Microsoft's newest iOS apps aim to help small businesses grow

Microsoft has released two new apps on the Apple App Store for the iPhone. The company’s latest apps are for small businesses, allowing them to manage their business right from their smartphone.

The first app, which Microsoft is simply calling “Connections” allows businesses to grow their businesses by providing their customers with special rewards. With this app, small businesses can create referral campaigns, send them to their customers, and track their performance — all on their iPhone. This service requires an Office 365 Business Premium subscription, however.

The second app, Microsoft Invoicing, is actually a bit more interesting as it allows businesses to manage invoices right from their iPhone. The app allows businesses to create invoices for their customers right from their iPhoine, and share it with their customers via “professional looking” emails. The app also allows businesses to keep track of how much they have invoiced every year and month, which can be a bit useful. More importantly, the app keeps track of a business’ previous customers — allowing them to create new invoices for their old customers if needed.

Microsoft Connections and Invoicing seem to be part of the company’s efforts to build better apps for small business across all platforms. The company recently introduced apps such as Microsoft Bookings, which was essentially a tool that allowed small businesses to simplify their appointment booking and management process. The company also recently launched StaffHub, an app which allowed employees in a small business to keep track of their shifts every workday. It will be quite fascinating to see what apps Microsoft will release next for small business — but in the meantime, you can checkout Connections here, and Invoicing here in the App Store.