Mobility and flexibility are the order of the day for a growing number of small businesses, and with easier access to 4G technology, they can operate as easily and efficiently from remote locations as they could in an office environment.
With its faster and more secure mobile connection, 4G has meant that business owners and their staff are no longer confined to the conventional fixed workspace, and can enjoy greater flexibility without compromising on connectivity.
Some enterprising business owners have taken their high-speed online access to new levels and are actively using 4G to attract new customers, promote their brand, and grow their businesses.
London-based street food entrepreneur Mark Gevaux, known to his customers as 'The Ribman', has harnessed 4G to maximise his social media activity, mainly through Twitter, which he has used to drive business growth.
While out and about on his London market stalls selling his famous wares - pork ribs and his own made hot chilli sauces – Gevaux uses 4G to attract customers in the local area by posting real time video clips of his food as he prepares it.
His 11,600-strong Twitter following, he says, is a result of his smart use of 4G.
Gevaux says: "It is hard to put into words how big an impact it has had on my business. Being able to post a video instantly on Twitter, telling people where I am that day and how long I'm going to be there has made a huge difference to trade.
"I can go out to Brick Lane on a Sunday, post a video, and customers in the area respond. The whole mobile social media marketing concept is really taking off in London, which is great for businesses like mine."
As a street food seller, trade is often weather dependent, and here, again, his mobile 4G has proved a valuable business tool.
"With 4G I can get the most accurate weather report. If rain is forecast, I can use social media to drum up custom immediately," he says.
As well as the boost in trade that 4G has delivered, Gevaux, who makes all his own sauces at his business unit in Dalston, East London, says the real-time benefits of the technology have also helped with stock planning.
He says: "Before I started using 4G I would have to wait until a certain number of orders had come through before making a batch of sauces to send out. Now, I can make up the orders as they arrive at the unit and send them out straight away.
"Overall business efficiency has improved and it has also freed up a lot of my time; in fact I would say that 4G has given me an extra day each week."
Other startups have used 4G to attract new members to gaming sites, or used the high speed mobile connection to provide faster analytics on sales trends.
And research suggests that more small businesses are recognising the potential business benefits of 4G. Last year 53% of online businesses that responded to Barclays Online Business Outlook said they thought that 4G networks would increase mobile traffic to their websites.
And there is a clear business case.
Businesses that use mobile internet and data apps, or file sharing platforms such as Google Drive and Dropbox, will find that 4G allows them to upload or share documents and bypass the space limitations of email, while video files can be accessed more readily with a faster connection.
Using 4G mobile technologies, and business applications such as Office 365 from O2, members of the business team who work flexibly or away from the office can stay connected and be actively involved in planning and collaborating on ongoing business projects.
And as 4G mobile networks continue to be rolled out throughout the UK, further boosting the growth of E-commerce, those based in rural locations are able to compete with city-based entrepreneurs.
Business owners also need to consider the benefits to their customer service of accessing the fast and reliable connectivity of 4G, which allows them to respond to orders and enquiries quickly and efficiently, from any location and any mobile device.
Barclay's head of technology, media and telecoms Sean Duffy says: "With an increasingly mobile audience it's clear that online businesses need to find the time and resource to plan for the opportunities that this brings.
"We're already seeing a growing trend for consumers to browse on their mobile or tablet rather than their PC, and the introduction of 4G networks is likely to accelerate this trend."
Research by 4G Britain found that 86% of UK business leaders say that 4G will increase their productivity, while 93% said they felt it was vital to Britain's future.
Duffy adds: "Companies that are already prepared for consumers to use their sites from a mobile device stand to gain a significant competitive advantage. The advent of 4G will drive even more internet traffic to mobile, so failing to address that shift in usage could severely limit E-commerce opportunities."
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This content has been paid for and produced to a brief agreed with O2 Business, whose brand it displays
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