Tips and Tools to Run a Remote Business Successfully

The Internet rules our lives these days. Learning new things, sharing information, finding locations, and online shopping are just a few from the mammoth list of tasks that the web has enabled us to complete in the comfort of our homes. What’s more, one can now run a business remotely.

Though entrepreneurs are increasingly interested in starting remote businesses because of many business benefits, not all get the same success in their endeavors.

In today’s post, I’m going to discuss some tips and tools to run a remote business more efficiently to boost success.

Without further ado, let’s dive in:

1- Onboard the Right Employees

Onboarding virtual employees is different from hiring in-house employees. The old school best practices don’t yield good results to hunt good remote employees.

Therefore, adopting a different approach to attract and hire top talent will be beneficial.

First thing first, not everyone is looking for working remotely. There are some dedicated job portals, like FlexJobs and Remote.co, for remote workers. So do not forget to publish your job listing on such remote job portals. Doing so will help you attract more candidates. 

Working remotely requires the use of a few essential software applications. So the potential candidates should be ready to learn to work on those applications.

Remote workers sometimes may feel lonely as they are not surrounded by coworkers. Therefore, find out how much comfortable potential candidates are in working remotely.

2- Set Defined Goals

Your virtual employees don’t sit with you in your office, meaning you cannot assign them tasks one-by-one or give them feedback face-to-face.

So if you want to increase the productivity of your remote team, set defined goals for each employee. This will not only help your employees know what they need to achieve and when they need to achieve it but also let your employees plan their work schedules ahead.

It goes without saying that your remote team must have SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals with clear key progress indicators (KPIs) assigned to each goal.

My friend, your remote business cannot be successful if your remote team members don’t have defined goals. 

3- Have Advanced Remote Software Applications

One needs a good office, comfortable office furniture, and other essential office supplies so that one’s employees can work to their highest potential.

In the same way, you need to buy essential remote software applications to make your remote employees work efficiently.

Here is a list of essential online collaboration tools to manage your remote team effectively:

• Skype
• Meistertask
• Screen Leap
• Wunderlist
• Time Doctor
• Huddle

Working with a remote team is not easy, especially when your remote employees are working from different corners of the world.

With the right tools at your disposal, it becomes easier to manage your remote team. 

4- Motivate Your Remote Team Regularly

A happy, motivated remote team is critical for the success of any remote business.

So if you want your remote business to grow steadily, ensure that your remote team members are motivated.

How can you motivate your remote team?

I have listed below seven proven strategies to keep your remote team engaged and motivated :

• Do video call your remote employees regularly to make them feel valued
• Give your remote team regular feedback
• Invest in their learning
• Sponsor their weekends’ outings
• Start to give The Employee of Week/Month Award
• Ask for their suggestions
• Give due rewards to deserving candidates

Build an effective support network for your remote team to make them feel that they are not completely on their own. 

5- Build a Strong Online Reputation

The success of your remote business largely depends on your online reputation.

Be it hiring top talents or securing good clients, your online reputation plays a big role.

Therefore, you should not only build a strong online brand but also keep tabs on what people say online about your brand.

Create profiles on all the leading social media platforms and try to build your audience there.

Also, claim business listings on reputed business directory websites. All these tasks will help you create a strong online presence.

If you have recently gotten any award/recognition, you must mention it on your website and share the news on social media. The more buzz you create about your business, the better it will be for generating leads and hiring top talents.

If you cannot manage the online reputation of your remote business, consider hiring a good agency to do the job. The objective is to have a strong, clean online presence. 

Final thoughts,

Running a remote business is not an easy task even though employees love to work remotely.

However, if you follow the above-listed tips, you can run your remote business more efficiently.

What about you? Do you want to share any tips or tools to run a remote business successfully? Please share them in the comment section. I’d love to know about them. 

Vaishali Badgujar is a digital marketer at Time Doctor, a SaaS time tracking & productivity tool for companies & freelancers. She is a content marketing expert & specializes in link building.