Best Apps Small Business
I was excited to discover yesterday that Canva just introduced their App for Android. I’m not always at my PC when work comes in and it’s great to know I can now create images for my posts wherever I am. I shared the news with my fellow bloggers here.
This completes the cycle for me. I can now do EVERYTHING I need to do in my online business on my mobile phone. My business is now fully MOBILE. (Except that I don’t have an app for my own business. What a great idea!)
This contributed post came in just when I was marvelling at how smartphones have changed the face of business.
Getting Mobile With Your Small Business
Nowadays, if you take a look around yourself in any social situation you’ll notice that most people have their heads in their phones.
Whether you’re sat on public transport, eating a meal in a restaurant, having a drink in a cafe, or in the comfort of your own home, there will likely be someone nearby staring into their smartphone, tapping away and scrolling through seemingly endless pages of information.
Any good business owner knows that they need to focus their efforts in the same place that consumers are focusing their attention. After all, visibility and exposure are the first steps towards sales and profit.
Here’s how to get mobile with your small business for the biggest benefits!
E-Commerce
If your business isn’t online yet, it’s time to set up your own webpage. More and more consumers are taking to the web to make purchases and seal deals. There are various reasons for this.
- Companies operating online can generally offer goods for a lower price, as they don’t have overheads like commercial property rent, bills, and large numbers of staff.
- However, perhaps the main reason for the success of E-commerce is convenience.
- People can access your store twenty four seven from near enough anywhere in the world where there’s an internet connection.
- They can shop when and where it’s convenient for them; browsing your stock while you might be sleeping or taking a break.
- They can also have goods delivered directly to them, meaning no trips out of the house if they don’t feel like it.
So, set up a website and get yourself out there. Shopify is a great and simple option for beginners.
The process of creating your page is made easy and payment methods, including Paypal, can be added automatically.
Apps
Apps aren’t just for you to use as a business owner (though there are plenty out there that can make your life easier for you). You can develop an app for your own company. There are plenty of benefits of doing this.
- If you have a loyalty points scheme, you can develop an app that lets your customers track their points.
- This also removes the inconvenience of them having to carry cards with them at all times or worrying about losing stamp cards.
- Having an app present on your customer’s’ smartphone home screens also exposes them to your brand logo more regularly and reminds them of your presence on an almost daily basis.
Like we said, exposure is everything. Liaise with a professional in mobile app development to get everything you could possibly want from your branded app.
Social Media
Social media is the next big thing for businesses. The majority of web users and smartphone users now have active profiles on social media platforms, where they chat to friends, keep up to date with the news, and post their own opinions and activities. So set some up for your business too!
The most popular platforms tend to be Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Facebook is great for providing people with general information about your business.
You can list your opening hours, store locations, and contact numbers on your page. Essentially if anyone wants to get in direct contact with you, they can simply search for your profile and have all of the information they could possibly need.
Twitter is good for interacting with customers.
They can communicate with you using up to 140 characters. This keeps things short and sweet.
Interactions can be fast and you can answer queries without the need of anything other than the bare essentials.
Instagram is more of a visual feed.
This is great for showcasing your stock, highlighting new products and advertising sales or discounts in your image descriptions.
Make sure to curate your feed as professionally as possible. You want to stick with your general brand aesthetic throughout.
Online Auctions and Sales Sites
You can always use online auction and sales sites if you prefer to sell online without the hassle of running operations completely by yourself.
eBay is perhaps the classic.
However, sites such as Etsy and apps such as Depop are significantly boosting in popularity, so you might want to consider jumping on these while the bandwagon is still in full force. Just make sure to follow any of the host site’s rules or terms and conditions.
Most don’t accept out-of-app purchases and breaking rules can result in account suspension.
These are just a few ways to go about getting your business mobile!
Be flexible and open to new ideas. After all, you never know where your next big customer base might lie.
Moms, how mobile is your small business? How many apps do you have on your smartphone? Have you created an app for your own business yet? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below.
