Some Valley businesses choosing to go mobile

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Even with high gas prices, some business owners
are choosing to run their businesses out of their car instead of an office.

Anthony Gilchrist is a veterinarian who has decided to start making house
calls. He started his company, Vet to You, last February.

“We actually do house calls. Come right
to the house to do treatments. We can basically do everything right there at
the house,” Gilchrist said.

He said doing business this way allows him to spend more time on the animals that he’s treating than he did when he had an
office.

“When people brought their animals to my office, an appointment
would have been about 15 minutes,” Gilchrist said. “The client would
spend about five minutes with the receptionist, five with the technician,
and five with me. In this situation, I’m there for a half an hour, and I’m
there from beginning to end. I get to see the whole environment that the
animal is in.”

Gilchrist said his clients are happy they don’t have to find a way to get
their animals to his office, and they don’t mind paying his $50 travel
fee to cover fuel costs.

Since starting his mobile business last February, Gilchrist said he’s run
into a lot of other business owners who also have gone mobile.

“I met
somebody who does mobile yoga the other day,” he said. “I know of a
psychiatrist who closed up his shop and now just comes to your house.”

So far, things are working out well.

“I’m much happier than I was before,” said Gilchrist. “I feel like I have a lot
more freedom. The clients also seem to like it a lot more.”