Most entrepreneurs find it hard to manage a business past 30 yards. Understandably so because, entrepreneurs, more than anything, they want full control of their businesses. However, that need should not rule out the possibility of running your business remotely as an entrepreneur.
Needless to say, there are loads of benefits that comes with managing a business within thirty yards. For example you are able to control everything that goes on from finances to equipment, you get to induce the drive within the business, you are able to put your employees on doing the right thing at the right time and hold the right people accountable, plus things can be quickly fixed when everything is within your reach.
However, the biggest con in running a business that you have a full control over is that, there is limited growth, limited expansion. The more you control something the less the growth, and now that is where managing business remotely comes in – when you want to expand your horizons in the business world.
And the underlying truth is that, there are more benefits to reap from running a business remotely as compared to running a concentrated business – including high turnover.
How good can it be for the business if you and your employee can be at different places at the same time doing the same thing?
Here are a few tips to help you manage your business remotely and explode in the right fundamentals.
On the Job Training
Before you open anyone to be remote in another place, always have them train on the job for two to three weeks. And by training I mean, let them be there shadowing you make those phone calls, sealing deals, observing protocols and so on. This helps them to watch and learn how things are being run and to sensitize them on what to expect once they set their foot out.
Build Leaders
If your business is to succeed remotely, you have to build leaders. Good leadership is the backbone of success in any kind of a business. You can have topnotch facilities, high skilled labor but without good leadership is all useless, it is like ironing your pajamas.
Any business that has succeeded remotely anywhere in the world is because of good leadership, so concentrate on building leaders first.
Quarterly Visits
The good thing with performing quarterly visits is that, with doing those regular office visits in those remote places, you get to know what is going in each of them. You get to know the challenges they are facing and fix them, the inventions they have brought forth, learn something new and most importantly develop a good working relationship amongst yourselves.
Annual Gathering Convention
Suppose you have five plus remote offices, it is advisable that at least twice in a year you conduct an annual gathering convention. This enables managers from those different offices to learn from one another during those gathering convention.
You get to ask yourselves why some are doing better than others and what is it that they are doing differently so that others can borrow from them. And that’s how growth comes forth, when we learn from one another.
Weekly Accountability Calls
Once in a week you should make accountability calls to all your offices, so as to be enlightened on how everything is going on. This includes knowing the behavior and measurable figures, they should tell you who and who they have spoken to and their response, the kind of sales they have made accompanied by figures and so on.
Basically here the key thing is to be updated on the activities that has happened and the results.
Weekly accountability calls can last up to an hour or more, depending on what has transpired within the week.
Daily Reports
The newer the leader is, the frequent you need to see their reports because you don’t trust them yet. So you need to know what is going with them daily and help them solve challenges they are facing when it is still early to solve them.
The most convenient report submission is daily for new leaders, so that you can be able to curb emerging issues as promptly as possible. For the veteran leaders, you can excuse them for a weekly report submission since you know they are capable of conducting themselves in accordance to the best interest of your business.
Fun Trip
Organize fun trips for your employees at least twice a year. A fun trip can be a visit to a game park, a movie in the theatre, attending a live match among other recreation activities. The essence here is just to let loose and let your employees see you in another angle beside you being the all that time boss that they know.
It helps build a social bond and rapport amongst yourselves, and help catch up with what is going on in everyone’s life.
Tools
Anyone who is successfully making it in managing business remotely has developed tools that enables business to run smoothly. Tools here can be communication tools, organizing tools, how to do something tools, calendar tools and google document tools. Just tools that can help your business run effectively.
Leaders Bulletin
More than anything as the CEO, you need reports from all the respective leaders in different places. They need to update you on everything going so that you get to know the leakages and where the business is falling short and what can be done about it. This should be as frequent as possible to avoid issues piling up to a crisis beyond control.
I believe now armed with that simple information you will be able to spread your wings business wise both nationally and internationally, instead of being a 30yard control freak.
