74: Maintaining A Cost-Effective Virtual Team Or Workforce Whether You Are Starting A Business
74: Maintaining A Cost-Effective Virtual Team Or Workforce Whether You Are Starting A Business, You Are Self-Employed, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner, Remote Virtual Online Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant Or VA
Your employees or independent contractor expenses are likely one of your highest expenses in your business and as a smart business owner, you want to make sure you are monitoring these expenses to ensure maximum efficiency. Over the last few years, your business may have had the need to shift to a more remote or virtual workforce. Many business owners think this shift to a remote workforce or team causes less productivity and higher expenses, but in fact many business owners see the exact opposite. Depending on your situation, you may have seen a savings or some additional expenses you’ve needed to adjust to. In today’s podcast episode, I am helping you create a cost-effective virtual workforce or team. I am sharing a few of the most important skills you need as a business owner as well as areas to be aware of to ensure you are maximizing your virtual workspace while keeping your costs down and the productivity up. Whether you already have a virtual workforce or maybe you currently do all the work in your business yourself, but you’ve been wanting to integrate some additional help, you’ll want to make sure you are taking advantage of these tips. Hiring remote workers, independent contractors and virtual assistants could be the lifeline you need to continue meeting all the demands of your business. It doesn’t matter if you are just getting started with your business, you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you need to keep a close eye on these expenses and ensure you are being as efficient as possible with this business expenses so that you are able to move your business forward, remain successful and maximize your profits. It doesn’t matter if you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave or FreshBooks for your business finances, or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document, this episode will be helpful for you…
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Show Notes:
Your employees or independent contractor expenses are likely one of your highest expenses in your business and as a smart business owner, you want to make sure you are monitoring these expenses to ensure maximum efficiency. Over the last few years, your business may have had the need to shift to a more remote or virtual workforce. Many business owners think this shift to a remote workforce or team causes less productivity and higher expenses, but in fact many business owners see the exact opposite. Depending on your situation, you may have seen a savings or some additional expenses you’ve needed to adjust to. In today’s podcast episode, I am helping you create a cost-effective virtual workforce or team. I am sharing a few of the most important skills you need as a business owner as well as areas to be aware of to ensure you are maximizing your virtual workspace while keeping your costs down and the productivity up. Whether you already have a virtual workforce or maybe you currently do all the work in your business yourself, but you’ve been wanting to integrate some additional help, you’ll want to make sure you are taking advantage of these tips. Hiring remote workers, independent contractors and virtual assistants could be the lifeline you need to continue meeting all the demands of your business. It doesn’t matter if you are just getting started with your business, you are a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, you need to keep a close eye on these expenses and ensure you are being as efficient as possible with this business expenses so that you are able to move your business forward, remain successful and maximize your profits. It doesn’t matter if you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave or FreshBooks for your business finances, or if you are doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document, this episode will be helpful for you…
Welcome Back…When you look over your income statement, do you draw your attention to the largest expenses first? When you do this, you are probably seeing wages, subcontractors, or independent contractors as one of these large expenses especially if you have made the move as a business owner from doing all the work in your business by yourself to having additional help. Making sure that you are managing your largest expenses efficiently is important when you are trying to increase your profit. Over the last few years, there was a shift to a more remote or virtual workforce. Many business owners felt like they lost control of their workforce, but others found that this remote workforce produced a higher performance rate and some even found some of their higher expenses were reduced. If you are wondering what you could be doing to take advantage of these positive results, I want you to make sure you are following the tips I am going to cover today.
Whenever you have a virtual workforce, whether it is made up of your employees, a virtual assistant, an independent contractor, or subcontractor, you want to make sure you set your expectations in your relationship early. Having a mutual understanding about responsibilities, how often should work be performed, during which hours of the day work should be done, and your desired outcomes, deadlines, or when work should be completed will be essential for everyone to know. Making sure that you have a flexible work arrangement will be beneficial when you know that you will not be able to control the environment remotely. Try to focus on your workforce’s abilities and when they are the most productive. In most cases, it won’t matter if the work gets done early in the morning or late in the evening, as long as the work is done in time to meet any deadlines and is done accurately. Remember, you are focused on the outcome. Set clear expectations for the team and ask for feedback so that you know your team is able to meet these expectations.
Communication is key so you will want to connect regularly with your virtual workforce or team. Make sure everyone is aware of any changes in deadlines or updates on projects. There are many ways you can stay in touch with your remote workforce or team so that you know exactly how work is getting done. This doesn’t mean that you should micromanage your workforce, but rather have a procedure in place so that you know how projects are moving along. You can accomplish this with meetings, project management software or even daily updates if you’d like, but make sure you provide the training and resources your team needs to follow through on these expectations. There are many different technology options available, but you want to take note of how much time it is taking to connect or stay up to date. Take time to set protocols for regular updates and what to do if there is something that needs to be communicated urgently. You want to make this process as efficient as possible while keeping everyone informed of progress. You will also want to make sure you are listening to the advice from your team as well. Let them know that you are open to receiving information from them and you genuinely want to hear from them. They may be able to offer insight or concerns for a project that you would never have thought about. This information can be valuable. If your workforce or team doesn’t seem to offer this information on their own, you can always ask them for their opinion to see if there is a more efficient way for you to help them.
Collaboration and connection are equally important when you have a virtual workforce. Having a way for people to connect will help bring about innovative ideas as well as foster a team environment. When people are working remotely, they can easily feel isolated from the rest of the team. Allowing virtual coffee chats or a virtual water cooler where team members can get together and connect in a less formal environment will help build camaraderie which in turn increases productivity. You could even host a virtual happy hour for your team to help them all get to know each other. This is a terrific way to host a get together especially if your workforce is in various locations and it is not feasible to get together locally. These virtual events are a perfect time for you to announce any successes or milestones that the team has achieved. It is important to celebrate the wins in your business, even if they are small. Make sure you as the business owner show up for these events as well and maintain a positive outcome when creating these connections. If you feel like your team can’t take on an additional meeting, try to schedule a few minutes in an already scheduled meeting to allow for these connections. They are important and should not be overlooked.
Next, let’s look at how having a virtual workforce or team can save you money or how you can be more efficient with your costs. We’ll start off with time. Time is something that we all cherish, whether you are the business owner or part of the team. Working as a virtual team is beneficial for both. Team members can gain additional time they would normally be commuting and put that extra time towards something they would much rather have in their life, and business owners have the ability to have additional talent in their business without having the stress and complications of having to hire an employee onsite. You may also notice that productivity goes up since there are fewer interruptions than were taking place in an office. Time normally equals money. By utilizing a remote workforce or team in your business you are able to streamline many of the procedures and expenses you would normally have and only pay for the ones you have direct needs for. The overhead in your business can also be significantly reduced since you may no longer need to have an office space for a larger team, which means less rent, utility expenses, cleaning and office expenses. Even retention rates of your team members may be improved which also saves you time and money by searching for another replacement. Team members who are working from home or remotely tend to enjoy and value their work-life balance much more which gives you a happier and higher retention rate. Take some time to look over your income statement and focus on your expenses. Be creative when you are looking at the expenses you currently have for your business and look for ways that you can reduce or even eliminate specific expenses when you have a virtual workforce.
Having a remote workforce or team can be a cost-effective way to manage some of your highest expenses while keeping productivity rates high. If you are a service-based business owner who wants to increase the profit in your business, please let me know. I have helped many business owners over the past twenty years, and I am here to help you with Mastering Your Small Business Finances as well. Your business finances are impacted by much more than just your bookkeeping and financial knowledge. Let’s chat. If you are interested in scheduling a free consultation session with me, you can go to www.FinancialAdventure.com/Contact-Us and select a time that works well with your schedule. I only offer a few of these one-hour consultation sessions each week. During your consultation session, we’ll work together to go over where you currently are in your business and where you’d like to see yourself and your business in the future. We’ll also go over my MASTER Your Business Foundation Diagnostic Assessment so that you can fully understand your strengths in the foundation your business is built on. I’ll post links to these and other valuable resources for business owners and bookkeepers where you are listening to this podcast and in the show notes.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
