End of year round-up: Must-have apps & accessories

The 11 things for your business you didn't know you couldn't live without

Most of us have figured out the go-to, day-to-day gadgets we rely on for our work – a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. But the array of accessories and apps out there for the enterprise user can be an overwhelming one.  Here’s a quick list of the on-the-go apps and tech accessories that have now become must-haves in the entrepreneur's arsenal. 

Accessories 

Mophie – for iPhone (case) and PhoneSuit Primo Cube Battery Pack - Android (snap on)

It seems that the better battery life gets on newer devices, the more we use our phones since subconsciously we know we can. To help fight battery drain every entrepreneur should have a quick back up to reach for in their pocket or bag that will allow them to go on and at least finish out the day without needing to run to the nearest Starbucks for an inconvenient power pick-me-up. 

No one wants to be caught without any power at a crucial moment – whether trying to pull up an email for reference or finding directions for the next destination.

Square

Not every entrepreneur needs a Square attachment but for those who do need instant payment options for clients and customers, Square is revolutionary.

Think of the time that’s saved not waiting for a check to come in the mail once papers have been signed in person or taking in business for a quick turnaround with deposits in hand instantly. 

Square has proven to be fruitful for those needing payment options on site and immediately without the entire setup of a point-of-sale terminal.

Mifi and Personal Hotspots – Prepaid plans

If you travel a lot you probably already know that internet service can be spotty at best, and security is a concern when connecting through open wifi access points. A MiFi portable personal wifi access point will wipe these concerns away. Having a monthly plan may not be the most logical depending on your travel frequency but luckily there are a couple of prepaid plans out there with various service providers.

Neat Receipt 

Neat Receipt is a fantastic addition for anyone who has to expense or keep track of receipts for tax purposes. It allows you to scan these paper documents and then saves them in a format that is accepted by the IRS. Bonus – your now scanned and digitized information can be imported to Salesforce easily!

Dockable Keyboard

If you’re going to be doing any sort of writing that goes beyond a myriad of notes then you absolutely need a keyboard that docks your iPad or tablet, essentially turning it into a notebook. Anyone who has tried to type out long documents on the touchscreen knows that our wrists just weren’t built that way. Do yourself a favor and get one.  Fellow Vator.tv writer Krystal Peak shared her favorite one here.

Applications

Cardmunch

Linkedin recently purchased Cardmunch to further build out their offerings for professionals everywhere. Cardmunch allows you to scan someone’s business card with your smartphone camera and then converts the image to the appropriate text. It automatically searches LinkedIn for their profile in order to connect right away.  What better way to keep in touch than to socially connect on the professional social network? Your new contact will find your follow-up to be refreshing and thoughtful.

Gist & Rapportive

 Gist and Rapportive both keep you up to date with all of your contacts’ updates, like a personal CRM tool. The Gmail plugin for Rapportive keeps you in the loop about the person that you’re emailing with. From this sidebar you can find out their latest social network updates, recent email interactions, vital contact info extracted from signatures, and other social network links so you can connect further. Gist offers a similar feed of your address book all at once on a dashboard or organized by your tags and preferences.

Evernote & Dropbox

Don’t trust documents and platforms to save your original work? You can use Evernote for syncing your thoughts, ideas and bits of  information. Evernote recently launched Evernote Hello so you can remember those you met and organize the context of how you met them. 

For small companies, Dropbox has the added benefit of supporting your hardware server and backup so it is accessible and constantly synced no matter where you are. Besides using Dropbox as cloud storage, documents can be accessed remotely and accidentally deleted items can be restored.

QuickOffice Pro

While we wait for the next iteration of the netbook and tablet hybrid to be able to fully compute on-the-go, QuickOffice Pro bridges the divide with the much needed document creator and editor compatible with Microsoft Office. 

Investing a little bit of money into this app will go a long way for your business; integrating your mobile experience with the productivity tools offered here frees you from the burden of the laptop.

Think of how much a desktop version of Office costs and then relate that here. It’s well worth it.