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So, you’ve done it. You’ve built your business to the point that it is thriving or you’ve made the necessary arrangements with your place of work. You’ve now got the green light to take your show on the road. What is it going to take to make it all work?

Becoming Mobile

Take yourself back to the coffee shop, bookstore, or wherever you enjoy doing relaxed brainstorming and write down everything that is essential to making your business run. These will be things such as, client files, telephone service, billing capability, calendar systems, means of marketing, etc... You may soon realize that many of the trappings of your business are not really essential–such as: an office, a car, professional clothing, business cards.

Take your list of essentials and make notes about what it would take to make those essentials virtual. There are many products and services available to help you make this happen. Here are some examples:

Client files: There is almost no need to keep anything filed in paper anymore. If you’re used to doing everything the old fashioned way with paper, folders, and big metal cabinets, get over it. Begin setting up your laptop word processing program with electronic files to keep everything you need. If you take notes as you talk to people, train yourself to do it on your laptop. When you’re speaking by phone, no one can see what you’re doing. It’s perfectly fine to use your computer as you speak with clients.

Faxes: There are now a variety of services that offer virtual faxing capability. They are very inexpensive and sometimes free. A virtual fax allows you to have a U.S. toll free number that your clients can use to fax to you. You will receive an email announcing the arrival of a fax which is sent to you via an Adobe document or that can be viewed on the Internet. Your account is password protected. You can also fax out documents by uploading your file to their system. One glitch you may run into is if you need to fax a document to someone with your signature. This glitch can be dealt with by getting access to a scanner (your digital camera can be used for this as well) and uploading the document to your computer or by learning how to insert an electronic signature into your document.

Telephone services: Here you will have some choices to make. Your choice will differ depending on the country you plan to visit, how mobile you intend to be, whether you will be in range for mobile service, whether you will be making more calls or receiving more calls, etc... Some of your options will include:

• Getting a GSM phone with SIM cards for the countries you plan to visit. Most likely the mobile phone you carry in the U.S. is “locked” which means it will not work in another country. A GSM phone will allow you to continue to get service as you move from one country to another. However, this will require that you purchase something called a SIM card for the specific country you are in. Sound crazy complicated? Don’t worry; in many foreign countries SIM cards are widely available. If you choose this option, however, you will be paying international mobile rates for your calls.
  
  
• Getting phone service where you stay. If you are going to stay in one place for an extended period of time it may make sense to get phone service where you stay or to pay your landlord to use the existing phone service. Look into service rates for your area as well as international calling rates. Will you be charged for incoming calls?
  
  
• Forwarding numbers. You can actually keep your U.S. residential number and hire a forwarding service so that when your clients call you, the phone will ring in Timbuktu or wherever you may be. One nice thing about this option is that you can change the destination to which it forwards as you move around the globe. Another nice thing is that your existing clients place only a U.S. call. New clients may not even be aware that you’re not just across town. Again, however, you will be paying U.S. international long distance charges.
  
  
• Skype. Skype is a hot new service that allows you to receive or make phone calls through your computer if you have Internet access. You will simply purchase a good quality headset that plugs into your laptop and open a Skype account. Charges differ depending on whether you simply wish to place calls or whether you also want to be assigned a number to receive calls. This is by far the most economical choice and can work beautifully. Before making this choice, however, be sure you are traveling to places where hi-speed Internet will be available and of good quality. If you do not have a fast connection, your calls may have a lot of static or time delay.

Billing capability: Consider accepting credit cards if you do not do so already. Online billing services are available that will allow you to upload information to your Internet account to charge clients and receive payment to your U.S. bank account within 1-2 days. Couple this service with your ATM card and you’re good to go forever! One such service is found at www.practicepaysolutions.com.

Payment capability: Unfortunately, while you’re raking in the money, you’ll also be having to pay some bills most likely. Be sure your bank offers online banking so that you can access your account via the Internet and pay bills when they come due. Electronic payment eliminates the need for postage.

Calendar systems: You may be fine keeping track of appointments and meetings using your Outlook program or whatever software currently resides on your computer. However, if you’d like your customers at home to feel like you are closely accessible you can consider an online calendar system where others can see your schedule and make appointments in available time slots without having to call or email. Be sure you find out about time zone capabilities of your virtual calendar system. One such system can be found at www.appointmentsplus.com.

Means of Marketing: While you are away, you’ll probably want to have some means of continued marketing to attract new clients. The web is the most convenient choice again here. A website gives you 24-7 access to a worldwide audience. Unlike paper brochures, business cards, etc., your website can be updated with little or no cost as many times as you like to keep up with the changes in your business. In addition, a website allows you the flexibility to include multi media elements such as audio recordings or video. Think about what it would take to transform your current marketing into this virtual format. If you don’t have the time to create (or learn how to create) a website, www.dotcomWebWorks.com may be able to help you.