By: Fred Decker
One of the realities of business is that the world won't beat a path to your door, no matter how good your mousetrap happens to be. Whether you're an entrepreneurial sole proprietor or part of an established enterprise, you'll need to get out and make good things happen. Staying productive on the go is a crucial part of modern business, and these five apps will help you "gear up for great."
Everything You Do
Keeping your life and work organized is relatively straightforward within the structured environment of an office, but it can be challenging when you're always on the move. The Any.do app can help you keep track of everything, all in one simple interface. You can communicate and collaborate with your colleagues back at the office, share messages and to-do lists with your family and keep track of your personal and professional goals with equal ease. If you need to remember it, organize it, track it or talk to it, it belongs in Any.do. It's a cross-platform app, so it'll sync seamlessly between computers and Android and iOS devices.
Lightning-Fast E-Signatures
Getting a signature on a hard-copy contract or purchase order, then rushing it back to the office in person or by courier, is not always feasible. Legally binding signatures are still a business necessity, but scurrying around town with a briefcase full of papers is not. Adobe's EchoSign is a much better alternative. It delivers documents directly to the customer or to your own mobile device, where they can be signed quickly and easily. Whether you need one signature or a dozen, you can be done in moments. The software tracks the document's progress, stores it securely and maintains an audit trail for you. It even provides every party with a certified PDF of the finished document.
Take the Card
Not every selling situation involves a complex purchase process. Often, the key to your mobile business is simply the ability to accept credit cards. In the dark days of the past, that meant carrying a bulky imprinter and a stack of forms in your briefcase. For modern road warriors, life is a lot simpler. All you need is the Square app on your phone or tablet, and the tiny Square reader to plug into its earphone jack. Transactions take just moments anywhere there is cellular service or Wi-Fi, and the mobile app integrates its invoicing and sales reporting neatly into your accounting software of choice.
Goodbye to Receipts
Life on the go has its share of inconveniences, from bad food to tedious delays. Accounting for your expenses is another painstaking necessity, whether you're reporting to your finance department back at the office or adding them to your bill for a given project. Expensify's app streamlines the process dramatically. It'll import your card transactions, track time and mileage, and let you add cash expenses. You'll finally be done with paper receipts. Use the camera on your phone or tablet to scan them, and Expensify looks after things from there. It integrates with accounting and sales-force management software, so you can forward receipts from anywhere and be reimbursed electronically.
Accountant in Your Pocket
When you're a sole proprietor or one of the senior people in your firm, you need to do more than report your numbers back to the office. For practical purposes, you are the office, and having the company's big-picture numbers at your fingertips is crucial to your business. Zoho Books is a powerful tool for agile, fast-moving businesses. The full-blown accounting system can grow with your company while providing access to all your data and reports right from your mobile device. As your company grows, it can integrate with Zoho's Customer Relationship Management software to maintain and retain your expanding clientele.
References & Resources
Photo Credits: visualspace/iStock/Getty Images
) "Office Depott & OfficeMax"){kind=logo}
) "Office Depott & OfficeMax"){kind=logo}
Sign up for 
