Can you run your business from an iPad?

[MrSparks]

I'm off on holiday tomorrow (staying in Antibes, France, visiting Monaco and St Tropez!) and I'll be running my e-commerce business from a tablet. I've never done this before but in theory it should work. My website is cloud based, my accounts and purchase order system is cloud based, most enquiries/questions come via e-mail with limited phone calls so in theory it should work without too much aggro. All stock is fulfilled elsewhere so I don't have to post much/any stuff myself. The site has been fairly quite the past month but May last year was my busiest ever so if history repeats it could be a good test of the technology!!

Just curious as to how many people here can run their business from a tablet or laptop if you wanted to? There are a lot of different trades and services these days and I'm guess a lot can be done from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection?! Obviously there will be limitations but for a few weeks at a time, could you work from an iPad successfully?

[Steffan]

MrSparks said:

I'm off on holiday tomorrow (staying in Antibes, France, visiting Monaco and St Tropez!) and I'll be running my e-commerce business from a tablet. I've never done this before but in theory it should work. My website is cloud based, my accounts and purchase order system is cloud based, most enquiries/questions come via e-mail with limited phone calls so in theory it should work without too much aggro. All stock is fulfilled elsewhere so I don't have to post much/any stuff myself. The site has been fairly quite the past month but May last year was my busiest ever so if history repeats it could be a good test of the technology!!

Just curious as to how many people here can run their business from a tablet or laptop if you wanted to? There are a lot of different trades and services these days and I'm guess a lot can be done from anywhere in the world as long as you have an internet connection?! Obviously there will be limitations but for a few weeks at a time, could you work from an iPad successfully?

It certainly is and a number of my contacts do just this. Despite my best efforts I still have some longstanding clients and the IT based web serving computer men all run their businesses very successfully in this way. It certainly works for them and as you say it is becoming quite commonplace. As ever discipline is the backbone of business. With proper discipline this should work. Best of luck.

[Simpo Two]

You don't seem to have grasped the idea of 'holiday'

[AyBee]

Simpo Two said:

You don't seem to have grasped the idea of 'holiday'

Alternatively - why stop at 2 weeks, just move there

[Du1point8]

I do with Ipad when Im away and can at a push do most of my work from an Iphone if it doesnt include too much in the way of creating excel docs, etc...

Everything is routed through the laptop and IPad so if I dont have the laptop I can use the IPad.

[The Tea Boy]

I'd struggle,

There isn't yet (thank god) an Ipad app that will cut your hair

Matt

[ChasW]

I met a dairy farmer in New Zealand who took 6 weeks off to follow an All Blacks tour to the northern hemisphere. He ran everything from his laptop in his hotel room while he was away. He could even tell, remotely, if the milk tanks had been cleaned properly each day. There are heat sensors which activate once enough hot water had been splashed on the tank during cleaning. The staff knew there was no slacking while he was away. Each cow was chipped so he knew how many were milked each session what the yield was etc. It was staggering how advanced the operation was.

[jonamv8]

Laptop yes - iPad no

I have to access specialist software locally which is impossible on the iPad.

[MrSparks]

Well I'm back from my holiday, iPad worked pretty well with my setup. If it was longer than a week I'd have needed the laptop as well but processing orders and replying to e-mails was easy and efficient, didn't really detract from the holiday at all to be honest!

Could have easily stayed out there and not come back!!