Hiring

Remote Work for Small Businesses: How To Do It Right

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As a small business owner, you’ve already got a lot to juggle. Remote work for your employees seems like another expensive headache.

I get it. I’m just some blogger who’s good with a spreadsheet. You’re a small business owner who’s poured their life and soul into building something worthwhile.

However, consider the following:

  • Are you sure your employees don’t want to work remotely?
  • Can you be certain that they won’t be more productive if given more flexibility?
  • If you don’t trust your employees, why not fire them all?
  • What are you afraid will happen if you allow your employees more flexibility in their jobs?
  • How can you use the appeal of remote work in your small business’s favor?

Many employees would like more flexibility in their work. You (presumably) count on your employees. So, if you will suspend your skepticism and read through the following. Hopefully, it will help you decide if the “cost” of letting your employees work remotely is worth the benefit.

Admittedly, I make some generalizations throughout this post. The purpose isn’t to definitively conclude whether small business owners should employ a remote workforce or not. That depends on a lot of different factors. The purpose is to ensure that small business owners think through this option thoroughly to determine if remote, on-site, or a hybrid model is ultimately best for their business.

So many questions…

Just as small business owners have all sorts of questions about whether to offer remote work, small business employees often have questions about their right to telecommute. If you’re a small business owner trying to decide whether or not working remotely is a good idea, understanding the legalities involved with small business remote work can help inform your decision.

The legal issues related to remote hiring/work deserve their own post. However, here are some things to research further:

  • Making employment notices accessible to employees
  • Discriminatory hiring related to virtual interviewing
  • Security and privacy concerns
  • Setting remote work policies
  • Monitoring employee activities
  • Timekeeping and overtime
  • Meal and break time
  • Expense reimbursement
  • Sick days/pay
  • OSHA issues
  • Disability accomodation
  • Personnel recorders
  • Insurance coverage

Whew… That’s not helping with the headache. Fortunately, you already have to deal with most of this stuff. Making it work with a remote staff should, hopefully, just require a little tweaking.

Can small business employees work remotely?

Small businesses are known for being flexible when it comes to the requirements of particular jobs, so small business remote work is much more common than you might imagine. This option is ideal for small business owners who want to give qualified employees greater flexibility in their schedules.

One way to make remote work possible is to utilize the appropriate technology. You never know, you might find tools that make your small business even more efficient. That could save you money!

Have you asked your employees how they feel about remote work?

There are two sides to this coin.

If small business employees don’t want to work remotely, then remote work is not for them. Luckily, small businesses can easily experiment with remote work.

A hybrid model, even one day a week, could be a good place to start for those small business owners that want to test the waters. The key is to communicate clearly with employees about where you stand and what expectations you have.

If your small business has an iffy reputation with regards to trustworthiness, you might consider small business remote work as a way to incentivize employees. Plus, it may help with your hiring efforts.

Here are a couple of surveys regarding small business remote work. One focuses on the owners’ perspective. The other on employees.

4 in 10 employers will fire workers who won’t return on-site

Statistics On Remote Workers That Will Surprise You (2021)

What are small businesses’ remote work options?

Don’t force small business employees to choose between their freedom and their jobs. Not only is small business remote work an attractive hiring incentive, but it may also be a way for you to keep your best small business employees in the long term.

Give your small business’s employees the tools they need to be productive outside of the office. Maybe you’re not up-to-date on what software is capable of, these days. What you find may surprise you.

Here are some popular remote work software tools that could help with productivity:

  • Slack
  • ProofHub
  • Trello
  • eXo Platform
  • Dropbox Paper

Many small businesses fall victim to asking their employees which tools they’d prefer to use for small business remote work.

Rather than relying on the subjective opinion of one or two employees, discuss your options with someone who’s transitioned to remote work. This could be another small business owner, a consultant, or a group from social media.

Trusting your employees with small business remote work

This is a small step that could greatly benefit your small business. For many small businesses, the initial investment of small business software for employees outside of the office will be worth it. Once you’ve worked out the kinks with small business software, you’ll find yourself more empowered to give employees the freedom they desire.

If you run a more “authoritarian” business, then trust won’t come naturally. Conversely, if you provide a satisfying work environment, then you may not have to worry about remote/hybrid work.

If turnover is a problem – maybe it’s something you should strongly consider?

Once your small business software has been set up, then employees will know exactly what their day-to-day duties are. They will know that they can’t access certain websites during work hours and that software could remind them of upcoming deadlines.

As a small business owner, you’ll have to trust yourself before you can trust others. You’ll need to let go of your initial fears and brainstorm ways to find balance. If everything goes well, you’ll find yourself with a lot more flexibility in how you run your small business.

This small step quickly becomes rewarding as it creates an atmosphere where your employees will feel more empowered and might return the favor with increased productivity.

What’s the worst that can happen if your small business goes remote?

Some small business owners worry that letting their employees work remotely will lead to a decrease in productivity. But the truth is often the opposite.

You might find you have more productive and dedicated team members as they make themselves at home in their natural environment.

Your small business might even feel larger than it actually is if you’re able to connect with these remote workers using a video-calling tool like Skype or Google Hangouts. You’ll be able to see time zones and understand where someone is calling from without asking where they live.

That points to another benefit of having a remote workforce. If geography isn’t a constraint for hiring, you can hire the best talent you can afford from anywhere in the world. You’re pool of qualified candidates just got a lot larger!

The reason small businesses choose not to go remote largely boils down to one word: trust. Trusting yourself to hire worthwhile people. If you can’t trust them to work remotely, what else can’t you trust them with?

Effective Small Business Strategies for Hiring Great Employees – Curation

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Curation posts were created to address small businesses’ biggest problems by gathering some of the best resources from around the web and summarizing them.

This month’s problem is – Hiring!

Quickly scan the most important points and click the link for a specific article if you’d like to learn more.

Curation posts are published once per month. So, be sure to check back!

Topic 1 – How to hire an employee for your small business

When your small business grows to the point that you can’t handle everything by yourself – it’s time to hire. Hiring is a somewhat complicated process, especially if you’ve never done it before. The information below will prepare you for hiring your first employee and every other employee after that.

Hiring employees for your small business: Tips before your first payroll

Find out more about how small businesses hire employees at Monster

Step one is to write a quality job description and to prepare interview questions. Get feedback from an HR expert, if you can. Additionally, consider drafting a simple employee manual.

Next, check into insurance that will provide protection against bad hiring. Background checks are advisable too.

Make sure you’re prepared for payroll taxes. The government will expect you to collect these taxes from the get-go.

Here’s a checklist of things to do to prepare to collect payroll taxes:

  1. Have the employee complete a W-4 form
  2. Have the employee complete an I-9 form
    1. Employment eligibility
  3. Start paying unemployment and worker’s comp insurance
  4. Make payroll tax deposits
  5. File with Federal tax authorities
    1. Also state and local, if necessary

Consider using a payroll service. They will handle all payroll taxes and filings. They will also help ensure that all wage and hour laws are obeyed.

Also, think about having an attorney draft an employment contract if you want to protect trade secrets or have employees sign non-disclosure agreements.

Educate yourself on Federal, state, and local employment laws. Laws can vary widely from locale to locale. Here’s a list of links to learn more:

How to Hire Employees in 7 Steps

Learn more about hiring someone as an employee at Fit Small Business

  1. Create a job description
  2. Handle the administrative necessary administrative tasks
    1. Set up a tax ID
    2. Register business
    3. Obtain payroll software
    4. Find a workers comp plan
  3. Settle on pay, benefits, and perks for each position
    1. Use online job sites to get an idea of market rates
  4. Post your job opening
    1. Highlight your company culture
    2. Look into free applicant tracking systems (ATS)
    3. Ask your best employees for referrals, if applicable
    4. Consider hiring a recruiter
      1. Costly
  5. Review resumes and interview
    1. Understand anti-discrimination laws
  6. Make a job offer
    1. Be willing to negotiate
  7. Prepare for the employee’s first day
    1. Completing new hire paperwork
    2. Training, if necessary

Retaining quality employees helps to save time, save money, and reduce risk. Providing feedback, ongoing training, and engagement/appreciation/motivation all help with keeping quality employees satisfied and on your payroll.

Small Business Hiring: How to Hire Your First Employee

Read more about how to start hiring your first employee at Trusted Employees

Before taking the time to hire – determine what will fit in your small business budget. Use a job listing site to get an idea of the market salary and benefits. Consider part-time, temporary, or contract hires if you can’t afford a full-time employee.

Create a job description and post it online. Utilize your network too. If you don’t have the time, but do have the money – use a recruiter.

Interview your top candidates. Set up a consistent process for interviewing. This allows you to evaluate candidates fairly. Interview questions fall into two basic groups:

  1. Applicant experience, skills, and qualifications
  2. Applicant character and goals

Obviously, steer clear of questions related to race, gender, religion, etc.

Also, have questions prepared for references – if you will be checking them.

Prepare a formal job offer letter for the candidate you choose. Specify the wages, benefits, and conditions for employment in this letter.

If you’re running a background check on the new hire, let them know. Give the applicant a copy of the background check if you decide not to hire them based on what you learn.

When you do make your first hire:

  1. Make sure you have an employer identification number (EIN)
  2. Set up tax records
  3. Get insurance for the employee
  4. Print off any posters that are required by law

Topic 2 – The most beneficial time to make that first hire

Hiring, like any other expenses, is an investment in your company. Like all investments – you want a good return. Knowing when your small business should hire employees is tough. Especially if it’s the first employee. The information below will help you know when the time is right to make a hire.

When To Hire New Employees: Smart Tips for Growing Your Small Business

Find out when you should hire a new employee from FreshBooks

Hiring too soon is a drain on cash flow. Hiring too late is a drain on resources.

The right time to hire is when there’s enough work for the employee and when your small business has the financial capacity to manage the additional costs. Don’t forget the “hidden” costs – insurance, training, etc.

Hiring can take 10 weeks or more, so plan ahead!

Here are some factors to consider before hiring:

  1. Is your business growing?
  2. Is there an opportunity to increase revenue on the horizon?
  3. Have you had to decline work you would have otherwise taken?
    1. Causing revenue to flatten?
  4. Are your current employees (you?) at or near capacity?
    1. Is overtime increasing?
  5. Is your workforce lacking the necessary skills?
  6. Is employee morale decreasing?
  7. Is customer service declining?
  8. Are skilled employees handling menial tasks?

Should You Hire A Full-Time Employee?

Read about why it’s better to have full-time employees at Kabbage

Some of the pros of hiring full-time (vs part-time or contractors) are:

  • More engagement and production
  • A bigger and better pool of candidates
  • More synergy among employees

Some of the cons of hiring full-time are:

  • The cost of salary and benefits
  • A lack of scheduling flexibility

Hiring Your First Employee?

Find out what to do when hiring your first employee from Just Business

There are some important questions to ask yourself before you hire your first employee.

First, how volatile is business in general and cash flow in particular? Having to let someone go when things get slow is inefficient. Consider temporary employees or contractors if you don’t have enough work to keep an employee consistently busy.

Second, is the employee necessary to grow the business? Would they have essential skills you don’t? Or, can they critical tasks you don’t have time for?

Third, will your finances support the hiring of an employee? Employees are expensive. The costs (time and money) start rolling in before you even read your first application/resume. Additionally, wages only make up a portion of the total costs. Not having enough cash to make payroll can be catastrophic.

Finally, are you prepared to deal with the “details?” There are many employment laws that you will have to familiarize yourself with. Additionally, you’ll need to document and retain records pertaining to time worked and wages paid. Then, there’s also a plethora of safety regulations that will need to be followed.

What advice would you give to a small business owner about hiring their first employees?

Learn more about what Quora users would do when hiring their first employee.

User Aleksandr Volodarsky advised to only hire for routine tasks, to begin with. This frees you up, as the entrepreneur, to focus on the most important tasks – increasing sales and revenue.

He also recommends that you create a guide for the new hire to refer to. Since these tasks are routine, this should be relatively simple and will help ensure that the new hire does things the way you want.

Finally, he suggests that you start off by hiring a freelancer. This will help you fine-tune the job requirements and will keep costs manageable until you’re certain that you need a full-time employee.

User Jamie Van Cuyk emphasizes preparation along every step of the hiring process. This includes:

  • Preparing an exact job description
  • Researching where your ideal candidate might be looking for a job
  • Clarifying what skills you’re looking for on a resume/application
  • Preparing questions to ask ALL interviewees
  • Preparing for a new hire’s first day and onboarding

Finally, Mike Schoultz looks at things from a slightly different perspective. He answers the question by stating what he looks for in terms of employee qualities. These qualities include:

  • Likeability and empathy
    • Their ability to get along with a team
  • Initiative and leadership
    • Acting like an owner
  • Flexibility
    • The ability to adapt
  • Humility
    • No huge egos