When running a small business, efficiency is a key concern. Whether your business is brand new or established, it’s always a good idea to find ways to streamline your day-to-day processes and operations to help them run more smoothly. 

Using apps can really help with this. They’re much more convenient for everyday use, as they can be used across different devices and in different locations without the need to transfer data. 

If you’re looking for the best way to automate some of your business processes, and to save time and money, here are some of the best free apps and tools for your small business. 

Accountancy apps 

Cloud-based accounting apps like Freshbooks or QuickBooks are a fantastic way to manage your basic bookkeeping tasks, including invoicing, expenses, business reports, inventory management, payroll, and cash flow. 

Accounting can often be complex and confusing. Using these types of apps can make your accounting simpler, and they can help you stay organized at all times. 

Payment apps 

Whatever type of business you’re running, making sure you get paid promptly and monitoring payments is essential. Using a payment app, such as Square or PayPal, can help you do this. 

In addition, these apps often provide a full POS system which will allow you to manage payments alongside other business processes, like orders and inventory. 

Communication apps 

If you manage a team or need to talk with clients regularly, using a communication app like Slack can make it much easier to facilitate this and send instant messages. 

Unlike email, this app allows for easier team management, custom message threads that can be organized effectively, and a number of other tools for streamlining communications. 

Marketing Apps 

Marketing apps can provide tools for easier content management and advertising. One example is Hubspot, which helps you edit content and improve conversions using a range of features. 

Another option, which is great if you run lots of email campaigns, is the Mailchimp app. This can be used to manage campaigns on the go and get updates in real time from any location. 

For creating and editing social media posts and campaigns, you can download free apps from all the major platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter - which can all be used on the go for your business accounts. 

Design apps 

If you want to design or edit your social media campaigns on the go, update your website, or add new images and features, using online design apps can help you do this. 

The Wordpress app is ideal for making updates to your web pages on the go. Or, you can download the free design app from Canva to create new visual content and LogoCreator to make new logos for your business. 

Storage apps

Cloud storage apps are perfect for small businesses, as they store all your documents in one place for easy access - it’s also much easier to stay organized this way. 

One of the most popular choices in Google Drive, which can store word documents, presentations, spreadsheets, calendar entries and more.

Productivity apps 

Lastly, staying on track of tasks and workflows is a must for small businesses. For this, you can download a project manager app, like Trello or Asana to increase efficiency. 

Trello is a great choice for small businesses, and has an easy card-based system to assign, monitor, and make changes to tasks as you go along. It can also be integrated with Slack and Evernote, plus a number of other apps. 

Asana is a similar tool, but uses a slightly different system. Both of these apps are designed to improve team productivity in the long-term and are highly recommended for business owners!