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Ask Slashdot: Suggestions For Taking a Business Out Into the Forest?
An anonymous reader writes: I'm a huge fan of primitive survival reality TV. I am also self-employed in web troubleshooting and hosting services. I have to be available 24/7, but a lot of my work is just being online for a few minutes at a time. I often think about taking my business 'outdoors', camping, 3-7 days or so at a time — but staying online. Has anyone had experience with this? How did you do it, in terms of internet connectivity and portable power? Satellite internet or long distance Wi-Fi antennaes and a very tall pole? I've looked at some portable power stations with solar attachments, but the idea of hand-cranking to recharge if it's overcast isn't fun, after all, the point is to relax. But I'm willing to manually recharge if it's realistic (would prefer pedaling though!) I happen to have a Toughbook CF-52 (I just thought it was cool) but I may need to replace that with a more eco-friendly laptop as well. Thanks!
The idea of trekking out into the wilderness with an extra 20 lbs of tech gear just so you can fix client issues IF they come up doesn't sound very appealing. It also sounds highly risky from a business perspective. One your tech could get busted easily, falling rocks from cliff sides, dropped in a stream where the waterproof bag is then punctured by a stick, you just get separated from your gear for a day as a bear trashes your stuff looking for food, the satellite network could go down, etc. Also, YOU can get busted easily in the busy, you could break a finger or two, hypothermia from falling in the water, broken leg, etc. All those business risks could be avoided if you just get a business partner to whom you hand off operations while you're out in the bush. This would mean that your clients should have a much better chance of getting their issues fixed in a timely manner you'll keep them as clients.
If you're dead set on working from a mountain top, having a partner to serve as a back up would also be a good idea. This would allow you to test out different tech setups in the bush while your partner watches the shop while you're away.