Most startups begin as one-person operations. New business owners wear many hats, juggling various responsibilities, from accounting to lead generation. But there will come a time when you need to hire some help, especially if you want to grow your business into something bigger.
Labor costs are a significant financial burden for small businesses. Thankfully, outsourcing to freelancers and specialized companies like Concept Marketing Group is a viable alternative to hiring in-house employees. Building a remote team is a fantastic way to tap into a vast pool of talented freelancers from all over the world, at rates your business can afford!
While these benefits are hard to dispute, hiring and managing a remote team can be challenging. Here are some key strategies to help you find success!
Do Your Due Diligence
Before you begin hiring workers, make sure you review your legal obligations and cover all your bases. The last thing you want is a lawsuit! The Work Crowd explains that intellectual property laws can get complicated when you hire freelancers for certain projects. Money is also a common ground for legal disputes between business owners and freelancers. Make sure all of your freelancers sign a legal contract that details their scope of work, project deliverables, intellectual property rights, non-disclosure agreements, payment terms, and any other important considerations that could create legal trouble down the road.
Incorporating your business is another good thing to do before hiring freelancers. Forming an LLC will limit your personal liability in the event of a lawsuit. At the same time, your LLC will enable you to pay tax on the money you take home rather than all of your corporate earnings, so you can funnel more money back into your business. Read up on the process of forming an LLC in Arizona so you can file your Certificate of Formation online.
Establish Remote Collaboration Tools
Seamless collaboration is critical to the success of any remote team. To ensure everything runs smoothly, it’s important to develop some consistent principles to guide remote collaboration among your team. Thankfully, you can leverage countless online and software-based tools designed to streamline remote team communication and keep everyone on the same page.
Build a toolkit of programs that will enable your team to work together as efficiently as possible. For example, WiFi Tribe recommends Zoom for video calls, Slack for instant messaging, Google Drive for file sharing, and Trello for project management. You can use these platforms to keep everyone on your team in the loop and avoid problematic miscommunication issues.
Look for Top-Notch Workers
Not everyone is cut out for remote work. Remote workers who have the potential to thrive share some defining characteristics. Look for these traits as you embark on the hiring process so you can build a team of competent, productive, and self-driven individuals. Your top candidates should be strong written communicators, have solid time management skills, and be able to adapt quickly to unexpected challenges.
Don’t be afraid to hire people in different time zones. You can take advantage of workers in different areas of the world to extend your normal business hours. This is how many remote businesses maintain a 24/7 workflow! As long as you set clear expectations regarding communication and project timelines, managing team members in different time zones shouldn’t be too challenging.
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Develop an Effective Onboarding Process
Onboarding is always tricky, and a remote work environment certainly adds a few new obstacles to the process. Create an onboarding strategy that helps your remote workers get acquainted with your collaboration tools, build connections with teammates, and develop a sense of engagement with your brand.
Great onboarding starts with the recruitment process. Be transparent in your job descriptions, and be careful about listing unrealistic expectations. Exaggerating the job’s requirements can scare away some great candidates and create confusion when your worker finally settles into the role. When it’s time to bring your new hire on board, give them plenty of information and connect them with team members who can answer their questions.
Trust Your Workers
One of the hardest parts about managing a remote team is learning to let go and trust your workers. This is understandable — handing off important responsibilities can be nerve-wracking! However, micromanaging your freelancers will only hurt morale. Instead, try to shift your management mentality and empower your freelancers to do their best work. Besides hiring talented and driven workers, providing clear directions and objectives will ensure your workers have all the information they need to thrive.
At the same time, make sure you provide your workers with some freedom to be creative. You might be surprised by the innovative ideas they come up with! Get your team involved in decision-making, ask for feedback, and be open to their suggestions. Showing that you value the ideas of your workers is a great way to encourage engagement with your brand. And when your workers care about your business, they will want it to succeed!
Of course, it’s still important to check in with your workers and ensure they’re using their time wisely. One great way to measure performance is to focus on results rather than attendance. Establish some key performance indicators (KPIs) that will indicate how well your workers are meeting your expectations. Creating project milestones is another option. This will enable your workers to report their progress at regular points so you can review their ongoing work instead of waiting for project completion.
Going remote will expand the limits of your business and open up new possibilities for growth. As the popularity of remote work continues to rise, so too will the number of freelance workers at your disposal. Tapping into this growing trend will give you access to more people, better talent, and at more affordable rates!
If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, Concept Marketing Group can help you reach new customers and generate leads. Visit our contact form to send us a message or call 800-575-5369 today!
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