If you’re looking for a secondary job, want to make money online, or you want to do something part time, it’s now perhaps easier than ever.
The guy that fixes and services my bike for example. He has a van. He has a mobile phone and a load of tools. That, and a laptop rigged to his dashboard, is all he needs.
I call him on a landline number which redirects to his phone. I can email him and he can reply quickly on that laptop. He turns up, he gets a bike holder out and he works on my bike in the garage. When he’s done, he takes payment on his smartphone via PayPal Here.
If you want to start a business, even if it’s a part-time one, sites like https://www.journalreview.org/best-small-business-ideas/have stacks of great business ideas that can help you on your way, and your smartphone can help.
So if you’re thinking of doing something, here’s a few ideas where a smartphone can play a part.
Getting noticed
Getting yourself “on the web” can be a scary prospect for many. Having a website name on the side of your van can be hugely beneficial, but designing a site can be a daunting prospect. Even those website builders you see on TV need a laptop, right?
Well, no actually. Take a look around the app stores on Android or iPhone and you’ll find that there’s apps to let you create a site on your phone. It won’t take long, you won’t need a huge amount of tech skills and a professional site can be created quickly. It’ll be specific to your service and you can add your number, your address and other ways of contact.
Being available
Emails are the traditional way that people can get in touch, so you can use your smartphone to respond to those fairly easily. However, with apps such as WhatsApp you can easily handle a large amount of customers, threads and easily receive pictures of potential jobs – ideal if you’re a handyman or repair guy. It’s a great way to get a look at the potential problem before you even set off to do a quote. WhatsApp has become so prevalent now that nearly everyone uses it.
Becoming a social media mogul
Tricky? Lots of work? Not really, and it works for you. Updating your Facebook page might seem like a lot of work, but all it takes is a few “before and after” photos of your work. So, if you’re a tiler or a painter, you can merely take a photo of how the room looked before you started work and then once it’s completed. People will see the shots and you can see hwo good your work is. This will get you more jobs.
The same can be said for Twitter or Instagram – whatever you feel your customers will us the most, it just takes a quick photo.
Also, if you’re on social media, get your customers to leave a response on your page. People will trust comments and reviews from customers, so the more you get, the better. You can then use your phone to keep up to date with these and handle any feedback which might need addressing.
Handling work-load and support tickets.
Apps like Freshdesk help you offer customer support on the go. You can handle any customer queries, no matter where you are. This bring together a lot of the bits I’ve mentioned before, so you can handle email, phone, chat, Facebook and Twitter queries in one place. This will let you set priorities, assign tickets to others, delete tickets and you can log how much time has been spent on a customer.
Invoice and estimate
Quoting for jobs is always your first step, so get it done right with one of the various apps available in the app store. Invoice & Estimate on the Go lets you create, send and track invoices and estimates easily on your phone. It’ll let you send proper, professional PDF invoices so that your business has that edge.
Small business owners and freelancers need fast billing generator apps like this, so give it a try instead of trying to create your own each time. You can keep an eye on overdue invoices and account balances.
Bookkeeping!
Along with creating quotes and making invoices, you need to manage cash flow and expenses, plus you need to keep an eye on your profit and loss. Apps like QuickBooks will help you massively. You can easily see how much you’re making and where your expenses are stacking up by category.
If you’re buying stock, spares or parks, you can take photos of receipts and attach them to expenses, you can link bank accounts andcalculate VAT on your invoices.
Now, I’ll be honest, there’s probably even more areas where a smartphone can help your business, so do let me know if you’re using a smartphone as part of your business, we’d love to add anything helpful to this article!