Running your business from your smartphone might sound like a pie in the sky idea. But thanks to the relentless march of modern technology, it’s actually more achievable than you might think. Yes, you need to be careful with the apps you download and the systems you use, but it is more feasible than it’s ever been before, and it continues to get easier.
If you’re interested in running a lightweight, minimalist business from your smartphone, this post is for you. It explores what you need to do and how you can make it work practically.
Build Your Mobile-First Storefront
The first thing you’re going to want to do is build your mobile-first storefront. This is your portal or window into the world, and it’s what’s going to allow you to accept payments and really move forward with your business.
The best way to do this is with a no-code website. You want to be able to offer products and checkouts from a single app. For example, you might use a platform that offers all this natively, or you could simply sell through existing sites, depending on your business model.
Accept Payments Anywhere
Next, you’ll want to figure out a way to accept payments anywhere. These days, it’s easy to get credit card equipment actually installed on your phone, or you can use a lightweight mobile device. It depends on your preferences.
Then, all you need to do is attach a payment processing service to it. Square and Stripe are well-known brands that do this, and link to services like Google and Apple Pay. You’ll need to pay a commission, but you only pay this fee when you make a sale, so all you need to do is ensure that your margins are set at the right level.
Use Inventory Management
You can also get inventory management on your phone these days. The idea here is to use your device as a barcode scanner and then get periodic stock alerts, telling you when you need to order (if you sell physical products).
Apps now automate much of this process for you. For example, Zoho Inventory syncs across sheets and databases. You can also use Google with Scanning technology to get push notifications, enabling you to predict order sizes and automatically reorder when needed.
Automate Your Marketing
You could also explore the idea of automating your marketing from your phone. These days, it’s possible to get everything consolidated into a single app or dashboard that you can use. Think Mailchimp, but on steroids.
You can also connect your marketing channels with each other via backend tools, like Zapier. These are handy if you want to fire off conditional emails to audience subsets or onboard new people without sending them redundant marketing emails.
Run Ads From Your Couch
Finally, you can run ads from your phone these days. You don’t need a desktop computer. AIs will often A/B test different versions for you, or you can pay for bespoke software to do it for you.
Punit