ExecutiveChronicles | 4 Best Practices in Choosing a Business Mobile Plan for Your Start-Up | Starting your own company entails many tasks and considerations. From devising the business plan to its execution, you need to think everything through carefully to ensure that you make the right decision in every aspect of the business. A credible business plan in the best template is key for a successful business.
One of the important decisions you have to make is selecting the right business mobile service for your company. Mobile plans packaged for start-ups provide certain advantages over personal mobile plans as they cater to requirements that are specific to running a business. To top it off, many service providers offer cost-efficient bundles that not only provide the necessary mobile services, but also deliver them at a fraction of the cost.
To help you make the right choice, here are four best practices in selecting a mobile plan for your start-up:
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Know the Specific Needs of Your Organization.
Your unique business needs are the first and most important consideration you have to think about when choosing a mobile plan. In business, you need to ask the right questions to get proper answers that will guide you to the best decision.
To get you started, here are three questions you can ask yourself when comparing business mobile service providers:
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Who will use mobile services?
Before deciding on a plan and service provider, you must first determine who requires access to mobile services. If you plan on signing up for several lines for your employees, you can opt for bundles with shareable data, SMS, and call allowances for better flexibility and business efficiency. If it’s just you, you need to consider your own usage patterns in using mobile services to determine which plan suits your needs best.
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How much long-distance calling and texting will need to be done?
The type and amount of calls and messaging you will be doing are other important considerations to think about when choosing a mobile plan for your business. Factor in the company’s call patterns, such as the number of long-distance calls made, plus the usual day of the week and time of day.
Also, you should take into account the amount of texting your employees require to respond to customer queries or to communicate with each other.
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How will mobile data allowances be used and to what extent?
Since most businesses today have integrated a virtual shop or website to expand their clientele reach and break geographical boundaries, it is important that you think about your start-up’s data requirements, too.
To do this, you need to determine which category your firm falls under based on collective data usage.
To give you an idea of what can be considered light, medium, and heavy data use, below are examples of usage based on user categorization, specific tasks, and the duration of time spent accomplishing those tasks:
- Light User – A light user only does minimal web browsing tasks like checking on social media and uploading pictures online. If those tasks require 15 to 20 minutes a day, a 500-megabyte data package should suffice. But if you or your employees perform them for about 40 minutes in a single day, you may need at least a one-gigabyte data allowance.
- Mid-Range User – Mid-range users include those who do the same web browsing tasks as a light user, but for a longer duration. If you must do social media browsing and photo uploading for about 90 minutes per day, then a two-gigabyte data package is what you need. If it reaches three hours, you should opt for a four-gigabyte bundle.
- Heavy User – Heavy users need 12 gigabytes to cover audio and video streaming for about an hour every day. If your employees need to download videos and do some serious web browsing for three hours, you would be better off with a 12-gigabyte data plan.
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Treat Your Business Like Any Other Business (Even If It’s Just You)
Many businessmen – especially sole traders and professionals with no employees – make the mistake of getting personal mobile plans to use for work. Since many single proprietors work solo, they often assume that their data, SMS, and call consumption can be covered by non-business plans.
However, it has been proven time and again that business mobile plans offer a significantly lower rate and have more cost-efficient bundles compared to personal plans. These packages are also available for a one-person company, so make sure you treat your firm like any business, even if there’s just you, so you can get the most out of your money.
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Prioritize Security.
If your company deals with sensitive information during your operations, it is imperative that you consider taking up a mobile plan that prioritizes cybersecurity. This means that you should make sure that every handset provided by the mobile service company is equipped with features that allow your company to have full control over work data collected in the device.
This will be very useful should the phone get lost or stolen, or if the employee using it leaves the company.
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Monitor Any Change in Your Company Usage.
After deciding on a mobile plan, you can still optimize your company’s mobile service cost-efficiency by monitoring for potential changes in your usage. Checking your monthly bills periodically will allow you to ensure that you still get the most value for your money and make necessary changes if this is no longer the case.
Quick Roundup
Driving a start-up towards success means you have to make sure that you maximize the use of your company’s resources. Mobile plans specifically made for business can help you do this and more, especially if you follow these best practices in selecting and using mobile and data services for your new company.
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AUTHOR BIO
Al-moottil P Antony is a C-Suite Executive Support Professional for Zain, a leading mobile and data services operator with a commercial footprint in 8 Middle Eastern and African countries.
