More and more people are working remotely these days. But while some people work remotely for employers, it’s also possible to run your entire business remotely. So how can you do this effectively? Here are some top tips and tools for running your business remotely.
Find Somewhere to Work
If you don’t have an office, you’ll need somewhere else to work. This could be a home office run from your bedroom, or you could work from a cafe using the free wifi.
Another option is to hire a co-working space. You can often rent these spaces by the day, week or month. That way, you can enjoy access to all the facilities you need, plus you might enjoy working alongside other people.
You might even make useful connections and build relationships with other contractors that could help when you need to hire someone.
Get the Equipment You Need
All the equipment you need to work remotely is reasonably affordable – and you might even have it already. The essential equipment is a laptop and a smartphone. With these two items, you can do most of the tasks involved in running a business.
Use Online Tools
As well as your equipment, you’ll also need to use the right tools to help you work more efficiently. There are many tools now available online, including communication tools, project management tools and organisational tools.
Some of the best are:
- Skype for holding telephone calls and video calls
- Trello or Basecamp for project management
- Slack for communicating with your teams and clients
- Google Drive for creating and sharing all your documents and spreadsheets
- HelloFax for sending old-fashioned faxes online
Sort Out Your Accounts
A lot of your accounting can also be sorted out using online tools. While you may be able to use a spreadsheet, it’s often better to use a dedicated accounting tool like QuickBooks or Xero.
Many of these allow you to track your expenses and send and track invoices (or you could use a dedicated invoicing tool like Invoicely). They can also make it easier when you hire an accountant and you need to share your business information with them.
You might also want to accept online payments, in which case a payment tool like PayPal or a payment gateway like Stripe will be useful.
Focus on Online Marketing
You’ll need to find customers and clients when running your business remotely, and this will usually involve having a strong online presence.
That means setting up your website and email address, but also setting up your social channels. Make sure you have a Facebook page and a Twitter account to start with and help people to find you online.
You could also start publishing a regular blog, launch an email newsletter and build your email list, and ask for customer reviews on third-party review sites. All of these steps can help you to win more business.
Hire Contractors and Employees
If you want to grow your business, you may need to hire freelancers or contractors. You can find them using online marketplaces like Upwork, and you can then manage everything remotely, including payment.
When you hire people, either contractors or full-time staff, make sure you stay in touch with them. Hold regular video meetings over Zoom, or just chat over the phone. Try to take your relationships beyond emails.
Consider Running Your Business Remotely
These are some of the best ways to make a success of running your business remotely. These days, as long as you have the right equipment, tools and processes in place, there really is no reason why you can’t run your business from anywhere you want to.
For more advice in the small business world, check out the Accountants East London blog.
