For we live in the age of apps, comprising of ones which can channel huge transactions of money to ones which host the latest pictures of glamorous celebrities. Apps have changed the way we live, whether we like it or not. So it is only prudent that you as an entrepreneur should embrace them, and use them effectively. A shrewd businessman is one who uses all the tools available to him in an effective manner, and right now there can’t be a bigger tool(s) staring outright at your face. So here are the top 10 apps for entrepreneurs you simply must have in your smartphone if you are starting up:

1. EVERNOTE

Image credits: http://blog.evernote.com/

It is one of the most important apps for entrepreneurs that can do wonders in your life! Save anything and everything you want, all at just one simple click. You can make a note of some important points you want to pitch across in your next board meeting. Browsing a website and find something interesting? Open Evernote and use the save webpage option. Voila, your webpage has been saved, complete with all the content, images and links. Sounds too good to be true? Use it and see for yourself the magic that is Evernote!

 2. GOOGLE WALLET

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Are you another one of busy mongers who thinks that the world can do with more than sixty minutes to an hour? Are you itching to be on the move unmindful of your aching feet, as you wait in the queue when the biller is fumbling with your credit card? Then this is the app for you! If your phone is enabled with near field communication, then all you need to do, is open the Google Wallet app, pick the card you want to use, tap the back of your phone with checkout register and be on your way!

3. GOOGLE MAPS

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Now, now I know it’s more than likely you’re reading this from your iPhone, but sorry, Google simply trounces Apple with regard to their maps. Never has it been easier to traverse from one location to another. Being an entrepreneur it’s more than likely you will find yourself in unfamiliar territory and who’s a better friend than Google’s $600,000 satellite to help you find your way around there? Plus Google Maps come with voice navigation too, which means no more quibbling with the cops when you have an important appointment to attend to which makes it one of the must have apps for entrepreneurs!

4. GOOGLE DRIVE

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How can we not include Google Drive in the intriguing list of apps for entrepreneurs? This one enables you to save all your documents on cloud, which ensures better protection than when it is stored in a hard drive. Plus all the documents are saved as you type, which is itself an added bonus. And the fact that it can be accessed from any device, anywhere from the world helps too. Which means you can type, edit and upload any document you want and your entire team can access them anytime, anywhere they want. Sharing can’t get easier than this, and this is yet another feather in Google’s cap!

5. SLICE

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Tired of keeping track of all those purchases you’ve made online, as you don’t have the time to them in person? Don’t worry for Slice is here! This wonderful app is unique as it one of those interesting apps for entrepreneurs that keeps track of all the purchases they’ve made online and all they have to do is provide their email id. Just when we were thinking we couldn’t get lazier than online shopping! 

6. ASANA

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Ever been in that spot of bother where you can’t get to a teammate either through phone or email but you need to inform him on the report that he’s been working on? Well you needn’t worry about that anymore as long as you have Asana! Yes this beauty of an app, caters to all the needs of an organization, providing you with virtual Workspaces, Projects, Personal Projects, Tasks, Tags, Notes, Comments and an Inbox that organizes and updates information in real-time. It is one of the most organized apps for entrepreneurs as its main purpose is to enable individuals and teams to plan and manage their projects and tasks, and thus ensuring there are no hassles in communication between your team.

7. SIGNEASY

Now if there were apps for entrepreneurs that could make their lives easier, Signeasy would definitely top the list! Never do you have to go through the rigours of scanning anymore. Now you can sign any document you want right through your smartphone, without having to print it, sign it, and then scan it! You don’t have to deal with piles of paperwork ever again!

8. HIPMUNK

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One of the must have apps for entrepreneurs who are frequent travelers out there! It’s no secret that planning one’s travel gives one quite a headache indeed. Delays, non-availability of hotels, no stipulated flight chart, the list of problems is long enough to send them reeling away from flights. But what if I told you that planning a flight can be an enjoyable and quick event. Stop gaping at disbelief, the app Hipmunk does that and more!

Hipmunk speeds up the process of planning a trip, by displaying data that it collects from every airline and hotels in a visual timeline or map. So one quick glance will tell you departure timings or hotel locations that you desire. No more having to sort through hordes of other listings to find the one suited for you!

9. CAPTIO

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Ever had some incredible idea or wanted to remember something that even notes didn’t warrant? Fear not for there’s Captio. This incredibly simple app lets you type or attach anything you want and at one click of a button, sends them right to your email, which you can safely access the very next day. The beauty is, it even works offline, and saves whatever you type and sends it when it gets the connection which makes it unique amongst other apps for entrepreneurs. So if you’re not known for your memory, this app will do wonders for you as it ensures you remember anything and everything you so desire.

 10. 1PASSWORD

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In this digital age that we live in, passwords amount to gold, and there are countless tracking and hacking programs out there whose sole job is to steal your passwords and hack into your account. Also there’s no telling which password you can remember as there are so many of them to keep track of. That’s why there’s 1password. What makes it one of the most powerful and coveted apps for entrepreneurs? Its work of securing all your accounts and it also helps you store all your passwords under one single roof, which only you can access through a master password. The usefulness of this app can’t be matched as it not only saves you truckloads of time but also ensures the security of all your accounts. 

Did we miss any? What you think is the most important app without which the list of apps for entrepreneurs shall always be incomplete? Share your views with us!

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The authors Gagan and Neeti Jain embarked on this uplifting journey with the sole intention of bringing to light the success stories of entrepreneurs, in a bid to inspire others to follow their dreams in spite of whatever low that life got them to. To do this they sought the help of, six reputed entrepreneurs who have to their credit the creation of six renowned companies namely redBus.in, Yo! China, Eko Financial Services, The Loot Store, Colosceum Media and One97 Communications. The authors have managed to seamlessly create a story which effectively captures significant moments in the lives of all the entrepreneurs.

(Must Read: 5 Amazing Books Every Entrepreneur Should Read)

The struggles, the challenges, the accomplishments, and even notoriously funny moments in their lives, have been captured in an effective and humorous way which no doubt, makes for an engaging read. The authors have also borrowed heavily from the saying as old as time itself: “A failure is all but a stepping stone to success!” They want this message to ring with deafening clamour, in the ears of the youth of our country. They want to make it resoundingly clear that, failure is not the end of the road. Not at all. To the contrary, it is the first stop you are going to make on your journey towards success. They have brought out this very simple fact, as they tell a story of how one with steely determination, and a dream which soars to new heights, can do the unthinkable, and overcome all odds, in order to reap the fruit of success.

It also hopes to shatter the prevailing notion in our country that only Ivy League or IIM qualified people can create successful new age businesses, and also showcases the existing ecosystem in our country comprising of Venture capitalists, mentors and organizations boosting entrepreneurship. In the author’s very own words the books tries to tell the “tale of the journey from ordinary to extraordinary”. The fact that the author duo are vastly experienced in fields relating to entrepreneurship greatly helps too!

Gagan Jain is a seasoned professional with 10+ years of experience in Media, Retail and E-commerce sectors across India and overseas. Neeti Jain on the other hand has extensive experience of working in Advertising, Media and Consultancy with reputed organizations like Times Group and Lintas. Both are joint founders of their own venture Rangrage.in, a designer label for hand painted apparels and home décor products. Needless to say, this experience has proved pivotal in their inspiration to write about other successful entrepreneurs and they did that with elan. A charming, inspiring, intriguing read indeed!

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Well not so much hidden as staring outright in your face, as the whole intention of the classic epic which has survived several millennia, was to teach all sorts of lessons, moral and social alike, to persons from all walks of life. And that means even you, an entrepreneur can derive all sorts of lessons from it, gain all sorts of entrepreneur ideas which can prove to be more than adequate in helping you shape your successful enterprise.

1. Unity is Strength

This is one of the most important entrepreneur ideas that anyone can derive from the Mahabharata. A closer look at the Pandavas reveals that in spite of being outnumbered by a large margin by the Kauravas, they managed to thwart, and conquer them. Not that it was smooth sailing for them all along.

Not at all. Their journey was riddled with hardships, and they endured years of mockery and humiliation at the hands of the Kauravas, and yet they never let their belief in one another dwindle. They were united till the very end and now we know them for the victors, that they eventually became.

Just like them, no matter how big a company you are pitted against, if you have confidence in your other board members and that trust is reciprocated, you can be sure that you are en route to success. As the old saying goes “United we conquer. Divided we fall.” Amongst many other entrepreneur ideas hidden in the legend, this one teaches us an imperative lesson of standing by each other against all odds.

 2. Half Baked Knowledge never helps

This is for all you start-up enthusiasts out there. How many times have we been someone with an idealistic mind trying to start their own business venture and fail miserably at that, covering them head to toe with losses? “The stock market wasn’t stable.” “The real estate has slowed down.” “The food market is totally unpredictable.” We hear one excuse after another, being thrown about as if this was something that could happen to anybody.

After all one might argue that business as a whole is one, big risky affair. But is it? Take the case of Abhimanyu from the Mahabharata. Well trained in the use of arms, and warfare, well built, talented enough to commandeer a portion of the army, he was everything a father would want his 16 year old son to be. But only Arjuna knew the pain he had to go through when he saw the ravaged body of his son, lying in tatters in the battle field. So what did go wrong?

Legend has it, that when Abhimanyu was confined to the womb of his mother Draupathi, she was talking to Lord Krishna. He was talking to her about the Padmavyuha formation that the Kauravas had incorporated, and how it was effectively a maze, such that it engulfs anyone entering it and traps them there forever. He then proceeds to let her in on the secret on how to enter and exit the maze. Meanwhile Draupadi, a tad too exhausted from hearing all the battle strategies falls asleep right after Krishna finished telling her how to enter the maze and didn’t hear one bit about how to exit.

But here’s the catch! Little Abhimanyu had been listening all along, until his mother had fallen asleep. Sixteen years later, he had used this information to get into the maze. But alas, when he was continuously overwhelmed by wave after wave of Kauravas, he had no way of escape and eventually he fell, succumbing to his injuries.

The majority of people in this world are just like Abhinanyu, keeping our eyes and ears open to any half baked information that comes our way and making an impulsive jump at that! But look where that got him. So whenever you think your brain has come up with some out of the box entrepreneur ideas for a product or a venture, do take care to seek out every single piece of information you can find about it.

Be well informed. Never, ever make an impulsive decision based on something you heard last fortnight. You could end up just like Abhimanyu, or worse! You could end up penniless! 

3. Never sign a blind contract

This can happen to the best of businessmen. Often, there comes a time in their lives when they are forced to sign a contract or agreement which they know will leave them in the dark, but they do sign it for “the company’s sake” or “for giving them their word.” If there’s one thing we have to understand about the Mahabharata it would be the plight of Bhisma.

The poor sod, he had to forgo a life filled with pleasure that is akin to the life of a king like him, just because he made a promise in haste to uphold his family name. I’m pretty sure had he’d have reconsidered if he had an afterthought of how big a promise he was about to make. If that can happen to the likes of Bhisma, that can surely happen to you!

Never go for a contract or promise without duly considering its repercussions. Even if you get an inkling of being left in the dark if go forward with a contract, don’t. Because like Bhisma, you don’t want to be sorry for it the rest of your life. This is again one of the most important entrepreneur ideas that can be learned from the ancient epic.

4. Don’t gamble with something you can’t afford to lose

We’ve heard it all the time. Business is a gamble, the one who takes the most risks, wins. I honestly can’t gather words to describe how contrived and so full of falsities the above statement is. Yes, agreed business is a gamble. But it isn’t any game of poker to go about flinging you chips, whenever you want.

Business is an intelligent gamble. Sometimes it clicks, sometimes it doesn’t. But if you ask any astute businessman I’m sure he’ll say that if played the right way, there won’t be anything as sure footed as business. Yes, sometimes the noose around the neck does tend to get a little tighter. You are made to put at risk your properties, your assets as collateral for a loan. Do it. But never do it if you feel that it isn’t worth the risk.

There have been entire families destroyed under the pretext of a failed business. Putting your business, your company at risk is one thing, but putting the future of your family, people you love is entirely another! Look what happened to the Pandavas and where unbounded gambling got them. They were left in tatters and had to flee the country that they once ruled to save their lives. They were driven to such a measly low.

You certainly won’t want to draw a parallel with the Pandavas in this regard. Sometimes we do the unexpected to implement some unique entrepreneur ideas. But remember if the stakes are too high, it is never too late to duck out. It’s better to be a coward than a loser!

 5. Opportunity knocks only once

Every single person in this world, at some point or other in their life would, have rued the missing of an opportunity in their lives. So did Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kauravas. According to legend, both Arjuna and Duryodhana had sought the help of Lord Krishna to aid them in the battle. As luck would have it Krishna was sleeping, and the first person to arrive there Duryodhan stood near near his head as he was full of pride and felt his place should be at the head of the sleeping Krishna. Arjuna arrived later and was full of humility, so decided to sit near Krishna’s feet. When Krishna got up the first person he saw was Arjuna, and he put forth a condition that Arjuna gets to talk to him first.

Arjuna did the unthinkable. Instead of demanding warriors and weapons, he asked Krishna’s help in his side, and wanted all his teachings and advices on condition that he never seek his aid in combat. Duryodhana on the other hand asked Krishna to give him control of his Dwarakian army. Krishna agreed, and ultimately he proved to be the difference between the two sides.

If Duryodhana had not missed this simple physical detail, who knows how the battle would have panned out! Not everything in life is going to be handed onto you on a gold platter. You have to make better sense of the opportunities around you, devise the best way to make proper use of them. Opportunity knocks only once, and many a times it is a very feeble knock indeed! So keeps your ears strained, and eyes open!

The Mahabharata is replete with many more such entrepreneurs ideas but the effectiveness of their practical applications in today’s scenario depends entirely on your approach and efforts. 

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