A solopreneur is a modern-day pioneer that has carved a respectable niche for microbusinesses in the world of work. Deciding to chart a path on your own is not for the faint of heart, but there’s no better time than now to do so.
Organization is the key to success and solopreneurs have the gift of modern technology on their side when it comes to architecting the internal infrastructure and processes needed to build a successful business.
The mobile apps below add tremendous value to any microbusiness ecosystem, and are a must-have for a successful solo business.
1) Faxage
Faxage’s mobile fax app is the perfect fit for solopreneurs because it frees users from the complexity of maintaining physical fax machines and phone lines, and provides the flexibility to receive and send faxes from any location. Business owners can rest assured that their faxes are being sent and received securely using encrypted industry-standard Transport Layer Security (TLS).
Faxing services that travel with you are especially critical for solopreneurs who work within the finance, legal, law, and real estate industries. Faxage’s modern mobile interface allows users to send faxes right from the comfort of their phone. Unlimited users and authorized emails can also be utilized at no additional cost.
A few features that users love are the ability to send faxes in PDF, PNG, or JPG formats, send mobile photos as scanned faxes, and the capacity to receive faxes directly to your mobile device.
2) Canva
Canva offers sophisticated graphic design and branding elements to solopreneurs who need quick and easy professional-grade digital solutions that leave an impression. Canva can be used on the move and has colossal functionality available through Android and iPhone.
Business owners can create collateral for presentations, newsletters, social media posts, products, and beyond. Stellar graphic design can now be utilized by anyone, and this also is a big cost-saver for solopreneurs.
The free Canva plan is the perfect way to test out the 8,000+ templates and over 100 out-of-the-box design projects. The paid subscription runs from $9.95 – $12.95 per month, which provides access to at least fifty times more templates and millions of royalty-free stock images. Canva is one of the most user-friendly design apps on the market.
Finding tools and moving elements to where you want them to be is a breeze, and for solopreneurs, this is important since time is money.
3) 24me
24me is leading the charge in the world of virtual assistants and transforms digital devices into the personal helper that solopreneurs need. This highly innovative app harnesses the power of Machine learning, Big Data technologies, and Artificial Intelligence to help you wear all the hats needed as a solopreneur by combining calendars, notes, and reminders into one place. This sensational app can even give voice prompts as a reminder to add tasks and events.
The user experience that fuels this smart and sophisticated calendar keeps track of every critical business and personal occurrence. Your calendar can be managed simultaneously alongside to-do lists, notes, and conference calls. It automatically generates personal reminders, organizes schedules, and auto-completes tasks and errands once finished. The app also enables customization and syncs with all devices.
4) Invoice Simple
Invoice Simple offers easy, on-the-go invoice creation, which is especially handy for independent contractors. Invoicing is one of the most essential elements of a business that heavily impacts the survival of solo entities, and requires meticulous attention to detail.
The ability to shoot out invoices from a mobile app is a much-needed solution for busy solopreneurs, and the Invoice Simple app is equipped with a fully customizable and easy invoice generator and a suite of invoice templates that can help to create estimates, invoices, and receipts.
There is nothing that this app can’t do. Solopreneurs can manage tax additions, track invoices, bill in multiple currencies, itemize, apply discounts, apply payment terms, and apply penalties. Invoices can then be sent straight to clients from the app. Sophisticated systems such as this help evolve solo enterprise billing practices and add professionalism and accuracy to growing businesses.
5) Buffer
Buffer allows solopreneurs who rely on social media to grow their business to schedule posts in advance. Taking advantage of the opportunities that social media provides can help micro enterprises grow significantly, and to do so requires being able to connect with worldwide audiences to get your brand story out to the public.
Buffer integrates with Facebook pages and groups, Twitter, Instagram business accounts, LinkedIn profiles and pages, and Pinterest through the Premium Buffer subscription.
Unlike other social media management tools, Buffer is incredibly easy to use. All users have to do is add posts to the post queue. Since social media posting is somewhat of a science, Buffer optimizes posting times in order to take advantage of peak engagement periods. Social media savvy users also have the freedom to customize posting times within the app’s settings.
One of the most popular features of this app is that you don’t have to schedule every single post separately, and users have full control over customization. Buffer has a generous free offering on top of its paid subscription services.
Conclusion
Staying on top of new technologies that will help you run your business more efficiently is a vital ingredient in the soup of success that solopreneurs live on. Independent contractors now can create professional touchpoints and clients worldwide, and having the tools needed to optimize your business ventures leaves time to focus on the work you love.