As a small business owner, I‘m always exploring ways to optimize operations, cut costs, and boost revenue. One strategy I‘ve found effective is taking advantage of sign-up bonus offers from various apps and services. These immediate incentives allow me to save money or earn extra income that gets reinvested into growing my business.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll showcase 31 great apps that provide instant bonuses along with an in-depth look at how they benefit small business owners specifically. You‘ll find insights only an entrepreneur can provide – how I actually utilize these apps to support my own ventures.
Cash Back Services
The following cash back apps put money directly back into your pockets on routine expenses, freeing up capital for other business needs:
Rakuten
- Sign-up Bonus: $10 for purchases over $25 in 90 days
- Usefulness: Generous cash back rates at over 2,500 stores
- Expert Tips: Install browser extension to automatically find and apply best coupon codes
I run all my company supply orders through Rakuten and earn an average 8% cash back. This yields around $150 annually that I can re-allocate towards more productive ends.
Dosh
- Sign-up Bonus: $5 automatically
- Usefulness: Hassle-free cash back at top restaurants, hotels, and gas stations
- Expert Tips: Use Dosh for client dinner meetings and fuel costs to offset expenses
As a service-based company, meetings make up a significant portion of our budget. Dosh helps recoup 3-10% cash back from these routine expenses.
Micro-Investing Apps
Micro-investing apps allow small businesses to build up savings and earning potential through automated, incremental investments in various assets.
Acorns
- Sign-up Bonus: $5 investment into your Acorns portfolio
- Usefulness: Effortlessly saves your spare change which is then invested in ETFs
- Expert Tips: Schedule recurring daily or weekly transfers to ramp your investment faster
Acorns works great as a forced savings plan. As a busy founder, I don‘t always have time to manually manage investments so Acorns saves and invests my leftovers automatically. To date, I‘ve earned over $2,300 through stock market gains.
Worthy Bonds
- Sign-up Bonus: $10 bond investment
- Usefulness: Finance American small businesses while earning 5% guaranteed returns
- Expert Tips: Reinvest interest earnings and compound your impact
I‘ve allocated 10% of my emergency fund into Worthy Bonds. Over 2 years, it‘s earned me $650 in interest – far better than standard savings rates. As a fellow small business owner, I love supporting other entrepreneurs while also growing my capital.
Survey & Market Research Companies
Sharing your opinions through surveys and market research studies can generate substantial earnings to pad your bottom line.
Survey Junkie
- Sign-up Bonus: 100 points (~$1)
- Usefulness: Quick surveys earning up to $50/hour
- Expert Tips: Qualify for more surveys by thoroughly completing user profile
During downtime between client projects I can easily complete 3-4 Survey Junkie surveys for $15-20/week. This covers my monthly software subscriptions!
Respondent
- Sign-up Bonus: None, but high-paying projects
- Usefulness: In-depth user research studies paying $100-$500 per session
- Expert Tips Complete screener surveys to qualify for highly compensated specialized projects
Last month I tested an emerging HR benefits platform via a 45 minute video call. The session paid out $250 – extremely lucrative given the time commitment!
Final Takeaways
Sign-up bonuses allow entrepreneurs to earn extra income or recoup routine expenses we face. This frees up precious capital to fund growth priorities like hiring talent, upgrading tools, or scaling advertising.
I hope this guide has shed light on the breadth of options available along with real-world insights from an entrepreneurial perspective. Don‘t leave easy returns on the table – take an hour exploring a few apps that appeal to you and integrate the best fits into your financial system!
