Photo cred: A major part of my mobile business is my mobile phone, iPhone, driod, whatever, just make sure you have one that works for your purposes and has good service.

I watched an amazing life insurance commercial the other day (I know that sounds like an oxymoron). And it (sort of) inspired me to do this post… but before we begin, please answer the three questions below:

• Would you rather run a business that allows you to work from anywhere in the world? Or get attacked by a rabid spider monkey with a glass eye?

• Would you rather work very hard for a year to start up a business that will bring in 5 figures? Or be assaulted by a gang of malicious preschoolers who are all hyped up on rock candy and looking for trouble?

• Would you rather live life on your own terms with the freedom to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want? Or be dragged to the depths of the ocean by a dolphin who thinks your leg looks like a twinky while snorkeling in Hawaii?

If you answered yes to the first question every time, then continue reading… you’re one smart cookie…

Since you answered yes to the non life threatening questions it’s very obvious to me that you truly want to escape the 9 to 5 and build a mobile business that will support the lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of living. Maybe you’re already there, maybe you have started your own business but have yet reached the freedom that you so desperately crave, or maybe you’re lazy and eat potato chips off your belly as you scroll on your mousepad with greasy fingers (Eeew!).

If you haven’t yet reached the goal of being a mobile entrepreneur or found the freedom you crave then check out these 6 surprisingly simple steps that will get you up and on your way to a completely mobile business and a radical lifestyle to boot!

Building a Mobile Business in 6 Surprisingly Simple Steps

1. Declutter-ify. I’m not sure that is a word, but I am sure you all get the point. To run a mobile business you can’t be carting around crap loads of crap. Earlier this month I did an interview with Everett Bogue who is the king of minimalistic business building. If you haven’t listened to it yet, you REALLY should. I personally got off the call with him and grabbed a give away bag and began loading it with tons of stuff I never use both personally or for my business. The feeling I got after dropping it off at Goodwill was euphoric to say the least.
2. Pick a business that mobilizes easy, or re-work your current set up. If you own a hard ware store right now it’s going to be a lot harder to get mobile than if you are starting a freelance copy writing business. With the brick and mortar business you’ll have to find an amazing manager who you trust with your life, set things up so you can do all that is needed boss-wise via the interweb or telephone and then face the psychological impact of saying farewell to your biz and spending tons less time there. But if you are just starting a business or currently in a business that lends well to mobility (i.e. my social marketing business which I can do completely online and have my employees telecommute in) then you should be fine. So look at the business you are looking into now, or currently involved in. Can you leave for a month and it be fine? Can you manage it completely from your laptop? If not you may need to reconsider what you’re currently doing or go a new direction with your start up. Mobility is key to living the Whenever, Whatever, Wherever principle – so try damndest to get mobile or get out.
3. Pick your partnerships carefully. If you are married, in a business with a partner that you can’t get out of – this may not apply to you. BUT if you are single or have yet to commit forever to hooking up with a person either business or personally – please consider the following. Everyone’s dream life is different – if yours includes a white picket fence, 5 kids and a stay at home mom in Vermont then maybe you don’t need to build a mobile business to live your dream. But if you imagine picking up and going anywhere in the world you want, or randomly doing crazy, fun things – be sure to pick a partner for your business and romantically that meshes. Example: if you are starting a software company and your partner never wants to leave Silicon valley this may work – as long as you explain early on that you’ll be mobilizing as soon as this thing gets profitable. If not you may have a law suit on your hands and a business in disrepair in the future. If you are dating someone right now who never wants to leave, lets say Florida, than its not a match. Because if he/she isn’t flexible now they sure as heck won’t be later when you have 3 kids. On that note when you do find someone who thinks the idea of a year long back packing trip with kidlets in tow sounds like an awesome idea – that is a keeper (for the mobile business owner).
4. Figure out how you’ll get paid, now. Before you are even bringing in money you need to figure out how you’ll get paid on the lamb. I use freshbooks for billing,  basecamp for organizing and time tracking and 1shoppingcart for receiving my monies. Paypal is also a staple for the mobile entrepreneur and banking with a institution that has branches everywhere never hurts.
5. Use virtual assistants for the dirty work. It’s actually not dirty work, it’s just all the work that you either A. don’t want to do or B. aren’t good at. I use virtual assistants constantly, I have 2 full time VAs and employ several others for odd jobs. Virtual assistants have transformed the way I do my business by allowing me to know that work is being done on my business while I’m laying out, sleeping or just having fun. If you are interested about how to get your own VA check out my new site virtual assistant services and shoot me an email with any queries.
6. Figure out your ‘mobile’ office. My mobile office consists of my Macbook, a notepad, two pens, two highlighters, whichever book I’m currently reading, headphones (for concentration), a camera and flipcam (never know when you’ll need them… all wrapped up in a Swissgear laptop bag. Every working day I pack it up and hit the road, making sure no matter where I am my mobile office is within an arm’s reach. Now many people criticize this and say that I’m not living a truly ‘free’ life if I’m carting a bag around everywhere. To them I say: REMEMBER… I am at the beginning stages of building my empire which will one day be fully automated. There is nothing wrong with spending 2 or 5 years building the business that will provide you 5 figures a month for the rest of your life. Mobile office tips: always go with the least amount of stuff you need, trust me your shoulders will thank you.

If you have any more questions about mobile entrepreneurship or how to start a business online please feel free to ask them in the comments below.

To your epic success!!

Maren Kate