5 Mobile Apps to Make Running a Business Easier

For most small businesses, conducting business on the go is the norm.  A slew of mobile applications can make life a little bit easier, whether a small business owner wants to process credit card charges or capture receipts for expensing. Here’s a look at some of the mobile apps for business owners that are a click away.

Brought to you by Transaction Wireless, wCharge Credit Card Terminal is a mobile application that enables remote processing of Visa (V), MasterCard (MA), American Express (AXP) and Discover credit card payments. That means credit card transactions can be processed from a mobile phone.  The application claims to offer a secure way of accepting credit cards on the go. The transaction records are stored in your PayPal profile online. The app costs $4.99 to $8.99 a month depending on where you buy it, and you’ll need a mobile phone and a business/merchant PayPal account for it to work.

Your cell phone gets Internet access on the go, but your laptop requires a separate mobile card, which means an additional cost. wMWifiRouter changes all that with its mobile app that turns smartphones into an Internet hotspot. The app can enable your smartphone to provide Internet access to multiple devices at the same time and works even when the device is suspended. Your smartphone will have to have Windows Mobile in order for the app to work. The app costs $19.99 for one consumer license.

Whether it’s email, spread sheets or document creation, Zoho has an app for your mobile phone. Zoho Mobile apps, which start at as low as $8, work on the Apple (AAPL) iPhone, Google’s (GOOG) Android, Research in Motion’s (RIMM) Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Nokia (NOK). The company, known for its suite of online applications, also offers an app that lets you enter in forms on the go.

For many small business owners, much if not all of their business is conducted on a mobile phone. If that phone gets lost or stolen it can be disastrous to a small business. Sprite Backup gives users peace of mind with its app that backs up all your mobile contacts, SMS, applications and settings, to name a few. The app lets you back up the data to a PC, FTP site and storage cards. The app, which works with Windows Mobile, costs $29.95.

Any small business owner who has to keep a running tab of receipts and expenses knows how cumbersome that can be. Shoeboxed’s free iPhone app makes the process less painful. The app lets you take pictures of receipts and add notes. The data is extracted to your iPhone where you can submit expenses right there or do it later online.