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During a recent meeting between digital colleagues, we discussed different apps that we use, personally and for business, that we can’t live without. A couple were big conversation topics on the business level so we thought we would share the pros and cons of them with everyone to see how they could or could not be used in the business world.
This specific app came up in conversation because it was a platform that was a part of the Facebook social media family of apps that shutdown in October, 2021. Some of our team had heard of it, some of them use it and some of them were like nope, never heard of it and don’t use it. What is it? WhatsApp is a messaging platform that connects people for free* (always an asterisk because, of course, there are upgrades/paid plans and changes). There is the one-on-one text feature, the Group Chat feature where you can share messages, pictures and videos with up to 256 people, WhatsApp voice and video calls, and document sharing abilities.
According to DigitalTrends.com, “WhatsApp Messenger is now the leading mobile messaging app in 169 countries — although perhaps surprisingly, it wasn’t as popular in the U.S., where Messenger was more frequently used. This seems to be changing now, as recent data shows WhatsApp tops the current list of the most popular global mobile messaging apps in 2021. Currently, more than 100 billion messages are sent each day on WhatsApp, making it the most active messaging app in the world.” Some members of our team have used it, others have not. Have you used it?
Business Pro: A Digital team member said that his friends used WhatsApp when they were in a different country as a means to communicate with their friends and family back here in the United States. People can literally work from anywhere in today’s world. This could be a free*/inexpensive way to stay connected with associates and business connections.
Business Pro: With the document sharing feature, PDFs, spreadsheets, slideshows and more can be sent through the app without email. Just need some Wi-fi or internet and you are set to go!
Business Con: It may not be the most professional platform, but we assume that is why the WhatsApp Business App was created. It has its advantages! We aren’t sure Fortune 500 companies should use this app as a business tool, but it most certainly could work for small businesses. It is a great way to connect with customers, show off products/services, and a way to answer questions during someone’s shopping experience.
Canva AppWe had a good laugh when we started to discuss the Canva app. Our “artistically challenged” teammates were like it makes me look like a real artist when I use it. That’s how you know it is a good app! Canva is one of the most user-friendly design and publishing tools. Now that it is an app, work can literally be done anywhere!
Business Pro: From small business to Fortune 500 companies, Canva can be invaluable to both. There’s a pricing tier from free to Pro to Enterprise. If you are working as a team, teammates can work together on designs in real time, hence why we think the app is awesome. Additionally, there are endless photos and videos available for use. No more worrying about copyright issues. These resources are ready to be used and literally at your fingertips.
Business Pro: Canva is used by more than just our graphic designers. Beautiful charts can be created within the app to provide clients with awesome visuals. Social media managers can use the app to create designs for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and so on. Even with zero experience with Photoshop, Canva makes it super simple to bring ideas to life.
Business Pro: If you are using this as a team, you can have client folders that can house logos, specific client images and designs, brand colors/fonts, and so much more that is 100% specific to that client. No more digging around in different places to get what is needed. It is all housed in Canva.
Business Con: It can get expensive. But in our eyes, it is invaluable. We also don’t love the publishing feature as we like to schedule a lot of our posts. And this can be a personal issue, but sometimes people just prefer to do designing on a big screen versus the little screens of where an app is typically housed. One last thing, some users feel that the photo and video options are lacking, but we like them!
QuickBooks has been around for what seems like forever. Our team isn’t even that old and we can remember seeing it on the shelves in stores. Today it can just be downloaded from their website and used on any computer or used straight from the cloud with no download. Initially QuickBooks was created for small businesses, but now it is one of the most popular accounting softwares on the market. QuickBooks offers so many tools for business owners and clients, but did you know there’s an app too?
Business Pro: The app allows you to take credit/debit card payments! QuickBooks GoPayment (previously called Intuit GoPayment), is a mobile payment solution. People usually think about Square or PayPal as the card reader processing solutions, but did you know that you can literally take a payment within QuickBooks and it will be right there in your accounting books? You won’t have to take the extra step of moving payments from another app to QuickBooks.
Business Pro: QuickBooks does so much more than figure out business taxes (because that is what some of our teammates just thought it did). There are hundreds of app integrations available through this software. There’s an app for timesheets, payroll, job costing, billing, invoicing, managing customer accounts, financial reports, keeping track of mileage, and so much more. Some of the apps have a fee associated with them, others don’t.
Business Con: If accounting isn’t in your wheelhouse, there can be quite the learning curve to get QuickBooks to work for you. However, once you get it all set up and to your liking, it is super simple and user-friendly. It can also be expensive, especially for new business owners. There are competitor apps out there that may be cheaper, but we still think QuickBooks is the best one out there today.
We are curious to know what other apps you love to use for your business. Is there something that you think our team would love? Do we have any app creators out there? We would love to talk to you about the business apps that you created! Check us out on our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and let’s chat! Keep the conversation going there.
