There’s no denying that the world of business is an increasingly mobile place. Entrepreneurs run their business from anywhere and being tied to a landline or desktop computer is becoming increasingly unheard of. Everywhere you look these days there is someone tooling around on their cell phone. Comparative shopping, coupon hunting, brand information, and a variety of other tasks can be done by customers from their mobile phones. That being said, do businesses have to engage in the same practices? For some the answer is a loud no. Being tied to your cell phone all the time has a huge impact on how you behave. Being constantly connected and at the ready for customers leaves little time for you to rest and recharge. As any entrepreneur knows, having time to recover from your busy life is essential to keeping ahead of the game when it comes to business. If mobile phones are so integral to our society, can you run a business without having one or is being out of the mobile game a bad idea?
Do You Really Need A Mobile Phone for Your Business?
There are benefits and negatives to having a mobile phone you company depends on. It means that you are always on when it comes to tending to matters of business. While you want your customers to have access to you when they need your assistance, sometimes having access can go overboard. For Siobhan Shaw, co-hose of The Attitude Shift, cell phones are unnecessary if you have access to the internet while working from your office or home. “For well over a year both my partner and I have run our businesses without using a cell phone. We got rid of them and communicate on line. We are so conditioned to be plugged in at all times that I figured we'd go without a cell for a short period but when we discovered how simple it was to still be in touch and get the job done, a cell phone will be the last thing we head out to get. If you work from home like we do and are plugged into the Internet most all day why have the expense of a cell? One really positive side effect is that when we need quiet time, guess what we have it. No phone ringing at a special dinner, no incessant pinging while going on a hike, no ignoring someone you are meeting with, as you constantly look at your phone, and no driving and talking on the phone and running smack dab into the car ahead because you were looking at a text!” The ability to have freedom from work is a huge positive for those entrepreneurs living the ‘eat, breathe, live’ lifestyle when it comes to getting their business off the ground. As Shaw says, not being at the ready all of the time is okay.
It also appears that with the mobile society, a lot of business owners hardly speak on the phone to begin with. A lot of business, large and small, is done via email or Skype. So long as you have a computer in your office, you are connected to your customers. Along with this, most customers also have busy lives. Being able to send a quick email is much easier than playing phone tag with a busy entrepreneur. Henry Stimpson of Stimpson Communications keeps his communication to email and has little need for a cell phone. “Yes. I hardly get any calls anyway. 99 percent of communication with me is via email. My office is at home, so I use a landline. I have to wonder if people who are on the go all the time using their cells are really working! When I need portability, I use my laptop. I basically use my cellphone only in July and August, when I sometimes work from my summer home and even there, I don't use it a lot, so I have an expensive prepaid cell phone.” Having the ability to save money by not having a mobile phone is also one benefit for those choosing to not be a mobile business owner.
24/7 Access with Your Business Phone
Of course, not every entrepreneur is able to abandon their cell phones. Some startups require extra attention and communication with consumers if their online presence isn’t on par yet. Inna Kraner, Esq., Managing Editor of The Expert Institute, shares this idea. While the business is growing online, having a 24/7 lifeline for customers helps build their base of trust. “We have a strong growing online presence but our business would be impossible without a cell phone. It's hard to run a service-based business without constantly being able to chat with clients. Moreover, working in a start-up environment doesn't allow for the usual 9-5 business hours – growth metrics are the forefront of our focus. As a result, our team strives to be available 24/7 to network, follow up on a business opportunity, troubleshoot, or just answer questions and concerns as they come up.”
While building a business does reply on communication with both your workers and customers, it appears that being completely mobile isn’t necessarily what every entrepreneur needs. Having access to the internet can work much better than always having your phone with you at all times. It truly depends on the entrepreneur. If you like having constant access to your business, mobile phones may be the way to go. But as you can see from above, having a mobile phone isn’t pertinent to having a successful business.
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