With the number of business apps for iPad growing every day, no savvy company, entrepreneur or salesperson can afford to miss out on the unprecedented opportunities offered by Apple’s wonder device.
The iPad, a handheld tablet which can be taken on the road, has the ability to transform entire business operations, practically eliminating paper-based processes and replacing them with cost-effective, highly efficient, and income-generating systems.
Nowadays iPad apps can do practically anything and everything – track inventory, generate leads, manage customer relationships, track customers’ buying preferences, manage sales teams, issue statistical reports, carry out sales transactions, scan business cards, take notes, manage calendars, store files in a cloud, and much more.
What Can Your iPad Do for You ?
Here are some great ways to use your iPad to operate more effectively and to gain an innovative edge in a competitive economy.
- Make the iPad your go-to travel companion, allowing you 24/7 access to your customer database (including purchase and payment histories), your entire inventory of products, email and the Web, documents and folders, performance charts, and more
- Get rid of your landline and use your iPad to place calls over cellular networks or Wi-Fi and hold business conferences for up to 20 people (there are apps for both free and pay-as-you-can plans)
- Use your iPad to communicate with your sales team, customers, wholesalers and distributors, or use your iPad to Skype commercial contacts overseas or to stay in touch with clients who can use their iPad to meet with you in full-screen video from anywhere and at any time (from home, cars, cabs, hotels, the airport)
- Provide mobile secure online payment options by investing in an app which lets you swipe customer credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and more). Small businesses might want to consider investing in a flat-price plan which eliminates per-swipe fees for up to $250,000 a year
- Task management, i.e. create task lists which generate automatic reminders of when you’re supposed to do something or be somewhere; organize tasks into projects and folders; manage your client database; store notes; stay on top of contracts and software/hardware expiration dates
- Generate sales and trend performance charts on demand (displayed on attractive visual dashboards)
- Capture voice notes at meetings (and then synch them back to your computer!)
- Read and mark up PDF documents
- Sign paychecks and contracts digitally (no more looking for that disappearing pen…)
- Use your iPad as a play device to read books, watch videos, listen to music, and join video conferences
- Manage business orders with the SuperBiz app, a B2B order management tool for manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers
Free or Low-Priced Business Apps for iPad
There no limit to what an iPad can do for your business – or to the range of new apps being added to the app stores every day. The best news, however, is that many of these apps are available for free or are priced at under $10. This means that for prices even small business and startups can afford, business owners now have access to an endless variety of tools which have all been optimized for their mobile device.
iPad: Reigning the Business World
Although tablets appeared on the technology scene only a few short years ago, they have already taken over the PC-dominated landscape and have staked their claim as the reigning kings of the business world. With the iPad taking center stage in the realm of software development, investing in an iPad simply makes good business sense.
