3 Tips for Managing and Growing a Business Remotely

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priority corporation
priority corporation

Residing in an environment concentrated with General Dealer form of businesses, one witnesses daily, the impasse of entrepreneurs, they are jack of all trades, acting with the belief that their businesses cannot progress unless the founders themselves are involved, making and overseeing every decision from marketing to finance to management.

It is important for the entrepreneur to oversee that the business accomplishes its long-term vision and mid to short-term goals. However, treating the business as a toddler forever without allowing it to walk on its own, is itself a bottleneck to growth. The entrepreneur cannot take vacations because the operations of the business depend on him. During sickness, the business also becomes a patient. Hence why we witness the death of the entrepreneur resulting in the death of the business too.

It is essential that entrepreneurs let go the belief that the business will collapse once they leave it. The business collapses when one fails to leave early. But the reality is, one leaves when forced by circumstances with no system in place to run the business.

The remedy is to ponder on automating the business. It can run virtually even if the owner was to recline on the sandy of beaches of Camps Bay for the entire spring and summer, without the worry that staff members are getting the customer service formulas wrong, defrauding the company of its finances in the absence of the owner watching over.

 

Tip 1: Invest in a Virtual Marketing Team

Marketing is the spine of every business. It steers the mobility of the business from production to consumer, from consumer to generating revenues and profits. From profits to rewarding staff and shareholders for investing labour, ideas and financial capital.

With the advent of outsourcing, brick and mortar offices are phasing out. Virtual offices and virtual marketing teams are phasing in. This enables entrepreneurs accomplish their business goals by recruiting virtual marketing teams and let the Virtual marketing system make money for the business. Even when the owner is asleep or away.

Added benefits of virtual marketing offices include; reduction of overhead costs. Taking for example, a bloated electricity bill that arises from marketing officers that have an air conditioner on all day, help companies mitigate against acquiring exorbitant infrastructure to be used by marketing officers. Having one marketing officer does not cut it.

Powerful marketing relies much on idea sharing. Hence companies need  a marketing department with a mixture of expertise of which all cost money to maintain. Virtual marketing teams are self-explanatory, they are teams not one person. Their expertise and skills are combined to produce powerful campaigns either as once off or on a long-term basis. They are ideal for businesses with budget constraints and can be called only when needed. Besides, they offer low-cost pick and mix services as opposed to one full-time marketing officer or marketing department that is obsolete at times yet salaried.

Virtual Marketing teams are programmes owned by specialized marketing agencies. They are owned by entrepreneurs and they are in business. They understand the needs of their contractor and relate on a entrepreneurship level. They go all out to offer the best service so they can retain the contractors loyalty for a longer period.

 

Tip 2: Invest in cloud computing

Companies like Priority Corporation are reaping huge benefits from investing in cloud computing. For most Small and Medium sized businesses, Cloud Computing sounds like a fancy and expensive investment reserved for large businesses. Small and Medium sized businesses can afford it too. Cloud computing it is not complicated. We use it every day. From storing documents on Dropbox, sending and receiving an email and making mobile money transfers. It’s all cloud computing.

Simple, yet highly effective cloud computing mechanics used at Priority Corporation consist of the company contracting a website domain hosting provider. The company is privileged that the service providers control panel comes with a shared file option affixed. This enables the team to access every document remotely.

The security of documents is strengthened as the million dollar worry of companies is that flash drives get lost, get infected with virus or staff store music and movies on them which is not the intended purpose.

Costs to acquiring hardware vastly cut, hardware, one item which would even force the team to access it only at the office, not omitting the Accounting Software and Customer Relationship Management Software are equally important in automating the business and tracing every transaction remotely.

Working in an industry where there is dependency on idea sharing, video conferencing for this company is the Grade A investment. Boosting collaboration among the teams despite the distance. The company is additionally environmentally friendly as there is minimal printing due to its digital nature and in general is agile due to the automation vested in cloud computing.

 

Tip 3: Build controls, prevent irregularities, grab wrong doers before they do damage

Business owners fear to leave their businesses in the hands of the staff members. They don’t trust their employees judgment. Not trusting employees creates a culture of having to be inclined in the business and being the bottleneck that prohibits the business from growing. Thus prohibiting staff from being the best they can be.

It is understandable though. Employees can see loopholes where they can derive maximum benefits at the expense of their employer and can disturb the peace and relaxation of the business owner.

Employees operating in an environment that lacks controls are toxic to the employer. Running a business remotely requires business owners to develop trust with their employees. It must be noted that trust is not automatically developed. It is built through controls.

The business must have controls in place to prevent employees from going astray. For example, performing insider trading at the expense of the employer. The business must also periodically be audited for irregularities and those found to be responsible for the irregularities must be quickly blacklisted.

 

Conclusion

It takes only the above three formulas to make a business work for the business owner not the business owner work for the business. There’s a need to invest in Virtual Marketing teams to generate sales day and night, investing in cloud computing to automate the business processes and reduce costs and control the risks of irregularities through implementing sound internal controls.

 

About The Author

Zwelithini Matsoso first practiced marketing under the flagship of RGM promotions and Events (Durban), PE&R and Pure Group (Cape Town). He is now the Founding Managing Director of Priority Corporation, a Cape Town domiciled company with another emerging office in Maseru Lesotho. Priority Corporation aims at supporting brand owners from business idea conception to consumer purchase through business or product range marketing, packaging, distribution, sales and merchandising support. Matsoso is additionally the Youth Ambassador and Treasurer General at UNESCO Youth Desk and is the Global Business Roundtable Butha Buthe Chapter Chairman.

For more business insights and procurement opportunities connect with him on Facebook and LinkedIn or email him at [email protected]

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