By 
By Aanuoluwa Omotosho
Starting up a business could be very challenging, and really…it’s all about getting familiar with tools that will make your work less tedious and less overwhelming.
Here are the top 16 apps every start-up should be conversant with to make the most of each day.
Time Doctor
Time Doctor is an accurate time tracker that is not only designed to help you track your work done but also provides a breakdown on how much time your employees spend on projects, clients, and tasks. It is the ideal tool for keeping an eye on the performance of your remote workers. The time productivity tool is effective in ensuring your employees’ daily tasks are completed, notifying them when an excess amount of time is spent on personal web browsing. Time Doctor’s platform allows for integration with other management software to provide you and your workers with an even more powerful experience. Its safe online – environment means that you can easily pay your employees based on either hours tracked or fixed salaries with no extra cost from Time Doctor and with its world-class encryption methods, all information, including screen captures, is secured when sent to the Time Doctor servers.
Accompany
Also known as a virtual “chief of staff,” Accompany does all the research necessary to prep you for big meetings by emailing you a concise briefing beforehand. It provides you with all the pertinent information you will need to succeed in any situation. Accompany works by connecting to your Google or Microsoft email account, your mobile calendar and your Facebook and Twitter accounts. It examines your personal data and goes through biographies and other information online to create summaries of each of your contacts.
This app allows you to save useful articles, interesting videos and any other content that you want to hang on to for future use. When you find something you want to view later, simply put it in your Pocket, and you’ll be able to access it from your phone, tablet or computer, even without internet access.
Daily dose of motivation
If you are looking for a daily dose of motivation to keep you on track to achieve important goals and big dreams, this app will give you that. It comes in a simple format, which includes perfect quotes to keep you focused when you’re tempted to give up. Whether you’re pursuing health and fitness goals, prepping for a major project at work or school, or just need some inspiration, this app will help get you there.
Hootsuite
As both a powerful and a free social media management tool, Hootsuite manages all your social media marketing in one place, reaching your fan base by making it easy to schedule content on social media. With one click, you can share content across multiple social networks and ensure that it’s posted at the optimal time so more followers will see your updates.
Salesforce1
Salesforce1 empowers you to connect directly with your customers and run your business from your phone. It channels all your customer information into a single, integrated platform, enabling you to build a client-centered business that includes marketing, sales, customer service and business analysis. This gives you a complete understanding of your customers, allowing you to drive your business’s success and make smarter decisions from anywhere in real time.
Square
Square credit-card processing works for any size business and is easy to do from anywhere. Square allows you to accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express, all for one low rate. Once you sign up, they will send you a free magstripe reader (their newest reader even takes chip cards).
Trello
Trello is collaboration app organises your projects into boards, lists, and cards so you can better prioritise work and life. At a single glance, you can see what’s being worked on, who’s working on what and where in the process a project is. It makes project management easy and enjoyable.
Workflow
Workflow allows you to connect the best features of your applications, so you can combine multiple steps across a number of apps into a single tap. With Workflow you can create shortcuts, manage your media and share content. It has been lauded as the “Swiss Army knife” for completing complicated tasks, and basically feels like you’re designing your own app (but much easier).
Box
Box offers a simple, secure way to share files and collaborate with coworkers, customers, and partners. It allows you to centralise your files, keep your team on track and simplify workflow, not to mention ditch email attachments. You can create, edit and review documents with others in real-time from anywhere and on any device, and can view full documents without needing to download the file first.
Newton
If your inbox fills up quicker than a basket takes on water, you need Newton. This email management application is known for its searching capabilities, cross-platform capabilities and user interface. It can scour all of the emails you’ve ever received to locate exactly what you’re looking for. The app supports multiple accounts and even includes a feature called Cards, which connects services like Evernote, Pocket, Trello, Salesforce and Microsoft OneNote. This makes it easier for users to get the information they are looking for without leaving their email.
Wave
Wave helps you create and send professional invoices, estimates, and receipts in seconds. It keeps your business organised and running smoothly by tracking income and expenses effortlessly, with receipt-scanning tools and bank connections.
HelloSign
HelloSign is the easiest and simplest way to handle contracts or other agreements on the fly because it lets you view and sign without visiting the office. This app also eliminates the burden of needing to print, sign and scan a document to be sent back. It allows you to just use your fingertip to sign any PDF file and forward it to the necessary party. Really cool! Isn’t it?
Slack
This team communication tool gathers group exchanges into one place, making information instantly available and searchable wherever you go. This cloud-based collaboration application began as an internal tool used by a now-defunct online game. Slack is currently the fastest-growing B2B application, used by over 4 million active users every day.
1Password
Do away with all those sticky notes with your passwords scrawled on them. 1Password allows you to collect all those passcodes in one safe place online. This app keeps all your passwords and important information protected behind your Master Password. It has extensions or plug-ins for all the major browsers, and can securely store other things, like credit cards, bank accounts, and licenses. You can save all the entries from a web page form, so you can remember answers to security questions or other information.
Toggl
This is another app that allows you to track time from a browser, computer or smartphone so you never again lose a minute of billable time. You can organise your time by project or tag, and mark as billable. If you forget to turn it on, just enter the time later.
