This is Vernon Litigation Group’s weekly bulletin to support local small business owners and help navigate the challenges of staying in business, supporting employees and clients, supporting the community, and positioning local businesses for growth and success on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis.
Is your small business set up for continued remote work? If not, you may want to continue reading.
There is no doubt that this health and economic crisis has completely changed (and will continue to change) the small business landscape. With that said, how prepared is your business to work remotely?
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most small businesses had to (voluntarily or mandatorily) allow their employees to work from home. As a result, small businesses have seen a marked increase in productivity benefits and are now planning to implement permanent remote platforms when things start to normalize.
According to the survey conducted by 7th Sense Research:
- 60 % of employees said they could do their jobs remotely, and 72% prefer to work at home;
- 73 % of companies surveyed didn’t have a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely;
- Just 14 % of employees said their employers were “fully supportive” of remote working.
- Businesses save an average of $20,000 a year for each full-time employee who works remotely;
- Employee productivity increased by an average of 22 % when remote working was allowed;
- Remote working reduced employee turnover by 50 %.
There are many tools and options available to help you strategize and navigate both remote work and the digital world.
Below is a list of tools to help small businesses leverage working remotely:
- Zoom Video Conferencing: By using video conferencing it can help with the feeling of isolation and frequent video calls can boost productivity.
- Social Media;
- Facebook for Business: Facebook Business Page is all about your brand and the services you offer as a professional in your field. You should invite past and potential clients to like your Business Page. It’s the right place to collect reviews, share essential details about your business and post about industry-relevant topics. You are able to run ads for your business and additionally link to your Instagram for omni-channeling which is a tool for sharing content cross channels.
- Instagram | Business: Instagram business is an excellent tool for branding and furthest reach in the shortest amount of time. 60% of people say they discover new products from Instagram and there are around 200 million visitors on Instagram Business daily.
- Twitter | Business: If you have a new release, or new product or item on the menu, you can use twitter to get the message out quick and you can provide a link to your website, Facebook or Instagram.
- LinkedIn Business Solutions: LinkedIn business provides real time analytics on people who visit your business page. It also provides your business with courses and tools on how to best leverage your small business and enhance competency and improve employee’s skill sets.
- Google My Business: With Google My Business, you get your business listed on google as well as a business profile. It will allow your customers/clients connect with your business by providing your location, website, phone number and gives you chance to upload photos relevant to your business
3. Project Management Software: A cloud-based project management software helps your team have seamless interactions and offers you real-time project management tools to see what each employee is working on, the date it is due and overall productivity. The software coordinates the planning, collaborating, monitoring, and delivering of a project and allows project managers and teams to get work done using a network of tools available within the software. Think excel on steroids and in real-time.
- Collaboration Tools: Communication is key when working remote. Alleviate communication issues with a collaboration tool:
- Cloud-based document and storage service: In addition to uploading ongoing documents to your project management software, you can add files and documents to a cloud-based storage service to be able to access at any time.
Whether or not we have a second wave of this pandemic and/or you feel your small business is ramping up for the recovery, you may want to think about offering more flexible work options such as remote, outsourcing, part-time, or even contract work.
If you have any questions or require further assistance to help you navigate through these difficult times, please feel free to give us a call. We are all in this together.
Vernon Litigation Group represents businesses & individuals throughout the United States who have financial disputes, including cyber litigation, securities litigation & arbitration, business & commercial litigation, financial advisors & employment disputes, and FINRA arbitration.
For more information contact, Brooke Sandoval-Banker bsandovalbanker@vernonlitigation.com or call (239) 319-4434.