Running a small business can be a constant battle of money management for an entrepreneur. As many of you know, the second you open the doors as a business you are blasted with expense after expense, and sadly, it never ends. Business owners are on the constant prowl for cost cutting innovations and ideas that can help them shave down the typical monthly overhead, or fixed costs. We've seen them cut salaries, change phone providers, pick up new internet plans, update insurance policies, etc, for the sole purpose of being able to make the rent every month.
One thing we see businesses reluctant to do is eliminate the rent. It isn't a new idea to say the least but for some reason most business owners don’t want to close the office down and have their team work remotely. Why? Now there’s a question that we can dive into. As a freelance writer myself, I often wonder why more business owners don’t allow their people to work from home, or the coffee shop, or a bookstore. Heck, anywhere. Here are some things to mull over while you make your decision.
Why you wouldn't need an office
Really, why would need an office? In the world we live in today it’s virtually impossible not to be in constant contact with each other and if you are getting paid to do something, does it really matter if you are in the office doing it, or in your gym shorts with a cup of coffee working from your living room? Sure there are some things that could get in the way. For example, as I noted before I freelance for various outfits and some require a formal admin for me to log into and input my data. That admin is obviously protected by a firewall and my IP has to be registered in order for me to access it. If I work in various places, I need to change my IP whenever I change my location. This could be a nuisance to everyone involved. But as a close friend of mine (who is a techy) always says, you can solve any technical problem nowadays.Modern technology
Using the current technology the modern day has to offer us we can basically create a virtual office environment where coworkers can chat online, video conference and communicate very freely amongst each other. It isn't like the old days where a fax took minutes to complete. With even the simplest and free technology data is transferred instantaneously, or in a matter of seconds. So we know it isn't because of technology. That’s for sure. The modern world has made life very easy and people very accessible.Reduction in costs
This is the biggest reason why you would think that EVERYONE should be working remotely. Imagine as a business owner you eliminated your overhead fixed costs, such as: rent, office supplies, utilities, office furniture, office space insurance, etc. Now replace those costs with a one-time computer purchase for each employee, along with maintenance of those computers. Even if you cover internet expenses and driving expenses for meetings, you are still only at a fraction of the amount of fixed costs you’d be responsible for if you rented/owned office space. Not too mention that everything in the office depreciates and eventually needs to be replaced.Everyone is mobile
Lets face it, everyone owns a mobile phone and the plans are always getting cheaper (we hope). We've become a society on the run, chit-chatting, messaging away, social media-ing and on and on. We know how to do it, feel more comfortable doing it, so why wouldn't our bosses let us do it? BBC news tells us “There were 4.2 million UK home workers in the first three months of 2014, amounting to 13.9% of the workforce.” While the majority of people say they prefer to work from home, there is still a long road ahead of us waiting for the shift to happen. The reason is employers are reluctant to do it. Yahoo, for example, doesn't allow its employees to work remotely. Why? What is that mentality all about?Managing people
Many business owners simply refuse to let their employees work from home because of the inability to see what they are doing on a daily basis. Some bosses likes to know what is happening all the time. They like the feel of having all players on the team on the same field. They fear that if you give someone an inch they take a mile. You switch an employee to working remotely and suddenly their productivity declines. You can’t blame employers for this fear but studies have shown that people working from home are actually more efficient and much happier. Of course they are, they didn't have to wake up early to avoid traffic, or fight traffic all the way to the office. They didn't arrive home super late and miss seeing their kids before bed times. They didn't miss dinner. On the other hand, it really is true in the work force, you give an inch they take a mile. Ever hear of the 80/20 rule? Well, some believe that in a work from home scenario it could be a different picture altogether. One where even less productivity comes from the majority. Office chatter - This is something that can’t be denied. If all your employees work from home then you loose that team moral spirit where each team member is an integral piece of the puzzle and daily input is essential for the machine to run. Sure, Google chat can work, as well as video conference, but the formality of getting into both can often deter someone from just plain spitting out an answer across a cubicle to another person who fired off a question in the same way. As a remote worker, I often see things get lost in translation with my various employers and it is strictly due to not communicating face to face. Reading a person and their responses, body language and tone can only happen in the real world, not the digital.Time is money
But the real truth behind why more businesses haven’t gotten into the remote working world is because we haven’t shown inherent value in it yet. Sure there are reductions in overhead as stated above, but employers see value in a living breathing office environment. And since they believe that productivity decreases when people are working from home, which can equate to increased inefficiencies that lead to lower revenues, it’s hard to argue the counterpoint. Only when we see clearly documented increase in productivity, efficiencies and revenue will we see that shift happen. Could be a while, but we are dreamers, aren't we? We can wait.The post Does your SME really need an office? appeared first on ezbob.