Problemio is an affordable coach and planner for your business

Putting a potential business idea into action from scratch is difficult. As it stands, there are applications for everything these days. Many apps try to help you overcome your business issues but are pricey or cater for specific market groups. Problemio is an app that wants to change this.

Problemio is an app course created by Alex Genadinik to help potential SMMEs with coaching, planning and collaborating their business ideas. Drawing from the experience of more than 10 000 businesses, this application series is an affordable means of helping you along your way in the bumpy road of starting and running a sustainable business.

You’ll find the apps available on your iOS, Android, Kindle and Nook devices. All four of Problemio’s apps goes for under US$5 on Google Play. This is one of the reasons that makes the services so competitive. The fact that it’s compatible on all major mobile platforms and cheap. Genadinik, notes that the reason for making these apps is that “entrepreneurs generally make 4 different mistakes. They have business ideas that would not work for them, are unable to raise the money needed to build the company, cannot effectively promote their businesses, or lack of complete vision of all details of the business which leads to incomplete planning and trouble down the road.”

To combat these four mistakes Problemio has a four-point solution. It consists of specific apps namely Business Planning, Business Ideas, Marketing and Fundraising. Each one promising to provide you with planning tools, numerous guides and tutorials and, if all else fails, chat-based expert advice.

According to Christo Botes, Executive Director at Business Partners, 75% of businesses fail within the first 3 years of operation. Botes says that the biggest reason for this high rate is because most startups rely on financial support as an indication of their success. In most cases merely selling your business is not an indication of sustainable success and “support structures are vital to the survival of start-ups.”

Other competitive apps like Business Plan Premier or StradPad also cater similar features but are only available on iTunes and their prices may scare people off.

Business Plan Premier helps you organize and write your business plan and gives you exposure to 3000 high-net worth investors. It goes for US$9.99 on iTunes but seems to merely act as a framework used to help you layout your business plan.

StratPad features business planning tutorials and business guides. The free version though only offers a handful of features that your business as a whole won’t really benefit from. For the full packages you’ll need to pay either US$9.99, US$34.99 or US$54.99.

Problemio currently has a successful rating of 4.7 stars on Google Play and has grew to nearly 100 000 downloads since its launch. The fact that the app series is compatible on so many platforms adds to its success. According to Genadinik, more than 13 000 businesses have planned on this app since its launch.

Other interesting apps trying to simplify your experience in running a business are PayrollHero and Clarity. PayrollHero is for those employers wanting to rule with an iron-fist. Using things like motion-sensing technology and facial recognition, the beta app helps you keep track of your employees work schedule. Clarity helps choose experts based on their field of expertise to help with your specific business-related problems. Hiring experts by the minute is obviously an expensive chore. This app may be attractive to those not wanting to hire a full-time expert, but rather only want advice paid per minute.

What other interesting apps are out there to help plan, coach or advice your business?