Run Your Business From Your Smartphone

As I sit here, I think about how I run my business in terms of desktop, laptop, smartphone, and other technology.  I wonder if I could ever be a strictly smartphone run businessman.  At first glance I think it’s impossible but maybe it’s worth looking into.  First, here is a brief rundown of my current state.

• Desktop pc with Quickbooks installed
• Laptop pc with Quickbooks installed
• Dropbox account with Quickbooks data files for easy syncing between pcs
• Toggl installed on Smartphone to track billable time
• Astrid installed on Smartphone for project management
• Online Asana account for complicated project management
• Online Hootsuite account for social media management
• Hootsuite installed on Smartphone for social media management on the go
• Square installed on smartphone and iPad for mobile payments

That’s pretty much it, there are a few other little tools I use but these are the biggies.    Basically what I do is use Toggl to track billable time and then manually import that into Quickbooks on one of my PC’s.  I then use Quickbooks to generate and track invoices and estimates.  I stuff all of this in my Dropbox account so I can access it anywhere.

I then use Asana and Astrid to manage my projects and to do lists.  Hootsuite is invaluable in managing my Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Mobile Only Setup

So how would I convert to a mobile only setup?  I’m actually not that far away.  I already use Square for payments and Hootsuite let’s me manage my social networks on the go.   Asana is written in HTML5 and looks great on a smartphone or tablet so that is dealt with.

So as I look at this, Quickbooks is the big weight around my neck.  How can I get the same functionality on my mobile device that I get with Quickbooks (without paying a monthly fee)?  That’s the rub.  Now there are mobile apps out there that say they can do this but I have yet to try one.  I recently ran across one named MobileBiz Pro which looks like it would let me get rid of Quickbooks and for the reasonable price of $22.00.

So it all comes down to finding an application which can do what Quickbooks does for me.  I may try MobileBiz Pro in the next few weeks and see if I can ween myself off of Quickbooks.  I will post a review once I have tried it out.

Any thoughts on how I could achieve this in a different way?