Being your own boss, running your own business, and building a successful life — that sounds like the American Dream.
Amidst a small business boom, many people nationwide embody the entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, some 5 million Americans filed new business applications in 2022, the second-greatest number on record.
But running a business requires much more than spirit. New business owners must keep many plates spinning: invoicing clients, pitching to investors, hiring employees, and everything in between. And if you don’t have the right tools to assist you, the responsibilities can feel overwhelming.
But did you know you can level up your business with a quick visit to the app store? Entrepreneurs of all types can benefit from digital tools, such as customer relationship management (CRM) software and productivity apps. These programs streamline the daily workload, making businesses — and their owners — more efficient. Let’s explore some of the best apps for today’s entrepreneurs.
17 amazing apps for entrepreneurs
Whether you’re a solopreneur or part of a start-up team, mobile apps are an excellent way to keep tabs on your business from any location.
Most apps sync across multiple devices, allowing you to receive updates and use the tools from a compatible laptop, tablet, and phone. There are apps for tracking business expenses, facilitating collaboration between colleagues, and even encouraging you to relax after a long day.
All these programs can help your business thrive. Check out our list of the best apps for business owners. And jumping on the artificial intelligence (AI) bandwagon, we’ve also included a few automated tools that make your life easier.
Productivity
Entrepreneurs need to be productive if they want to succeed. But productivity doesn’t always come naturally — especially when you have a mountain of work. These productivity apps support business owners as they strive to stay organized from 9–5 (and even off the clock):
- Evernote: This mobile app is a digital storage space for doodles, to-do lists, business plans, and any other important notes. The app’s defining feature is its automatic file sync, which allows you to access the most updated version of your documents from any device. You can write, type, upload images, save web pages, and organize all your files to suit your needs.
- Trello: If you’re building your business with a team, you need an organization app that everyone can use. Trello is a great candidate because of its user-friendly interface and intuitive card system. Users create tasks on “cards” shared with team members and move them through a defined process, allowing everyone to view and manage a project’s workflow with ease.
- Notion: Notion is a centralized hub for all your company’s information. This app stores and organizes your project roadmaps, documents, and essential materials like business plans and brand guidelines in one searchable digital workspace. The clean, straightforward design makes finding what you need a breeze so you can return to work ASAP.
- Dropbox: Dropbox is a must-have app for business owners looking to share their work with others. Whether you’re collaborating with clients, investors, contractors, or colleagues, Dropbox makes sharing and storing files fast, secure, and straightforward. You can even share files as large as 2 TB — which is huge.
- XMind: Entrepreneurs have creative minds — that’s how they develop their big ideas. But turning those big ideas into clear, actionable steps isn’t always easy. XMind is a creative app designed to help you organize your thoughts and visualize the path from “lightbulb moment” to “thriving business.”
- Fireflies: While some people are innate multitaskers, some struggle to manage too many things on their plate simultaneously. And this app is a blessing in disguise for the latter cohort. This AI assistant automatically takes meeting notes and lets you focus on your presentation, clients, and stakeholders. It also allows you to search hour-long audios and transcripts.
Self-improvement
Being an entrepreneur isn’t just about promoting your business. In many ways, you’re also promoting yourself — to investors, potential employees, and competitors in your industry. To market yourself effectively, you must be on top of current events, industry trends, and more. These self-improvement apps can help you stay up-to-date between work meetings:
- Pocket: Thanks to the internet, there’s a vast library of articles, videos, and news reports vying for our attention every day. But if you’re busy with work, you don’t always have time to read pages of content — and by the time you do, you may not remember every piece that caught your eye. Pocket is an app that saves articles and videos you find throughout the day so you stay informed on your schedule. When you clock off, you can revisit your saved links and catch up on what you missed.
- RescueTime: Many people could benefit from improved time management skills, and entrepreneurs are no exception. RescueTime encourages you to use your time more efficiently. The app assesses your work style and schedule, providing you with a daily “focus work goal” and tracking your progress. If you get distracted on your phone during a project, the app will even nudge you back to work with on-screen notifications.
Business
Many apps are made to help people from all walks of life. But is there mobile software targeted toward business owners? Yes — tools specifically designed to lend entrepreneurs a helping hand can make the difference between a good first year and a great one. Here are the best business apps:
- Slack: Slack is a cloud-based messaging platform that allows you to communicate with clients and co-workers no matter where you are. Organize your communication with different “channels” and collaborate with your team quickly and easily.
- Toggl: If your business works with contractors, Toggl is an excellent tool for keeping tabs on their billable hours. This mobile app tracks workers’ hours across several platforms, improving accountability and ensuring accurate payroll.
- Asana: Asana’s job is to help you organize tasks, monitor workflow, and collaborate with team members on one cross-functional platform. This app makes it easy to assign tasks, map out progress, and stay focused so projects wrap up by the deadline.
- Linkedin: Networking is a significant part of any entrepreneur’s success. Linkedin is the best social media platform for connecting with people in your industry. You can add friends and colleagues, follow experts, and even recruit new talent.
- Mint: Mint began as a mobile app for personal finance, but the tool can also track and manage business expenses. Just link the app to your organization’s online banking account, and Mint will automatically track expenditures and provide you with a clear picture of the strengths and weaknesses of your business budget.
- Reply.io: This is an AI-powered sales engagement platform that books appointments, sends emails, and sets up outreach sequences for you. Its AI assistant sends both multiple personal and business emails, letting you focus on what you do best –– business.
Mental health
Building a business is no small feat, so it’s no surprise that many entrepreneurs and business owners struggle to make time for their mental health. Research suggests that one in four entrepreneurs experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime, so it’s critical to prevent and manage stress, depression, and burnout before they spiral out of control. One way to do this is through meditation and mindfulness, which you can practice thanks to the following apps:
- The Mindfulness App: This mobile app offers guided meditation audio files from world-renowned teachers. You can use these meditations to relieve stress, get more sleep, and improve your overall well-being.
- Headspace: Like the Mindfulness App, Headspace provides guided meditation to help you manage anxiety, grief, insomnia, and more. The app also contains a wide range of articles explaining the science behind mindfulness and other self-care tips.
- Calm: Calm is another meditation app focused on helping you become more mindful, mentally fit, and — as the name suggests — relaxed. The app contains hundreds of guided meditations, “sleep stories,” nature sounds, and more to help you unwind.
{{mid-cta}}
Make entrepreneurship easier with Practice
Entrepreneurship isn’t simple, but you can make your professional life a little easier by leveraging the tools in your phone’s app store. With mobile apps that manage your workflow, track your time, and help you relax after a long day, you’ll feel like you can take on any challenge the workday brings.
We’re also here to help. Practice’s customer relationship management (CRM) platform is designed to assist business owners with storing client data and documents securely. You’ll also gain access to other tools, including document templates, a booking platform, and secure and easy payments — all of which can take some work off your plate and free you up to run your business like a boss.
