The latest and greatest software for entrepreneurs

Technology has made our lives so much easier, right? Everything that was once tedious and time-consuming is simply handed over to the magical and much more patient minds of computers so that we can lean back and let them do the dirty work.

As an entrepreneur, you know better than any how much time administration and general paperwork can take, yet it’s not everyone that is up to date with the latest software. Your life as a business owner can, in fact, be even more breezy and efficient than you ever thought possible.

Here is a handful of the latest and greatest software for entrepreneurs in 2018, covering everything from invoicing to telecommuting. While you may not need all of this in order to make the most of your business, you should be able to find a few gems that will make next week a lot better.

1 Scheduling apps: Accompany

Sure, you have all of your calendars, post-it notes, and email notifications about various meetings and appointments, but what about having everything sorted in one place? Even if you’ve managed to keep your Google calendar tidy and up to date, it’s nothing like Accompany; touted as the virtual ‘chief of staff,’ this app works by connecting to your email account, whether it’s Google or Microsoft, your mobile calendar as well as your social media accounts to gather everything – and give you a detailed notification about it way in advance.

It really does provide you with everything you need before an important meeting or the dinner with your boss and his wife. By scanning through all of your data, it creates summaries of each contact and emails you a rather detailed briefing beforehand. That way, you’ll be able to not only show up on time and prepared but also shine with all of your impressive knowledge.

2 Team communication: Slack

As the fastest growing B2B communication, Slack is currently enjoyed by over 4 million active users – and for good reasons. It makes it a lot easier to manage all of those group conversations and keep you up to date on what’s happening – even if some of your group chats are spread across multiple platforms.

By giving you access to the conversations in one simple place, you won’t have to juggle all of those different replies and, best of all, you won’t have to constantly check your social media platforms to make sure you’re in-the-know. Information is, in other words, instantly available and accessible wherever you go which should make it much easier to communicate with your team when you’re not actually in the office.

3 Invoicing platforms: Due

The name says it all; Due is the platform for any busy entrepreneur who prefers to have their invoicing, estimates, and payments gathered in one online platform. It’s not just about gathering everything into one place, though, as the software is also able to automate a lot of time-consuming tasks and even organise your time through a time-tracking tool. In addition to all of this, it can integrate with other platforms such as Basecamp and provide you with invoicing and estimate templates.

While this is a comprehensive software that should work rather well for many entrepreneurs, keep in mind that you might be able to find something that works for your specific field as well. There are, amongst others, platforms that offer estimating software for electrical contractors and probably numerous other ones that can improve your specific business. Have a look around the web and rest assured that, even if you’re not able to find something for your field, there is always an excellent alternative that works for everyone.

4 Social media management: Buffer

Let’s face it – today, marketing is all about taking advantage of social media. This comes easier to some than others, but if you’re willing to give it a go yourself, there are numerous software that can make your job a lot easier. Buffer is one of these; by streamlining the process of reaching your target audience, it is able to schedule the content you’d like to publish on social media.

Simply give it one click and it will publish it across multiple social platforms and even ensure that it is posted at the right time in order to get as many views as possible. Buffer is the kind of stuff that renders social media managers obsolete as this software will handle everything for you – except, perhaps, for the actual posts.

If you’re not entirely up to date on all of this social media stuff, you might want to have a look at this excellent article to feed your mind. It’s important to make use of every platform these days and you certainly don’t want your business to suffer due to a lack of knowledge.

5 Timesheet software: Toggl

Finally, you’ll be able to wave goodbye to all of those timesheets by inviting Toggl into your team. It’s an insanely simple way of tracking your time straight from your computer, browser or smartphone so that you never again lose as much as a second of billable work. It gives a sense of order in an otherwise busy week of work and takes a load off your mind as you no longer have to use timesheets to manage everybody’s hours.

You will have to turn Toggle on, of course, when you start work and you can set it to organise your time by either project or tag. If you happen to forget turning it on, you can always plot in your time later – but it kind of beats the point of it, though, so do remember to turn it on.

Managing your own business and making sure everything is organised is so much simpler today than it was just a decade ago. Take advantage of it and give your business the much-needed sense of order it deserves with this software; it will make it a bit easier to relax and feel confident that things are taken care of.