[cdonovan]

My goal this year is to be able to operate my business from anywhere - my office, the beach or from our summer home. I am hoping that others who are doing this might share a few thoughts with me on some things that they might not of thought of before they started working this way. Thanks for any insight you might be able to share!

[EagleMountain]

Originally Posted by cdonovan

My goal this year is to be able to operate my business from anywhere - my office, the beach or from our summer home. I am hoping that others who are doing this might share a few thoughts with me on some things that they might not of thought of before they started working this way. Thanks for any insight you might be able to share!

Let me see. If I forward my Vonage business number to my iPhone, activate and utilize free "Back to My Mac' on my MacBook, (or pay for GoToMyPC for you PC'rs) all I'd really need is a printer once in awhile. Hmmm.... I could just send a fax from my laptop to the hotel lobby or coffeeshop office...... Darn, no WIFI on the beach? My Verizon wireless card gives me a workable 3G connection.

Guess I've been doing it already!!!

[Chris Miller]

We set ourselves up this way really early on. We have digital phone service that can be easily forwarded to cell phones, we market primarily online, and we focus on niches that don't require us to be a slave to the phone. A lot of our orders these days are reorders too, so we don't have to be there to take the call. They leave messages, or they know how to get us if it's urgent.

We've worked from the beachs in Gulf Shores, Jamaica, Florida, Disney World, Branson, Vegas, Starbucks, McDonalds, Panera, Airports (Boingo.com is GREAT!), etc.

We actually set out to be 100% mobile and realized that that's not really what we want. We really like having a home base and the kids are just too young to drag them around the world.

One thing I can say for sure though is that our business is the ONE thing that never gets in the way of us going somewhere. It works wherever. Within the last year and a half we've moved ourselves, and the business 3 times, and will be moving again in the next month or so. I really enjoy the flexibility... that's why I went into business for myself.

[cdonovan]

Chris, thank for your considerate reply. Rick, did you not think of the aircard before you started working on the beach??? I had asked for insights on what people might not have thought they would need before they tried to work from afar.
Anyways, maybe I should rephrase my question. I am looking to make my business completely portable, not just while on vacation. I have a back-up person that I am also working towards having her work from home most of the time. So, besides the obvious, how do people handle their incoming mail, or looking up past orders where the bulk of the customers' past ordering history is in a hard copy file? And what do people find that is the best for easy to carry printers, etc?

[Chris Miller]

Carole,

In my opinion, a "portable business" doesn't use a printer. I think you're barking up the wrong tree.

Portable:

Website / Order Entry: www.distributorcentral.com

Phone System / Forwarding: www.ringcentral.com

Finance Tracking: www.mint.com

Mail: We rarely check it, and it all goes in the trash when it does come. Copies of invoices are redundant, and catalogs are already available online in digital format. It's all trash. At one point we were scanning all incoming mail to PDF using a highspeed scanner but don't even do that anymore. There just is no need for it all.

End Result:

Everything can be handled from any computer with a net connection, no paper, nothing, and you're not even tied to ONE computer! It's 100% online, and accessible from anywhere that has an internet connection. The phone is up to you, but ringcentral can be forwarded to a cell phone, or even multiple phones simultaneously!

Literally everything... finances, voicemails, orders, invoicing, etc is all handled from a web browser. That's how we do it, and yes we're 100% portable.

[cdonovan]

Chris, Good info, thanks. I hadn't conidered using all of those services or thinking of my busdiess "in a cloud".
I do a lot of graphic design work, including logo & catalog design work and that is what I find I use the printer for the most. Things don't always appear the same in print as they do on the screen and since everything I do it printed, I ALWAYS print out a hard copy to see what it will actually look like when printed. Have any thoughts on that for me? C

[Chris Miller]

Originally Posted by cdonovan

Chris, Good info, thanks. I hadn't conidered using all of those services or thinking of my busdiess "in a cloud".
I do a lot of graphic design work, including logo & catalog design work and that is what I find I use the printer for the most. Things don't always appear the same in print as they do on the screen and since everything I do it printed, I ALWAYS print out a hard copy to see what it will actually look like when printed. Have any thoughts on that for me? C

Hi Carole,

We do all of our own design too and understand the color issues. We calibrate our monitors for printing though and that gives us true print color, but on screen. Much more so that any inkjet or laser printout could provide.

This is the tool we use to calibrate:

http://spyder.datacolor.com/index_us.php

As for portable printers, I really can't recommend any. I think the same profiling / calibration efforts would need to be used on the printer as well though if you're truly using it for color proofing your work.

Hope this helps.

[tmertz]

You can store all your graphic files and proofs with the orders on DistributorCentral. Makes it real handy when orders repeat. Also allows your customers access to their proofs on your DC website.

We are agressively moving TradeNet to a "virtual" world. DistributorCentral just added time clock capabilities so that those working from remote locations can be "on the clock".

Customer and Supplier notes can be recorded as correspondence in DistributorCentral. Some have indicated it is close to offering as much capability as SalesForce.com

[epicemb]

Carole - Some good pointers from other people. There is a heck of a lot of technology out there and these days so much of it is so inexpensive that these days you do not really have to think a whole lot before buying - for example we were at my family's summer place and did not realize that the cable company had the phone, internet and TV on their snowbird package - for $100 we were able to get a Virgin Mobile wireless internet dongle that let us get our work done. No matter where you are as long as there is a Best Buy or Radio Shack in driving distance you should be set.

The issue that I see is access to all of your data. I store everything on a network storage device with online backup and raid - so I can access anything I have on it and do not have to worry about loosing data. I spent a few days here and there putting all of the files that I had on this server - before it was spread across 4 or 5 different computers and was not so well organized - it makes things pretty easy.

I also switched my email to go thru gmail so I now can get at messages from anywhere. In the past I used outlook and while I do like it far more the ability to get to my messages from anywhere.

The biggest data issue that I see is how you are going to handle all of your paper files - everything from supplier invoices and A/P info to artwork and proofs to old order info. For me I have 7 or 8 file cabinets full of past orders - the client invoice on top and then all of the supporting docs attached - PO's, artwork, order notes, emails, etc - some are crazy thick. A few years ago I went out of my way to try and add more info to my work orders and PO's so I do not have to go digging thru the paper files as much. so - think about how much access you would need to this sort of info - you could go crazy and scan it all if you really have to have it.

I guess that what I'm trying to say is that now while you go thru your day take a mental inventory of the info that you use - once you have a better idea of what you really need then you can see what sort of technology will help fill those gaps when you are out of the office for extended periods.

[Chris Miller]

Another way to accomplish what Steve talks about above with email, is to simply choose "IMAP" instead of "POP3" when setting up your email in Outlook, or another email client. If your email host supports it, you're on your way to a much better life. The difference? With IMAP, the messages stay on the server until deleted. With POP3, they are downloaded immediately to whichever computer you connect with and then you're stuck.

We use only IMAP, and 4 computers access the same email account. If we delete an email on one computer, it's deleted on all. Regardless, the mailbox looks the same to ALL, whether they are viewing it from Mac mail, outlook, or via the webmail system in a browser window. When we travel, we just take along a laptop which also uses IMAP to connect. When we return home, the email on all of the other computers is identical to that on the laptop. It's really that simple.

Jim Knecht @ Dooley can speak to the value of this setup. I helped him move his email to IMAP a while back and he's a big fan.

[cdonovan]

Chris, thank you for your input! Chris, good info... again. This is turning out to be a very interesting conversation. I'm suprized that there aren't more people joining in.

[tmertz]

One of the key values I have seen as many Distributors have moved to a "Virtual" work enviroment is improvement in family life. They are more willing to take more vacations and spend more time with their family.

[EagleMountain]

For us lowly "trunk slammers", being mobile is a big deal. Now that I'm using "Back to My Mac" I can easily tap into my home office computer to not only access all my files, but can actually make use of all my Adobe Suite software to deal with graphics, photos or layout needs, along with Quickbooks and all my past order paperwork which is all scanned and stored.

Chris offers a sensible, yet expensive, alternative to checking color output via printer, but frankly unless you're outputting National Geographic level specs, most all decent suppliers (TradeNet is a good example) will flag any basic color issues if they arise - even if just through the proofing stage. If exact PMS matching is required, all you really need is the proper PMS # as a guide. Having done a lot of press checks in the old days, there aren't any user level printers or screen calibration that I'd trust for very precise work anyway. (With my aging eyesight, I'd be off by several levels anyway!)

I'm happy if I can stay in touch, service existing orders and put out a few fires now and then from a coffee shop or hotel room when on the road.

[ProPrinters]

With a Blackberry you can use that as your modem as well. I have a POP3 email account through Comcast and after I download my email through outlook I can have it stay there for a while. Don't want the file getting too big.

You could if you planned this is scan all your vendor invoices and put them on your external hard drive, and get a seperate laptop very basis and yes use go to my PC.

While you are at it get a slingbox, so you can watch your home tv. Also you can use webex to do a client presentation too.

[twistededge]

www.mail2web.com is a good way to get your current e-mails from another computer too.

Apparently QB 2010 has a feature where you can 'attach' documents to a customer. This would help you if scanned all your historical documents to keep in one place per custoemr.

You also want to have a virtual fax number like from ring central or myfax becasue then faxes come to your e-mail. YOu can save them in customer folders if that's what you want. YOu can also send faxes by e-mail.

I'm sure if you google 'portable printer' you will find some out there. I'm not sure though, what the quality would be like compared to a desktop model if you need it for checking layouts etc. I know that old habits die hard

Good luck. One step at a time.