Man, I hate having to deal with automated phone systems when I call a business. I just don’t understand for the life of me why anyone would call somewhere and just EXPECT to get on the phone with a robot – the Post Office is the worst about it. So when I set up my small business I made sure that my phone in the office would ring through to my cell phone so I could get calls even when I wasn’t sitting right in front of my desk. I spent a lot of time researching business phone service and I didn’t skimp since I feel like that’s something really important in terms of customer experience. I didn’t want my customers to have a hard time when they were trying to reach me so I think this was a good move right upfront for both me and my business. There are some things you shouldn’t waste time on deciding and I think that picking a good phone company for your business is one of them, to tell you the truth.

Most work at home folk will simply be reselling products and services from others who presumably have done their own legal due diligence.  This post is about those who go on to produce their own actual products… those are the people who will need a technology lawyer!

Just consider some of the recent revelations about Apple’s once cozy relationship with Google. Jobs and Google’s CEO were fast friends with Jobs offering advice about how Google needed to stop having its fingers in so many pies and focus on products/services that they could deliver with superior impact and profits. That’s why Apple makes a “iPhone” and other handset makers squander their efforts over numerous “phones”  each with marginal utility.

Google just discontinued “Google Labs” to follow Jobs’ advice. Some would argue they should have followed that advice sooner. As the new biography reveals Jobs wanted to use his fortune and last remaining days to destroy Android, the Google phone operating system. Jobs swore the software took every advance Apple had made and pilfered it and distributed it to the unwashed masses who wanted in on Job’s phone advances.

Did they? Probably.

But ultimately that will be for two teams of competing lawyers to sort out before a judge or judges. As in all cases of this nature,  the courts will ultimately decide the issues at stake based on the available evidence and the skill with which they are presented.  In the process there will be lots of minutiae to sort through and thousands upon thousands of billable hours on both sides.

Now that Steve Jobs has passed on, Apple has – in my opinion – lost it’s best advocate for their cause. He likely knew the details intimately and had the zeal and money to – at least – command royalties from every “Android” handset to fund the iPhone’s ongoing march to superiority.

When do you need a technology lawyer? Perhaps as soon as you have your first patent but sometimes in advance if you discover your research may be infringing on an existing patent in your field.  If you truly are on the verge of a breakthrough, it pays to protect your intellectual property from – as Jobs learned – even your “friends”.

At present, the most popular tablet computer is one by Apple, but sooner or later there’s going to come an “Apple Killer” in both the phone and tablet computer markets.

Who are the likely competitors?

At the moment, Windows 8 is supposed be coming out with an entirely new GUI based on “apps” or “icons” (where’d they get that idea I wonder?!)

My bet is that the greatest potential for the Apple killer comes from a Samsung product. In addition to naming Samsung, let’s go further and state that the Samsung Galaxy phone and tablet operating the latest Android software. Folks using a smart phone probably really don’t need another data plan so a wifi capable Samsung costing under $400 is a very viable competitor in my opinion.

If you’re a blogger, network marketer, copywriter, IT Security person, tech support person or in related fields that don’t custom software that’s not available as an “app”, I’m convinced the main things you need are…

1. A Bluetooth keyboard if you type extensively

2. A protective case and stand

3. A word processing app that will let you sync your documents or other files with (in my case) Google Docs or – if you prefer – another online storage service.

4. Any apps necessary to connect to your blogs, your social network, etc.

A headset to let you talk over Skype, Google Talk, via WiFi or to use a dictation application and – if you’re like me – y0u’re “in business”.

I know of home business people using this simple set up to start their own business and keep it running.  There’s no need to consider yourself “locked in” to a brand that might have seemed like your “only choice” in the past. Samsung and the Android platform are poised to create note only a competition in the area of price, but also the area of functionality. Home business people like us are finally in a position to benefit!

Samsung Tablet

Interestingly, these small business people see mobile technology allowing them to work at home. This means, perhaps, that the lines between small business, work at home business, and remote working will continue to blur.

If you’re like most of those questioned, smartphones and online social networking is starting to play a bigger part in what you’re doing.

These businesses are using mobile apps like Square and Foursquare for a wide range of specific tasks, from processing payments to conducting marketing campaigns.

In more general terms, SMBs say that using mobile technologies helps them gain a competitive advantage, increase productivity and efficiency, and allow their employees to work remotely — something that might lead to 50% of the SMB workforce working from home or remotely by next year.

 

It’s here

While the 7 inch screen Nook isn’t as fast as a more expensive tablet, many who have tried this trick (though not all) liked the results.

Warning: Invalidates the warranty.

If, however, your business involves active contact with customers and colleagues over the Skype platform, you could have lost real money…

• Lost product sales
• Lost billable hours
• Unhappy customers
• Incomplete projects

Skype is cool because it’s so darn cheap. If you’re running a business on a shoestring, it’s great.

But as the stakes in business become higher for you, the more you need a work around (or alternative) that won’t as likely be ovewhelmed.  Apparently “Undisclosed problems in different Skype versions brought down the peer-to-peer interconnecting system” according to this article:

Skype Outage Blamed on Supernodes

Whatever the reason – the more you depend on Skype to make money, the more you need a ready alternative in case of emergency.

“Black Tuesday” is not always so profitable.

It’s the 2nd Tuesday of each month when Windows automatically updates all their “fixes”… and, sad to say, not everything done is really a “fix” from the end user perspective.

That’s why some IT people call the second Tuesday of every month “Black Tuesday”.  They can go in today, the following Wednesday, and find all sorts of havoc being played out in their systems… with the accompanying calls from nervous to angry users calling tech support.

The same can happen to work at home entrepreneurs…  and they only have family and friends to complain to usually! That happened to my wife today. Her work at home business was put out of commission after December’s “Black Tuesday” because a Microsoft product failed to perfom – Internet explorer.

Thankfully I had downloaded an alternative browser (which I like but she hates!) so she could still access the internet that way.

That browser provided the needed workaround.

But if unexplained computer havoc happens to you on the Second Wednesday of the month and you’re on a Windows based machine, that might explain your issue.

Having non-Microsoft tools whenever possible like alternative browsers, alternative office software, etc. may help you work around your issues!

Cisco has produced their 3rd annual report on the topic and the US is far from number one. In fact, we’re not even in the Top 10 (we’re #15). The results are based on a variety of factors:

Quality was evaluated by scoring the combined download throughput, upload throughput, and latency capabilities of a connection, the key criteria for a connection’s ability to handle specific Internet applications, from consumer telepresence to online video and social networking. These criteria are expressed as a single ‘Broadband Quality Score’ for each country.

Here are the top 10 countries from the list:

Read the entire report from Cisco

PayPal has been hyping this feature for a while now: the user takes photos of the front and back of any check written out to them, and the money is automatically deposited. There’s no need to make a trip to a local branch of your bank.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/paypal-lets-you-cash-checks-with-your-phone-2010-9

This is similar to what I blogged about in “Banking By Mobile Phone” which is an important entrepreneurial tool in Africa.

And think of it this way… no more nasty tellers to deal with at a local branch bank as happened to me recently. But, of course, if you want to be sure the check is “good”, you’ll have to deal with the local branch.

PayPal is a subsidiary of EBAY

I ran across this site the other day and had one of those “slap your head” moments – why didn’t I think of this? Why not start a business that is built on iPhone Repair?

My question has always been whether repairing iPhones – like repairing most other forms of “electronics” was worth it. Here’s what I found out… that a number of people have small businesses repairing flat screen TV’s – under warranty that is.

Can a business be set up that repairs iPhones under warranty? My iPhone cost $199. I can see myself scratching up the screen despite my best efforts and protective gear. Could it be fixed for less than the cost of a new one?

Evidently something can be done because this outfit marketing themselves as offering iPhone Repair has local repair shops in many US cities as well as a mail in service… they’re even on Ebay!

It’s amazing how they’ve been able to tap into a wildly growing market… and a lesson for us all!