Remote working isn’t a new concept, but never before have so many businesses tried it before. We talk through the positive changes that flexible working entails – and how it benefits your small business.
Starting and running a small business has never been so prevalent and yet so challenging. You have all the essential tech tools at your disposal to build a solid professional entity, be it as an aspiring entrepreneur or a digital nomad, both in an office and traversing the globe. The increasing trend of hiring remote workers has become much more than just a trend. It has become a necessity in the ongoing pandemic that has pushed businesses to practice even more flexibility than ever before.
For small companies to adapt, it’s necessary to find solutions that won’t disrupt your workflow, or wreak havoc on your company culture that you’ve worked so long to build up. Getting to know the remote work model has enabled companies to stay open throughout this crisis, whereas thinking outside the local box has provided more hiring opportunities for all parties involved. So, the perks are many, and it’s time to embrace the shifting tide leaning so strongly towards the remote model.
Better employee collectives
Many entrepreneurs fear that remote work will take away that high level of personal interaction that’s empowered through sharing an office. Yes, you might miss out on water cooler chit chat, but remote work offers a variety of solutions to overcome this simple obstacle. In fact, the potential of remote work is to enable even stronger employee connections, and thus a more cohesive business culture.
By preparing your business for remote collaboration through, for starters, trustworthy project management software, you provide a safe platform for regular interaction. Add to that, regular video conferences allow you to spend one-on-one time with employees, and they help companies keep their workload in check.
Improving customer experience
If there’s a single reason that inspires companies and entrepreneurs to change their modus operandi, that would be customer preferences. Today, convenience and non-stop availability in communication have pushed small businesses to deploy more advanced communication strategies that encompass everything from social media as customer support, to chatbots on sites. However, when the need arises to send your remote teams home, and with them your support crew, you need a phone system that will keep delivering the experience your customers crave.
As a result, more companies are adopting inexpensive VoIP phone systems to replace their landlines, and to allow their remote customer support agents to stay productive and engage with customers every single day. With additional features that come with the service, such as video conferencing, call recording, and the like, you can further improve your internal and external interactions with ease.
Expanding your hiring potential
Customer acquisition and retention are two of the most relevant goals for all businesses. You naturally want to build a powerful marketing strategy that will not just haul in more customers and boost brand awareness, but that will also inspire loyalty and increase customer engagement.
You should take the same approach with attracting and retaining your employees, and flexibility through remote working is one of the most essential perks, in fact, the new norm that companies should be able to offer. By allowing your employees to work from the comfort of their homes, you let them know that you put their safety and health above all else. Plus, you let them spend more time with their families, invest more in their social lives, and be more productive and less stressed.
The relevance factor in your market
Traditional business models that are still loyal to the nine-to-five approach and insist on office-based work are not just outdated, but they’ve proven to be quite unstable in a crisis such as this one. When social distancing is necessary, when people’s needs should come first above all else, and when flexibility is one of the most valued qualities a business can offer, your business can only stand out by being able to adapt.
After all, the ability to spot a threat and overcome it through a flexible mindset allows your brand to evolve and thus survive many of your competitors. That alone makes you a rarity in any industry, and especially today, with so many small businesses sprouting around every corner – only the ones that can adapt can survive.
Entrepreneurs and small business owners are constantly on the lookout for another way to improve and strengthen their position in the market. By switching or adapting to working remotely, you give your business a competitive advantage in every sense of the phrase: you become more alluring in the eyes of potential candidates, you become a stronger business entity to survive such a health crisis, and you become a stronger competitor in your arena. Finally, remote working has been a valid model for years now, and its impact is bound to only increase over time.
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