growvc

This is a guest post by Joseph Baker. He has led development and management teams, and implemented budget reductions both professionally and as an independent contractor. He’s also an avid inbound marketer and has led strategic planning and systems of implementation for several organizations, both public and private, working extensively with small businesses.

Mobile Solutions for Fleet and Business Management

Logistics versus Supply Chain (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As your operations grow, so does the difficulty of maintaining it and tracking them. Keeping track of financing can be a difficult task for anyone. Marketing may not be your strong suit. Supply chain management? Not your favorite task. Luckily for you, there are some amazing mobile technologies that have been created to help keep control of your business and work efficiently with your entire team.

Mobile technology, whether we’re discussing the devices your team uses or the apps that make those devices work, is all about customization and finding the right tool to fit every business need. You can keep track of your ongoing efforts, stay in contact with them, track your finances and organize your marketing plans all from the palm of your hand. We’ve taken a look at some of the latest and greatest mobile business technologies and identified some key features they have in common. If you’re looking for a mobile solution to your business woes, we’ve even included some examples of the absolute best tools around.

Supply Chain Management

Machine to machine (M2M) tracking is the latest technology when it comes to supply chain management. With most M2M systems, you can keep track of where your drivers are at all times, get new revenue streams, access easy implementation, connect any device to office applications, and improve your time to market. Supply chain management may sound complicated at first, but really it is just how you keep every part of your business connected. When you use supply chain management technologies you know what is going on at all times, and you can easily cut the cost of your operations and manage them more effectively.

Our favorite tool: Qualcomm Enterprise Services

When it comes to understanding fleets and the tech that makes them work, Qualcomm is No. 1. They work with businesses to create custom solutions including GPS fleet tracking, fleet maintenance software and even safety and compliance tools.

Finance

When you’re constantly on the go, managing, owning and/or operating an entire fleet can make keeping track of your finances difficult. But with the advancement of mobile technologies, keeping your finances in line is much easier. No longer do you have to go to the bank or sit in front of a computer to manage your bank accounts, deposit checks, or transfer funds. You can even use mobile finance technologies to pay your employees. With these technologies, you can save time by having access at your fingertips 24/7. We all know that when time is saved, money is saved. Making the switch to mobile finance technologies will allow you to work more efficiently and more effectively.

Our favorite tool: Mint.com

With a beautiful browser interface and a whole arsenal of mobile apps, Mint has become the go-to financial management and planning tool for personal and business use. Track your spending, create budgets and even set goals using this intuitive and free software solution.

Marketing

Google Offers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The entire world is starting use mobile technology more so than traditional computers to access websites. There are even statistics and claims that by 2013 more people will use their phones instead of computers to access websites. The use of mobile marketing seems to be growing almost daily. You can use QR codes to direct customers and leads to your website. Mobile coupons allow you to reach a wider customer base and may just bring in new clients. When you choose to invest in any mobile marketing technologies, you may not be saving money, but you’ll surely increase your revenues through new and returning clients.

Our favorite tool: Google Offers

Many people see group discount sites as places for restaurants and retail stores to gain new customers, but Google’s far-reaching service can be perfect for enterprise companies as well. Use Google Offers to target customers in specific geographical regions to take advantage of your ebbs and flows throughout the year.

Turning to mobile technologies can be a big leap for any company. However, there’s no doubt that this is the way business is headed. Implementing many of these technologies may seem overwhelming, but once you start, you’ll find that you’re investing in the viability of your business for years to come.

Join Grow Venture Community

Register Now! or Join to build our venture!

Tags: tools

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2012 at 2:17 pm and is filed under Entrepreneur Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.