Mobile Apps Improve Business Productivity

Mobile applications may be small business owners' new best friend, according to new research. 

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council has released a survey that estimates that the use of mobile apps by small businesses, for everything from credit card processing to GPS directions, resulted in 725.3 million hours saved for the year. This roughly translates into $17.6 billion saved annually due to the use of technology that did not exist just a few years ago. The study, which drew on the responses of 304 owners of companies with 20 employees or fewer, found that 51% of respondents believe the use of apps on their smartphones and iPads made their companies more competitive.

Small business owners, though, say that there is even more room for growth in how their companies use mobile apps in their businesses. In fact, only 31% of respondents to the SBE Council survey report implementing mobile apps into their daily business routines. "It will no doubt grow when you look at the expanding use of smartphones and iPads and related tablets," says Ray Keating, chief economist with the SBE Council.

The most popular type of application used was GPS navigation, with 68%, followed by apps for contact management at 46% and remote document access at 41%. Other popular kinds of apps included travel planning (32%), banking and finance management (30%), social media marketing (27%) and location-based services (23%). Keating says he expects to see more usage from small business owners with apps that process credit card payments, such as Chase's recently launched Jot app, which allows Ink From Chase cardholders to tag purchases and view all transactions on the account, including those by employees.

Via ASI