10 Remote Working Tips for Small Business Owners
Updated: Jul 24, 2022
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Remote working has become a popular trend in the last few years. It has helped small businesses to grow by providing flexibility and work-life balance.
Remote working helps small businesses to grow by providing flexibility and work-life balance
Many people are reluctant to start remote working because of the fear of being too disconnected from their team members and not being able to provide feedback on work that they do in person.
The following tips will help you overcome these apprehensions and make remote working more efficient as well as manageable for you.
1. Invest in a Good Internet Connection
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When you are working from home, you need to make sure that your internet connection is fast and reliable enough to allow you to work as efficiently as possible.
The faster your connection, the more productive you will be at work and the more you will be able to accomplish. When working from home, you should dedicate a reasonable budget on a fast internet connection as it's one of the most important fundamentals for remote working.
Also invest in a good Wi-Fi router that offers stable connection and good range.
2. Set Up Your Remote Infrastructure
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It is vital to set up your remote infrastructure so that can you share files with your remote staff and team members. This will make it easy for you and your staff to collaborate on projects.
Create a shared Google Drive folder and give access to all your team members. You can also use Dropbox Paper, Microsoft Office, and Notion to create a shared note-taking experience.
3. Stay Connected With Your Team
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It is important to be in touch with your team when working remotely. This allows you to make sure that they are up to date with the progress of the project and know what is going on in case there are any changes.
Stay connected with your team by using different tools that can help you stay in touch with them. You can do this by using Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or even just sending an email to check in and see how things are going.
4. Automate Your Social Media Posts
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Small businesses must maintain a strong social media presence so that they can reach out to their target audience and connect with them.
It’s not easy for every small business owner to spend time on posting content on social media platforms. You may be too busy running your business to post content regularly. Or, you may not have the resources or enough time to create content for each platform individually.
Social automation tools make it easier for small business owners by providing them with the ability to schedule posts across multiple platforms in one go.
One great example of such is Hookle. It's a mobile app, which makes it especially remote working friendly. You can schedule posts and monitor the performance of all your platforms with one tool - anywhere on the go.
These automation tools saves mental energy and time as they allow businesses to focus on other aspects of running their company.
5. Stick to a Schedule
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Every small business owner must stick to a schedule when working remotely. By having a set schedule in place, you can focus on what is important for your business and what will bring in the most profit for your company.
It's not just about the quality of the work but also delivering to your customers at the right time
Remember that it is not just about the quality of the work. It's also about delivering what you promised to your clients at the right time and not letting your customers down.
The schedule you create should also have a few breaks in it to make sure your team isn't working themselves into the ground. You can also take time during these breaks to recharge and spend time with family or friends.
6. Regularly Back Up Your Data
If you're like most people, you probably have a lot of work-related information documents on your computer.
If you are not working in the Cloud and are storing your files locally, you are running the risk of losing all your data in an event of disk failure. This is why it's important for every small business owner to back up their data regularly.
You can use any of the popular Cloud storage services and use their desktop client to regularly back up your files.
7. Manage Your Tasks
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Every small business should have a designated task management app for collaborating with other team members, whether they are remote or not.
Every small business should have a designated task management app
This will help them stay on track with their work and avoid any distractions that might happen when they work from home. Using popular task managers like Asana, Trello or Basecamp, smaller companies can manage tasks, collaborate on notes, and also schedule a meeting within the app.
8. Organize Virtual Get-Togethers
For virtual employees, it can be difficult to stay in touch with their colleagues. To overcome this difficulty, small businesses should organize virtual get-togethers for their remote employees and teams.
There are many ways that a small business owner can organize virtual get-togethers. For example, they can use online collaboration tools like Google Hangouts or Zoom to set up a meeting on the fly or schedule one in advance. Virtual get-togethers are not just limited to meetings, either; they also include social events like Happy Hours and team dinners.
These events help keep morale high, and morale is key when it comes to company culture and productivity.
9. Stay Healthy
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When we work remotely, the temptation is to always be connected and checking emails. This can lead to burnout and exhaustion.
You must take care of our mental health and physical health when working remotely. This includes taking breaks, getting enough sleep, and eating healthy.
You must take care of our mental health and physical health when working remotely
Several small businesses have found success with remote work arrangements by designing their business models around a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise, exercise breaks, and plenty of sleep.
10. Keep Your Work and Personal Lives Separate
Limiting distractions is a vital part of working remotely. As a small business owner, you should keep your work and personal lives separate when working remotely.
This will help you stay focused on your work and avoid distractions from the outside world. Keeping personal and work lives separate will also help in staying focused on the job at hand.
Set up a “working space” in your home where you'll be focusing on work. This can be done by clearing off all distractions from the home office and removing anything that could potentially distract you.