Can You Run A Business From A Laptop?
We are in the age of the entrepreneur. Could a laptop be the only thing sitting between you and success? Let’s see…
Since the new millennium, the number of self-employed people in the UK has increased from 3.2 million to almost five million. Self-starting entrepreneurs have disrupted industries as diverse as fashion and finance. The advent of 4G and domestic broadband has enabled millions of people to create a home office worthy of the name at relatively low cost.
Enhanced Technical Capabilities: Take it to the Cloud
In an age of low-latency video conferencing and Bluetooth peripherals, people are establishing and running their own firms with increasingly mainstream hardware. Cloud-hosted documents and programs have reduced the need for large hard drives. And even a tablet has sufficient processing power to run a spreadsheet or conduct basic video editing for social media marketing. In theory, a typical home worker shouldn’t need anything more than a laptop to run a business. But is this feasible in reality?
First, it’s important to consider how much laptops have changed since the days of the Y2K bug and Ethernet connectivity. A modern laptop is technically closer than ever to its desktop cousins, capitalizing on advances in hardware chips and packaging. Modern Ultrabooks are wafer-thin three-pound devices with eight-hour battery life and 4K screens. Some laptops are even promoted as games machines. Although most laptops are marketed at professionals and families. The budding entrepreneur, therefore, has almost everything they need to make a start.
Slouching the Day Away
However, it’s important to acknowledge that even the finest laptop can’t deliver a truly comfortable writing posture. Anyone who spends their working day glued to a screen will struggle with any device where the display is only a couple of inches above the keyboard. Fortunately, docking stations provide a solution. They power a variety of peripherals from twin external monitors to stylus pens and printers and also support external keyboards and mice. The laptop effectively becomes a miniature desktop, albeit one that can be taken to meetings or on the train with every document and cookie safely stored.
Memory to Spare
Modern laptops are sold with standard specifications that dwarf desktops from a few years ago. With typical specs including 1TB hard drives and 16GB of RAM, anything more powerful than a low-budget Chromebook will happily run an Excel spreadsheet split-screen with a PDF or Word document. Microsoft and Adobe are among the companies making their software available to rent through the cloud, which saves hard drive space and upfront licence fees. And if wifi isn’t up to the job, most laptops have a proprietary dongle capable of turning a USB port into a hardwired Ethernet socket for high-speed connectivity.
Future Firms
Of course, running a business from a laptop is dependent on the nature of the firm’s operations. Communications and media roles are ideally suited to a laptop’s portability, as are careers like social media management or accounting. A retailer needing a computer to manage stock levels and prepare invoices won’t need anything more than a Spectre or MacBook, and the portability of these devices is ideal for sales reps or people whose jobs involve regular travel. Even peripheral-heavy tasks like graphic design and web programming can be resolved with a docking station.
Indeed, today’s featherweight fan less laptops can support a business in almost any industry or niche – with the right software and peripherals. What do you think are the ‘must haves’ for any budding entrepreneur with a laptop? We’d love to know what software, apps, etc. you find invaluable. Do let us know.