Owning a fully remote business that you can operate from anywhere in the world is an enticing prospect these days.
Fortunately, there are also more tools, platforms, and resources available than ever to help you start a remote business and make it successful.
However, if you’ve never started a business before, let alone a remote one, it can be hard to know where to start.
By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to turning your business vision into a reality this year!
Do These Things To Get Your Remote Business up and Running
1 – Get a Custom-Built Website
No business is going to get far without a website, especially a remote business with no physical office or storefront.
Luckily, you don’t have to know any code or even hire a developer to build your new business website.
There are lots of all-in-one services for small businesses that will help you get a website up and running fast, and each of the leading players in the market has specific strengths that may make them more relevant to your specific niche and industry..
For example Hibu websites offer full custom solutions that include a business website and web hosting, as well as optional marketing and e-commerce features, ideal for making the most of the products and services you may provide.
2 – Find Funding
Before you can really start doing business, you’re going to need some type of funding to cover expenses.
Everything from web hosting and marketing to hiring employees and acquiring or building products costs money, so you’ll need to make sure you have the funds to cover all these business activities.
Start by drafting a financial plan to estimate your business costs for the first year of operation. The good news is that, since your business is going to be remote, your overhead will be much cheaper than a business with physical office or retail space.
Once you estimate your costs, start looking for sources of funding. Typical sources include your own savings, private investments from friends, family, and acquaintances, and venture capital from professional angel investors and VC firms.
3 – Assemble a Remote Team
Unless you’re planning on handling every aspect of your business yourself, you’ll probably need to hire at least a few different people to help you out in certain areas.
Since your business is going to be fully remote, you have the advantage of being able to hire remote employees from anywhere in the world.
Not only does this make it easier for you to find people with the exact skill sets you need, but you can also potentially hire people overseas who can better offer you their services within your budget.
Depending on your exact needs and goals, you may opt to hire employees full- or part-time, or find a few different freelancers to work with on an as-needed basis.
4 – Decide Which Remote Tools Your Team Will Use
If you’re working with a remote team, you’ll need a handful of collaboration and communication tools to help facilitate your work.
For collaborating on documents and spreadsheets, Google Workspace is a great free option.
In terms of communication, lots of remote companies seem to prefer Slack, although there are tons of other team chat platforms out there, too.
You may also want to implement a project management platform, such as Trello, Asana, or Monday.com to help keep track of tasks and to-dos and identify bottlenecks in projects.
It’s really up to you what remote tools you and your team will use, but the important thing is to pick a few that provide the features you need and stick to them.
The fewer tools you use, the less time you waste switching back and forth between apps to get the job done.
5 – Consider a VPN
Depending on how sensitive the data your business handles is, you may want to upgrade your network security by using a virtual private network.
VPNs offer enhanced cybersecurity and can protect your company from data leaks.
Cybersecurity is even more important for remote businesses because remote employees are working from all over the world, meaning that there is a larger potential attack surface for cyber attacks.
Because of this, you should definitely consider using a VPN or another type of cloud-based network security solution.
6 – Don’t Overlook Social Media
For many remote businesses, social media is one of the top ways to promote products and gain new clients and customers.
So, make sure you dedicate some time to developing a strong social media marketing strategy and stay consistent with it.
If you aren’t a very social media savvy person yourself, hire a remote community manager or social media marketing professional to handle your strategy for you and work closely with them to develop the image and voice you want on your brand’s social networks.
The Bottom Line
Starting a remote business from scratch is an exciting prospect.
As long as you start with a solid business idea and stick to the best practices discussed above, you should be able to get your remote business off the ground in no time!
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