SEDA Nelson Mandela Bay ICT incubator (SNII) has identified seven apps that are essential for South African small businesses and entrepreneurs.
“Our team wanted to review and curate a holy-grail of essential apps for start-ups, young businesses and entrepreneurs. Our mission was to create apps that would increase productivity, offer innovation and boost profitability,” said Scott Zambonini, SNII enterprise development manager.
“Now there is no more excuse for mediocrity. The neat selection of apps takes into account all the unique challenges of new start-ups and small businesses,” he said.
These seven innovations are:
1. Resource Guru
If you are having difficulty keeping track of your schedules, Resource Gugu is your answer. It is a web-based resource scheduling and calendar tool which specialises in online collaborative software that can be used for employment, project management, events, task management or resource planning. The scheduling software is designed to automate the process of scheduling appointments and staff time. Packages range from R290 per month ($19 a month) to R1 508 ($99).
2. Headspace
If you are heading for burn-out, you need to breathe and get this app. Stay cool, calm, and collected with Headspace – a meditation app that will strengthen your state of mind. The first 10 days offer guided mediation sessions free of charge. The app provides animations explaining how the mind works, and offers tips on how to sit and breathe effectively. You can also track your activity, and set reminders with the app. Once the free trial period is completed, a subscription for more content is available for R107 ($7).
3. Growth Geeks
As a start-up entrepreneur or small business, you might not yet be in a position to employ staff. So the best option is to hire the tech warrior army of Growth Greeks. Growth Geeks is a marketplace of freelancers specialising in electronic marketing stuff for social, SEO and content. They are vetted and ranked by other users.
4. Clear
This task-management app allows you to create and manage separate lists for daily tasks, along with the setting of reminders. We loved the design interface. Users can create several lists and multiple schedules. The price of Clear isR76 ($4.99) for iPhones and R153 ($9.99) for desktops.
5. Shoeboxed
Finally! Here is an app that helps you to digitize paper. If you are a hoarder of receipts, notes, lists and business cards, say hi to Shoeboxed, and goodbye to those disorganised piles of paper messing up your desk and piling up in your car, wallet and handbag. Now you can dump them into a digital shoe box. This app allows you to digitize and store receipts, invoices and business cards in an easily searchable archive. An additional bonus included with the app is a GPS-based mileage tracker.
6. Basecamp
Basecamp is a really user-friendly project-management app. It has a sleek and intuitive graphic user interface that allows you to invite team members, include file attachments and create checklists as you check on the progress of the task or project. With Basecamp, you pay per project instead of per user. Plans start at R305 ($20) per month for 10 projects. Multi-tasking mutant entrepreneurs who need more can sign up for unlimited access with no cap on the number of projects for R2284 ($150).
7. Square
Square Register is a user-friendly point-of-sale system, available in the App Store and Google Play. The app accepts debit and credit cards, EMV chip cards and Android Pay. If you are a small business owner who depends on point-of-sale purchases, but you have a limited budget for payment systems, then plug in a small card-reader to your smartphone or tablet. With this app you can swipe credit cards and process payments just like any established retailer. You don’t have to be connected to the Internet, you can use email or text messages to send receipts, and the system even allows for your generous customers to leave a tip of 15%, 20% or 25%. There is no monthly fee; instead, you’ll pay 2.75% of each transaction, or a little more if you have to manually enter the payment information instead of swiping.