Game of Phones is Over: What I learned from 8 days running a business without a cell phone

Not very long ago, my wireless company disconnected phone service to the cell phone I use for everything in my business. The Saturday morning that the disconnection happened was going to be a beautiful Saturday morning, but instead, the next 8 days turned into a frustrating technical challenge.

Because I’m ready to release this drama, I won’t get into the details, except to say that there was more then enough money in my cell-phone account (I’m one of those people who likes to pay ahead by a couple months), I wasn’t calling Mars or Pluto, and although everything was righted in the end, there are plenty of reasons that a formal complaint should be filed with the carrier I was working through.

But, we’re going to let that go for now, because as I look back on those 8 days, I see it as a very interesting experiment. I ran a business, for 8 days, without a phone. I’d like to pass on some of what I learned.

1. First, I didn’t actually miss very many phone calls during those 8 days. At least, I’m assuming that not many people tried calling, because no one tried to reach me through other means, like email or facebook, to tell me that they couldn’t get through to my phone number. My assumption is that I missed phone calls from only these people: My naturopathic doctor’s office, my little sister, a man named David who owns a business based in Texas, and probably a parent or a friend. It makes me wonder if we eventually won’t need phones to conduct business.

2. My business and income didn’t suffer when I was phoneless.

Despite having a nearly non-functioning iPhone (without cell service, I could only pick up wireless internet and take photos), I continued with the full launch of my new Build A Richer Business group, completed all of the preview calls by calling in via a Skype phone number, and worked with 80 of my students and clients through Skype. I even spoke with new clients during the week, in deals that led to thousands of dollars of income.

It would have been easy to have given up and said: “I guess I’m just not supposed to do any business this week, because my phone isn’t working.” But I’ve learned that it is in these moments of discomfort, distraction, and frustration, a lot of really great things happen.

The one thing I did notice was that without my regular phone number, I was a little hesitant to call people who I could see as great additions to the Build A Richer Business group. I contacted them through email instead.

3. The saddest part about the whole phone experience was to see that to a big company, I am just another name and number on some big list. I was tossed from customer support, to other departments, to Apple, and then found that the department I needed to connect with was nearly impenetrable. Honestly, the most helpful customer service I received was through the Apple company, and it was a sigh of relief each time I spoke with a person who truly heard me, and didn’t just tell me a scripted answer to my question.

This experience has made me wonder how big I want to go in my own work. If I grow to a point where I don’t know every client individually, it has to be in a way where every customer will still be treated as an individual human being.

4. The fourth thing I learned was how to develop trust. I had to convince myself of the belief that one day, everything would come back into balance, even if it took a while. I would have a working cell phone plan again. There was no way that this was the end of my time as a cell phone user. I find that trusting in this concept of “balance” can help every obstacle you may face.

The good news: After 8 days of being without my cell phone, my service was turned back on. I can make phone calls again, and I feel a huge sigh of relief! Now you and I can be chatty again.

© 2014 Ava Waits