Enterprise Nation

If you thought multitasking was an exclusively feminine trait, think again. And meet Pete Hawkins. He's the owner of several home businesses, including a bed and breakfast; he's a freelance writer and photographer, and runs courses on map and compass reading. He's also a winner in our Orange/Blackberry competition. We caught up with Pete to find out how he's getting on with his prize.

Home business owners understand, more than their office-bound counterparts, the importance of multitasking. And also, Pete says, the importance of being reachable by potential customers and clients.

"You're sat at home, where once you shared an office space with others," Pete says. "You've got to make sure that you are in as close a contact as possible with your sources of work. When you run three - or is it four, maybe five? - different elements of your business then keeping in touch and on the ball is vital."

So how did Pete manage in the days before his Orange/Blackberry prize?

"In the BB (Before Blackberry) days, if I was away from home, I'd have to lug my computer around and find a WiFi source, which is not so easy in the countryside!" Pete says. "B&B guests, when they are booking, want instant contact and confirmation. If you don't answer the phone or e-mail immediately, they'll go elsewhere.

"Pre-Orange/Blackberry, if we were out e-mails would go unanswered for potentially hours and we'd lose custom or we'd have no way of knowing if someone had booked online. Now booking e-mails come into the phone as well as the home computer and we know instantly our situation and when a guest books over the phone, we now know if we have availability rather than putting them off until we could get near a computer that worked.

"I was warned before the Blackberry arrived that I would become dependent on it," Pete says. "And they were right. I feel lost without it. My mobile before stayed in my pocket, the Blackberry stays in my hand.

"Has winning this prize made a big difference to my life and businesses? Yes. Would I have managed without a Blackberry? Yes. But it wouldn't have been half as much fun!"

Pete's new book Navigating with a GPS; effective skills for the outdoors, published by Cicerone (ISBN 9781852844912), is out now. Pete's personal website with links to his photo gallery and other businesses, including Jaret House, the B&B he runs with his partner, is at www.petehawkins.co.uk.