6 apps that can help your business succeed

What's not to love about apps? They organize our multimedia, wake us up in the morning and allow us to slingshot angry little birds at green pigs. From saving time to wasting time, mobile applications give us platforms for entertainment, efficiency, finance and communication. The app marketplace is constantly expanding, as old programs improve speed and utility and new apps emerge to transform the way we perform tasks in our professional and personal lives. 

Here are six ingenious apps that can help your business reach the next level in 2015. 

Workflow. Completing a series of tasks on a mobile device requires a series of methodical thoughts, corresponding keystrokes and effective order of operations. With so many apps to manage, it stands to reason that someone would design one that helps coordinate functions across platforms. With Workflow, users can arrange an Uber ride before a scheduled meeting, upload recent photos to social media and program other functions that reduce hassle in other apps. 

Scannable. We've all been to networking functions and come home with the requisite pile of business cards. With Evernote's Scannable app, users can use the camera feature on mobile devices to upload business cards as contacts, complete with the information they provide on their calling card. This reduces the time and detail busy professionals exhaust updating their address books with new connections in their industry. 

Ethan. From Dear Abby to Dan Savage, advice columnists have carved huge media careers out of giving direction to people who are lost in love, life and work. With Ethan, you can crowdsource advice by positing questions and situations to the community. Like a message board in some respects, Ethan allows users to privately solicit advice when they need it. It's the perfect app for people who need affirmation, tough love or a second opinion about a decision or scenario. 

Square Register. For business transactions on the go, this handy card-scanning application gives mobility and ease to businesses that process credit card payments. Although the company takes a cut of each payment, the convenience of receiving digital payments immediately with an iPhone, iPad or Android is worth the expense for many companies. Food trucks, antiques dealers and freelancers have made effective use of Square, and perhaps your business can, too.

OpenTable. This app is a godsend for anyone with a busy power-lunch schedule. If you regularly conduct business over dinner, drinks or plan meetings in restaurants, organizing reservations has never been easier. Most restaurants have embraced the platform, so you can reserve a table any time, well in advance of the meeting date. With handy confirmation emails and a point system that rewards frequent users, OpenTable is a must for wining and dining clients. 

Venmo. When companies need to reimburse employees for business expenses, sometimes the glut of bureaucracy delays actual payment for weeks. Rather than cutting employees a paper check to repay them for incidentals, Venmo connects bank accounts so money transfers can happen instantly. From splitting the check at dinner with friends to reconciling outstanding payments with employees, Venmo is a wireless way to send money. 

Check the Android or Apple stores for these apps that can help your business boost productivity, navigate decisions and process information. And contact On Point Executive Center to learn more about our virtual office services, including virtual office assistants.