card hoarder to organised, effective networker, thanks to CardMunch by LinkedIn.

“I’d head to a function, meet loads of great people, collect their cards and never quite get around to entering them into my contacts,” she says.

“It turns unsightly piles of cards into a carefully filed, useful business development tool.”

FITBIT

Fitness apps such as Fitbit assists in that work/life balance thing.

For work life balance, Ms Hailey says this is an important way to get fit — and stay that way.

“It’s easy to get into the 24/7 habit when you run a small business and I make sure I practice what I preach, making time to exercise at the beginning or end of the day,” she says.

“My Fitbit app records my weight thanks to my fitbit bathroom scales, sends me reward messages to keep me motivated and tracks my number of steps each day.”

INGOGO

Ingogo creator Hamish Petrie was onto something awesome.

“For travel, I’ve found that getting from A to B can be a doddle if you are app happy,” she says.

“Heading for the airport, I book my cab using Ingogo or the Silver Service app so I can see when they are approaching.

“Thank heavens no more spelling out my name to that annoying automated voice recognition person.”

TRAVEL LIGHT

Let ticketing apps make your airport transition a breeze.

“Once in the cab I check-in for my flight on my Qantas airline app and say goodbye to worries about losing boarding passes in the clutter at the bottom of my handbag,” she says.

“At my destination I no longer have to hire a GPS unit or carry one with me, my Tom Tom app takes 2 seconds to realise I am now in Mackay Qld, not Sydney and I am soon on my way to meetings.

“These apps have made my business life easier and my handbag a heck of a lot lighter!”

INVOICE2GO

Don’t get bogged down in paper when there is nifty computer software to avoid it.

This is a low cost, easy and effective invoicing system changing the lives of busy business owners like Andrew Mason, who runs Waratah Carpet Cleaning.

“It means the workers can take payment on the spot, send invoices to clients and alert us of balances overdue, and it all synchs up to our main computer,” he says.

“It’s also good for recurring invoices and makes things easy at tax time.

“It’s great, and it’s so cheap — we love it.”

DROPBOX

No wonder Dropbox chief executive and co-founder Drew Houston is smiling. His company is now worth more than $8 billion.

Peter Strong from the Council of Small Business, Australia, says Drop Box or

the like means any document can be accessed from anywhere — anytime.

“A document management program will manage word documents, spreadsheets and slide shows,” he says.

“That is a great stress reliever and time saver.”