How To Start A Cell Phone Business - Background Info:
 We all know that the internet is growing at an alarmingly fast rate and more and more people are turning to the internet to get information, to shop etc.
And shopping online for cell phone plans are getting bigger and bigger by the day so the opportunities that the internet brings are endless.
Over the next 10 years we will experience a big boom in ecommerce and a few people who took action right now will make a very large amount of money.
The internet has no geographical boundaries and you can sell a cell phone to anybody anywhere in the US where with a traditional business you are limited to your town or city where your store is located at.
A cell business will provide every owner of a cell phone with all of the basics and accessories they might need for their phone. Everything from cell phone plans to cell phone batteries should be covered by a cell business.
You only need a very basic set of materials and money to begin working with the cell business.
Start up costs are low and you could begin working immediately. Using the Internet, you can quickly find a company to begin marketing for and making money.
Starting a mobile phone business is a continued market opportunity and with more consumers looking to upgrade from a cell phone to a smartphone, the future looks bright for this business.
How To Start A Cell Phone Business - Tasks And Skills Needed:
Business Specific Tasks:
If you are planning to do all the business tasks or hiring or subcontracting tasks, here's a list of tasks that need to be attended to when it comes to the business side of running a cell phone business:
- Bookkeeping
- Advertising/promotion
- Billing/Accounting
Industry Specific Tasks:
Same as above if you plan to do everything yourself or get help, here are some of the tasks necessary to operate a cell phone business:
- You need to have a good knowledge of all of the different cell phones which are available. You should also know about all of the accessories which go with cell phones so you are well qualified to help people pick the best phone for them.
How To Start A Cell Phone Business - Approximate Daily Hours Needed:
General Hours of Operation: - When your business is open - Most cell businesses operate from around 9 AM to 8 PM. If it is an online business, the store is prepared to operate 24 hours a day.
Hours Needed to Prepare - Before Opening and After Hours Activities - At the very least, the online business needs to be prepared to take orders at all hours of the day. They do not need to be processed until the next day.
Number of Employees Needed To Run This Business:
Minimum Number of Employees -During the Start Up Phase: You can start this business yourself on a full-time basis.
 Number of Employees - Once Your Business is Up and Running Successfully:
- Website maintenance
- Record/Bookkeeping
- General office
- Customer Service
- Sales
Skill Requirements for This Business:
- Good with people
- Great sales skills
- Knowledge of cell phones and accessories
Licenses:
You will need to check with the franchise and local authorities in your location for business licensing and any necessary permits.
Approximate Minimum Start up Cost:
Bare essential: - As of November 29, 2008, the approximate start up cost for a cell business run on the Internet is $200 dollars if you already have a location and a computer system. For a normal business, you may need about $1000 for the same requirements because you will need to acquire licensing, registration, and inventory.
Minimal exposure - There are several ways to advertise for free through friends, coworkers and family but having a website or storefront can attract the most customers.
 Necessary Equipment to Run this Business:
Necessary Start-Up Equipment & Supplies:
- Computer
- Printer
- Cell phone
- Website
- Variety of cell phones
- Cell phone accessories
Supplementary Equipment: - Equipment or helpful products that you can acquire to once your business is off and running:
- You will need office space as well as employees if you are going to run a cell business in a retail location. This requires not only the renting of the space, but costs for all the utilities and other expenditures, as well as salaries for all of the employees.
Monthly Expenses To Consider:
- Wages
- Phone/cell phone
- Internet access
- Permits
- Advertising/Marketing
- Electricity
- Water
Special Requirements and Considerations For This Business:
- Find out all you can about the trends in the industry. Know your competition, in particular, their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you identify your competitive advantage. In other words, this will help you figure out what you can give your customers that they're not getting from the other businesses. And keep from emulating the competition's strategy. Instead, make the most of your own advantage points.
- With billions of mobile phones around the world with greater penetration than the PC, the potential for advertising and market is huge. Although the current spend on mobile ads is a drop in the bucket of the $500 billion dollar ad market, the upside looks good.
- 3rd party applications ranging from business productivity to game downloads offer a viable business opportunity. Simple apps like Ocarina allowing iPhone users a way to turn their phone into a wind instrument is a top 99 cent download.
- It would seem most websites are mobile ready but mobile readiness is far from business web development radar. The challenge of fitting web pages on tiny screens for multiple devices with easy navigation is a market need for a long time coming.
- Cameras in the phone were a killer application but now having GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) on the mobile phones provides a host of new business opportunities.
- With an online business you won't have to deal with inventory, shipping and handling, billing or employees as it is all taken care of for you and leaves you with more time to focus on selling.
Pros And Cons of Opening A Cell Phone Business:
The Pros of Running a Cell Phone Business:
- Many people in today's society have a cell phone and as a result they need many products for their phone.
- Between frequent upgrading to extra packages, running a cell business can be quite profitable.
- New cell phone products come out often and because of this, you should always have a constant stream of customers to your business.
The Cons of Running a Cell Phone Business:
- Once people have a cell phone and a decent cell phone plan, they usually do not need extra features unless they break their phones or discover that the cell phone plan they signed up for is not enough.
- This means that many customers will not visit your business again until something happens to their phone.
Cell Phone Business Statistics:
Starting a mobile phone or cell phone business can be a profitable business opportunity in a growing market. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Dr. Eli Harary stated "the mobile phone market is the mother of all growth markets."
The boom in mobile phone usage expands around the globe covering all income spectrums. A cell phone is no longer an expensive business luxury or status symbol but a vital necessity for many.
Fueling the growth of the cell phone market is the evolution from standard cell phones to smartphones capable of more than a simple phone call.
Smartphones allow users to browser the Web, get GPS directions, listen to music, share photos and other forms of social networking, use email and run applications such as games and more.
Revenue:
From fashion conscious teens to savvy soccer moms, the need to customize, personalize and bling out your cell phone is a strong market. Smartphones Experts, a network of mobile phone e-commerce stores, grew from under $500,000 in revenue to over $16 million in 3 short years.
Cell Phone Business Resources:
Industry-Specific Websites:
eMobiNet
Forums:
Small Business Online Community
Franchises:
Gaebler
T-Mobile Limited
TMI Wireless
Associations:
CTIA
GSM
Other:
What is a Smartphone? What is a Cell Phone? - Do You Prefer a Cell Phone or...
How to Start a Cell Phone Store
Cell Phone Tax Deductions
Cell Phones, - Articles
Businesses To Related to a Cell Phone Business:
- Mobile communications including laptops
- Advertising
- Journalism
- Applications design
See Also:
 Starting A Business Checklist: This section helps you cover all bases when you are getting in to your own business.
 Complete List of Business Ideas - A list of all our business ideas that you can use to stimulate your entrepreneurial spirit. Choose from over a hundred detailed pages.
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