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Apps Productivity

Three Ways Business Apps Can Improve Processes, Reduce Costs and Increase Sales

/ Insights      / Three Ways Business Apps Can Improve Processes, Reduce Costs and Increase Sales

Three Ways Business Apps Can Improve Processes, Reduce Costs and Increase Sales

The right business mobile apps can save business owners’ time, effort and money by streamlining processes and increasing visibility of business processes.

Depending on the nature of your business there are many ways that apps can improve your business.

Here are three key areas that we have helped small businesses use mobile apps to improve processes and reduce costs.

Project/Job Management

Business apps can be used to increase the visibility that you have of your employees and the projects they are working on.

Mobile apps can be used to create project or job management tools that can track the progress of work. This can include the ability to save and store notes, photos and progress reports.

At Aspiring Panda we have built custom apps for tradesmen such as electricians to help them manage their growing workforce and jobs. The app we built for one tradesmen eliminated the need for him to sign off every job personally giving him more time to grow his business.

Monitoring and Managing Processes

Mobile apps can be combined with the internet of things to monitor and manage business processes. These can be monitored in real time and adjustments made directly in the app saving on the time and effort needed to monitor and adjust.

A good example of this in the retail sector is the HIVE heating apps, these are constantly transmitting information about the temperature of the house and allowing the customer to change the thermostat accordingly.

A recent business client we worked with used our technology to monitor and update their circuit breakers.

Storage and File Sharing

The ability to store data and give users access to it can be powerful. Tools such as Dropbox and Google docs have allowed teams to work together.

These apps can also be used to share tailored information with your customers such as educational videos, product guides and other information they may find useful.

A good example of this is the app we built for Mark Bowden a hypnotherapist. The app allows his customers to access his audio books from anywhere using the app.

If you would like to know more about how we use business apps to power growth at Aspiring Panda give us a call or drop us an email.

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Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Development Technology

Why Apps Are Serious Business

/ Insights      / Why Apps Are Serious Business

Why Apps Are Serious Business

There are estimated to be more than 40m smartphone users in the UK, that is more than two thirds of the population.

Smartphones are popular due to the different software apps that can be used within them. There is a misconception that these apps can only be used within the gaming, leisure and entertainment sectors.

The mass adoption of smartphone technology presents great potential for businesses both large and small to build apps that serve as tools to aid a business in its day-to-day operations and marketing.

At Aspiring Panda we are designing apps that have practical business applications.

Practical Business Apps Usage

Apps have the potential to increase efficiency by allowing businesses to send data whilst travelling. This is ideal for salesmen and tradesmen, enabling them to send job reports, quotes, and progress updates in real time back to head office.

This can allow managers to track the progress of jobs and customer projects remotely allowing for troubleshooting of issues and increase efficiency.

These apps can range from generic solutions – such as project planning or calendar apps – to bespoke solutions that are integrated into the company’s business processes and operations.

Apps To Help Your Customers                                                                                     

Apps have great potential to allow companies to improve their relationships with new and existing customers. Apps can allow customers to access information about a company on the go, as well as providing a simpler and improved customer experience.

Push notifications can also be used to prompt customers with the act to action, increase retention and how often users purchase.

A good example of this could be a restaurant app that sends out special offers to customers.

Is An App Right For Your Business?

Whether your business could benefit from an app is dependent on the unique nature of your business. The important thing is to analyse your business and to explore the ways in which an app can do any of the following:

  • Increase efficiency
  • Improve the customer experience
  • Create new sales platforms
  • Retain customers
  • Reach new customers

If you are unsure of how to go about this, then give us a call and we can talk about the best way to use mobile development to grow your business.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

Some Startling 2016 iOS App Stats

/ Insights      / Some Startling 2016 iOS App Stats

Some Startling 2016 iOS App Stats

We are approaching the end of the first quarter of 2016 and we thought we would reflect on that by sharing with you some incredible stats about the iOS apps in the apple store within the last 12 months.

As consumers, we are now spoilt for choice in the apple store, and the sheer scale of the platform is staggering, there are more than 1.5m apps in the Apple store (July 2015) and 725,000 that have a version native to iPads.

There were more than 100m IOS downloads last year with the most popular app of all time the Facebook app, closely followed by the Facebook messenger app, followed by YouTube, Instagram and Skype. The most popular day for app download purchases ever was the 1st of January this year when $144m was spent in the app store, users can be said to be app mad with each user averaging 80 apps per IOS device, with an average of $4.16 per app. However, not all apps that are uploaded and even downloaded have a successful life. In fact, nearly 1 in 5 apps that are downloaded are only used once.

Apple has worldwide appeal with IOS apps downloaded in huge numbers across the world. Last year, China overtook the USA for the number of app downloads and this is likely to continue as the Chinese market continues to develop rapidly. However, you should not take every review on its merits with 55% of app store reviews are thought to be fake.

The app store is also a huge job creator with estimates that more than half a million jobs have been created in the United States alone, primarily around the development and upkeep of apps within the platform.

Finally, a music fact, although not everyone wanted to have a free U2 album, more than 33m people did end up listening to it using itunes.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Marketing

Why Mobile Apps Are Still Relevant To Your Business

/ Insights      / Why Mobile Apps Are Still Relevant To Your Business

Why Mobile Apps Are Still Relevant To Your Business

Since their inception, the use of mobile apps for business has been evolving to reflect consumer trends and the opportunities created by advances in technology and connectivity. Apps have shifted in focus from pure ecommerce to support a number of different business processes.

With the emergence of the ‘Internet of Things’  the use of mobile apps within businesses large and small is likely to increase.

Whilst native iOS and Android apps have an important role to play, the development of web-apps is allowing businesses to harness the power of apps across the entire business without the costs of having to program an IOS and Android version of each app.

Track Business Processes

Mobile apps are increasingly allowing business owners to track and manage business processes.

This can be utilised by tracking the progress of projects, stock levels or employee/vehicle locations the information from which can be used to manage the business.

This data can be analysed and used to monitor performance, track employee performance and manage capacity. The key is finding the right data to measure and analyse within the business to make the most of the opportunities that mobile app technology creates.

eCommerce

Mobile apps are still relevant to e-Commerce, particularly when the app enhances the customer experience by making the buying process simpler.

We have seen apps such as Uber gain popularity by taking a long standing industry and disrupting the traditional buying behaviours of consumers. The key is to develop something that makes things as simple and as convenient as possible for the customer.

Done correctly, a mobile app can increase sales and customer loyalty by creating a new route to market that customers are drawn to.

How Does This Apply To My Business

A mobile app can be of huge benefit to a business whether it is managing business processes or in support of an e-commerce operation. However, it is important to identify how your business can utilise a mobile app to create sales or efficiencies to business processes before starting the process.

To find out how Aspiring Panda can help you in this process, give us a call today.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Development

3 Tips on How to Find a Reputable App Development Company

/ Insights      / 3 Tips on How to Find a Reputable App Development Company

3 Tips on How to Find a Reputable App Development Company

The utilisation of bespoke mobile applications can allow businesses to increase revenues, reduce costs, and give managers increased visibility over business functions and employees.

However, finding a reputable app development company to implement the right solution or take forward your idea can be difficult. The market is saturated and it can be tricky on first glance to differentiate between a reputable app development company and one that is going to take you for a ride.

Check Their Portfolio

Success for companies within the mobile app development industry is built on delivering successful results to clients. This means delivering the required specification, within the agreed budget, and to your timescale.

When speaking to companies, ensure that you ask them what they have worked on before, and how that relates to your requirements. If they have experience only of simple or “off the shelf” apps, then a more complex or fully bespoke app may be outside of their knowledge base.

Therefore, review a client’s portfolio to see how it fits with yours.

Previous Client Reviews

The portfolio is a good sign of whether they can deliver what you are looking for. However it is their customers that will tell you how they go about it.

Look and see what their clients have to say about them: are they honest and upfront about deadlines? Do they deliver what they promise?

These are all important things to know before making a decision to work with an app development company.

Make Sure They Understand Your Brief

One of the areas where problems can arise between an app development company and the client is when there is confusion over what you are trying to achieve and in what timeframe.

When speaking to a company, they should take time to understand your needs and make it clear when they can deliver, and at what cost.

If these are not clearly defined when starting the project, then you are setting yourself up for disaster.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

/ Insights      / 10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

10 Statistics That Show the Power of Apps

The rise of the smartphone has been largely powered by the influence that mobile apps are now having on the ways in which we work and play. There are apps for every purpose, from games across the spectrum of fun to apps with a hard hitting business application.

Mobile apps are going from strength-to-strength in 2015, with their applications growing from both a business and personal perspective.

To highlight the power of mobile apps we have combed the web for the latest statistics around the growth of mobile apps and related industries:

These stats show that the appetite for mobile apps is rising as the world becomes more and more digitally and mobile focused. Although the solution for every business may not be to build an app, businesses should be giving serious thought to the role that apps could play in their business.

Apps and mobile technology are not just the domain of large companies: to compete, businesses of all sizes should be looking at how mobile apps can solve problems within their business. Be that how to generate more customers, retain old ones or improve the customer experience.

Wherever your business is heading, make sure you consider the role an app could play in your business.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

Does Your Business Need An App? – Three Ways An App Can Create Business Opportunity

/ Insights      / Does Your Business Need An App? – Three Ways An App Can Create Business Opportunity

Does Your Business Need An App? – Three Ways An App Can Create Business Opportunity

Smartphone technology has become a daily part of our personal and business lives. With more than 46m smart phone users in the UK, there are huge opportunities for businesses to use technology as a means of generating growth. One way of accomplishing this is by using mobile apps.

Because of the huge potential of this technology, one of the most common questions we get asked is “does my business need an app?”

The answer to this question can usually be broken down into three more specific areas that will depend on the nature of the business and its customers:

  1. Can an app be used to improve the customer experience?
  2. Can an app be used to drive customer retention and revenue?
  3. Can an app increase efficiency within your business?

If the answer to any of these questions is positive, there may be potential to develop a bespoke app for a business that will meet their unique requirements.

Can an app be used to improve the customer experience?

Apps that are most regularly used by customers are those that improve the customer experience. A great example of this is Uber. By making the ordering of a taxi simple – and often cheaper – the app significantly improves the customer experience, making the app indispensible to the user.

Can an App Be Used To Drive Customer Retention?

Apps can also be used to tell customers about special offers or products, to drive revenue, and to retain customers.

This is achieved with the use of a piece of functionality called a ‘push notification’. These notifications can keep an app relevant and drive usage by pushing a message from your app onto the home screen of a users device. If an app can help increase revenue from existing customers then it may provide value to a business.

Can an App Increase Business Efficiency?

Apps can also be useful when used internally by a business. As most members of the UK workforce possess a smartphone, mobile apps can be used to keep business owners up to date on activities within a business, or to make processes more efficient.

An example of this could be financial management software that is available via an app, or a mobile app that can track the progress of an order through a factory.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

Five App Trends For 2015

/ Insights      / Five App Trends For 2015

Five App Trends For 2015

Due to a smartphone market that is continuing to go from strength to strength – with smartphone adoption rates predicted to reach 81% of the market by the end of 2015 – the customer base in both the personal and business markets is rapidly expanding.

With the technology and its applications developing quickly, it is important to be aware of the latest trends when building a mobile application.

Here are five app trends for 2015. We have observed these and are adapting for them as we enter the second half of the year.

  • Focus on security

The automatic assumption is that mobile applications are safe. However, research by Gartner suggests that this is far from accurate. In fact, they predict that 75% of apps developed would fail basic security tests.

Therefore, we can expect reputable app developers to be security focused moving forwards.

  • Wearable Tech

The launch of the Apple Watch into the market continues a trend of adoption in 2015. The Apple tech has quickly caught up with rival models launched earlier, having sold more than 2.8 million units.

Therefore, we are likely to see continued development in the personal market of apps designed specifically for the use by smart watches.

  • Smart Homes and Offices

Mobile apps have the potential to give users more and more control over their build environment. From the boss able to monitor his office from thousands of miles away, to the family able to turn on the heating on the way home from work, the market is on the rise.

  • HTML5 and The Decline Of Native Apps

The development tools offered by the HTML5 programming language mean that developers are able to offer their users more flexibility than offering a native app on IOS or Google Play.

These apps are set to grow in popularity due to the ability to work on multiple platforms.

  • Business Adoption of Apps

The power of apps is now translating into the business sphere, with more and more companies, both large and small, leveraging mobile platforms for development.

These apps focused on the B2B market present a tremendous opportunity to increase efficiency by reducing costs and speeding up operations.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

Don’t Let Your Business Run Out Of Time – Mobile Apps Boost Efficiency

/ Insights      / Don't Let Your Business Run Out Of Time - Mobile Apps Boost Efficiency

Don't Let Your Business Run Out Of Time - Mobile Apps Boost Efficiency

Time is the enemy of the business owner. Time can be the difference between control over the strategic direction of a business and barely being able to lift your nose from the grindstone.

With no means of creating extra time beyond hiring more staff (costly and time consuming) or bending the space time continuum, businesses need to find ways to work more efficiently to maximise the time they do have.

One way of doing this is by the effective use of technology, particularly software that staff already have in their pocket and use in their everyday lives.

Smartphone apps can be used by employees on their own devices, harnessing the latest in digital technology and connectivity.

How Mobile Apps Boost Efficiency

When most people think of mobile apps they think of games or personal apps for things like tracking your run or turning on the heating before you get home.

A mobile app is effectively a piece of software that can be installed and run within your smartphone or tablet device. The concept of these personal apps that can be translated to the business environment to save businesses, time, effort and money.

Whether it is a GPS based app to track where company vehicles are for route and efficiency tracking, or to control the running of internal systems and machinery remotely, mobile apps can help.

There are tens of thousands of business related apps already available that can help businesses improve their processes and increase efficiency. However many businesses may have challenges that cannot be overcome by an off the shelf piece of software.

Therefore a bespoke app can be built to solve a specific problem a business is facing, these apps will cost more due to the design and development required.

If your business is running out of time, then maybe it is time to consider how mobile apps can help solve the management, logistical or operational issues you are facing.

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Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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Apps Technology

3 Mobile Apps that Help Businesses Save Time

/ Insights      / 3 Mobile Apps that Help Businesses Save Time

3 Mobile Apps that Help Businesses Save Time

A successful business mobile app is one that is easy to use and navigate whilst allowing a business to complete tasks in a more effective way.

The right apps can save business owners time, effort, and money. There are literally thousands of apps on the IOS and Android stores that are specifically designed for this purpose, with an almost equal mix of success and failure.

We have filtered this down to three that could instantly make an impact to your day-to-day business life.

Expensify

Whether you are self-employed or part of a limited company, monitoring and recording expenses is essential to ensure that you pay the right tax at the end of each financial year.

Expensify is a comprehensive expense report-generating app. It syncs up with your credit cards and bank accounts to log expenses, can scan paper receipts via phone camera, and creates reports and analytics.

Expensify allows you to do this, meaning that you can avoid the time and effort of keeping track of expenses, and receipts.

LinkedIn

Although it is a social media tool, LinkedIn is also the equivalent of an online rolodex of the business world that you can use to keep track of all of your contacts and the people you meet. In fact, rather than trading business cards at a networking meeting, you could add them on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn enables you to keep track of all of your contacts in one place, and stay in touch with them, and keep an eye on any changes in their status.

Invoice2Go

Admin is an unavoidable part of business, and invoicing is vital to ensure you get paid what you are owed in a timely manner.

Invoice2go lets you provide bills, credit memos, purchase orders, and estimates to clients as you complete the job. It then allows collection through PayPal and access to a reporting suite.

The problem it solves is being able to generate invoices in a quick and timely fashion without creating additional paperwork.

If you have a business problem you think an app could fix, or just questions about what apps can do, why not give us a call.

anu_panesar

Anoop Panesar

Business Development Manager

Digital marketing and tech specialist Anoop is a well-known figure in the Harrow and North London community. Currently the Operations Director for Aspiring Panda, the company uses cloud and development expertise to solve some of the toughest business challenges – which has recently included consulting with East African nations to provide sustainable farming.

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