There is an app for just about everything these days.
Groceries, taxis, black cars, valet parking, haircuts, even tailors and dog walkers can all be ordered on demand from your smartphone.
There's even apps that can make starting a business from your smartphone easier than ever. From crafting a business plan to fundraising and scaling it globally, these four apps can help start your business or take your business to the next level, all from the little device in your pocket.
1. Create a business plan.
The first thing every business needs is a business plan. Business plan templates can take as long as four hours or more to complete on your desktop, but thanks to free apps like 5min Business Plan, you can create a solid business plan in less than ten minutes, directly from your smartphone.
2. Get funding.
Once you have your plan on paper, you need money to put your ideas into action.
Back in the day, you may have had to fill out long packets of personal information at a bank to get funding.
Now, funding has gone digital and mobile. President of Royal Financial Investment Group Prince Dykes was one of the first entrepreneurs to release a smartphone app connecting aspiring entrepreneurs with experienced financiers, all via a mobile application.
His app: Investor and Business Owners Hub, or IABOH for short, brings the world of venture capital into the hands and smartphones of everyday people.
3. Stay organized.
After finishing your business plan and raising money, it is time to put in 80 hours a week to not have to work a nine to five in the future.
Whether it is staying on top of orders, appointments or sales follow-ups, you can use apps to stay on top of everything.
Cloze, a relationship management app, serves as a virtual personal assistant, sending push notifications and reminders to keep you on top of all your tasks.
4. Scale globally.
By this point, you should be dominating your market and delivering tons of value to your customers. One way to grow sales, is to scale internationally.
As many companies have learned, using Google Translate to try and spread the word internationally can often lead to embarrassment or confusion. Fortunately, there's even an app for that.
Stepes, an on demand translator app, is the “Uber” of translation services internationally. Within minutes, entrepreneurs can connect with native speakers in different global markets who can help translate a brand’s message into local dialect.
There is no replacement for hard work, commitment and a great idea, but being able to do more from your phone gives entrepreneurs more flexibility to live their dreams than ever before.
Tim Burd
Tim Burd is the CEO of DigitizeIQ and a veteran internet entrepreneur. He currently lives in San Francisco, where he speaks on panels, contributing his knowledge to help new businesses apply to venture capital firms.
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