Starting a wireless communications company was probably the most ambitious undertaking I have ever initiated in my life. Many people question whether or not a small business can survive in today’s ever changing wireless marketplace filled with major retailers and carriers. I suggest that there always will be a place for small operators who are willing to explain wireless products and demonstrate how these devices can be used in our daily lives.
Many consumers find these products intimidating and confusing. At our store in Washington D.C., we are constantly asked questions such as; What is two-way paging? What is voice mail on my pager? How can I get words to go across my pager? These questions may seem rudimentary to some, however, the American consumer is totally confused by the diversity of wireless products available in the market today.
When a shopper enters a large retailer, he or she generally needs to know what type of wireless product is sought and how to use it. The employees of most major retailers are not necessarily trained to educate and sell a specific product or demonstrate how that product can improve the quality of life or impact the way business is conducted.
I started a federal government contracting company with my father 12 years ago. The company was started out of the receptionist area of another company. We grew to more than 100 employees and $5 million in sales annually. The 10 years I served there provided me with the much-needed experience I would use to start Wireless Inc. The company, trading in Washington D.C., as USA Wireless, began after an unsuccessful year-long effort to participate in the C-block personal communications services auctions the Federal Communications Commission currently is conducting.
In the spring of 1994, I received a call from a longtime friend of mine to join him at a public hearing the FCC was conducting with regards to the commission’s “designated entity” rules. At the time I didn’t know the difference between a C-block and a LEGO block. After attending the meeting I was struck by the enormity of the wireless revolution. I knew what a cellular phone was, after all I had one. I just had no idea that all of this stuff was coming to the marketplace. How much was it worth? Who was going to sell it? My friend was starting a company to participate in the auctions and he was willing to involve me as his Washington D.C., representative.
The auction process seemed filled with uncertainty. Although we qualified as a designated entity, the stakes were too high for the process to go smoothly. I knew that the rules were too vague and too generous. My friend was a sharp guy. He held a master’s degree in business and a law degree from Harvard as well as having a great deal of entrepreneurial experience with start-up companies. What he did not have was $50 million laying around that he could use to participate in these auctions. However, he did possess an aggressive and tenacious personality and a vision of the small players teaming with the big players in order to have a chance at this business opportunity. Through his persistence and with help from the team members, we landed significant strategic telecommunications and funding partners.
The process inevitably was doomed because of the numerous lawsuits filed regarding the C-block auction. The company finally dissolved as unanswered legal questions delayed an already uncertain process.
The auction experience gave me the motivation to start Wireless Inc. I knew that after the telecom bill was passed, large companies that provide wireless products would need people like me on the streets to sign consumers up for the plethora of wireless products. All of the advertising in the world will not get John or Jane Doe to buy many of the wireless products that are available today. Products need to be demonstrated and consumers need to be educated, then sold on the value of wireless technology.
This is why I started Wireless Inc. The company was started in 1995 to market wireless communications products and services to individuals in small- to medium-sized businesses. We are agents for a major wireline cellular carrier on the East Coast and a nationwide paging company. Wireless Inc. has a retail location in the National Press Building in Washington D.C.
We are a company that is motivated to explain and sell wireless products to individuals and business consumers. As a small business, we intend to sell whatever works. We plan to remain flexible with our product offering. Today we are signing up customers for cellular phones and pagers. As the telecom bill starts to take effect, we plan to eventually sign up customers for residential phone service and long distance.
So far, business is good. This is primarily because of the cataclysmic growth that is occurring in the wireless industry. Cellular phones are big sellers primarily because nearly everyone knows how to use a wireline telephone. To consumers, a cellular phone is obviously used in nearly the same way as their phone at home or at work except that it’s not attached to anything.
When I dropped out of the C-block auction process, my sister, who is studying for her doctorate in business strategy, gave me some strategic advice. She stated that she would rather be a marketing arm for a wireless products company than invest in a wireless product’s infrastructure. After all, no one really knows who is going to win the wireless revolution. Will it be low-earth-orbiting satellites, cellular, PCS or all of the above? Whomever wins, I will be selling their products.
