Get rid of those squeaky chairs. Tear down the cubicles. It’s time you start running your small business without an office.
Most start-ups have ditched the traditional office setting. The constantly evolving state of technology has made it possible to be innovative in the workplace and try new things. You can even work from the comfort of your own home.
Or run a business from the comfort of your own home.
Yes, that’s right. You can run every aspect of your business without an office. Meetings, scheduling and working can all be done from anywhere in the world. You can give tasks and check up on employee progress without being face-to-face with them.
Start living the dream life without a daily commute. Here’s how it’s done.
Set Up a Workspace
Not having an office doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have at least one designated workspace.
You have a lot of flexibility as to what your workspace can be. It can be a room in your house. You might find yourself the most productive at your local coffee shop. You can rent a private office for yourself. You can even set up a workspace at the park across the street from you.
The biggest challenge of not having an office is sticking to a routine and being productive every day. If you work from home, set up an area in your house for work. Get a desk, nice chair, desktop and plenty of outlets. Pick out a few coffee shops in your area and work at each one for a day. Get a feel for which ones you work best in.
Having a workspace that induces creativity is key for a productive work ethic. Get out of the office and step into a more comfortable work environment.
Utilize Cloud Technology
There’s nothing more dreadful than walking around an office and seeing clutter built up on everyone’s desks. Use cloud technology to control this clutter and distribute work to employees.
The days of shuffling papers from desk to desk are over. You no longer have to wait on the mechanic to come and fix the printer. Cloud technology has made it as simple as possible to transfer information.
Cloud technology will certainly come in handy as you start to work without an office. Your assistant is now across the country instead of right outside your door. You’ll need to rely on the cloud to get work to employees, send messages to clients, and set up a schedule for all of your workers.
The cloud lets you smoothly run your business from anywhere in the world. Not only can you be anywhere in the world, but so can your employees. Use the cloud to get your work set up, and you’ll be successful without an office.
Use a Virtual Desktop
Using cloud technology means you’ll have to track and manage your company’s data. You’ll need to store and share it with employees and get it ready for clients. You can do all this with a virtual desktop infrastructure, or VDI.
A VDI provides a data center network that aids in the progress of successfully completing a major project. It lets you manage and work with this data from your own home. It also lets you scale the data within the network so you can see it from different viewpoints. You’ll be able to share data with employees and help them complete their work.
Data storage and management are key to your company’s success, and you don’t need an office to do it properly. All you need is a virtual desktop.
Hire Freelancers and Remote Workers
It’s difficult getting other people in one place at the same time when you don’t have an office. I’m also pretty sure you don’t want employees at your house every day.
Make sure you hire freelance and remote workers.
These are employees who work from home. Much like you, they’re accustomed to working from a remote location outside of a traditional office space. You can assign work from anywhere and they can complete it from anywhere. This system will work well for your company.
Your freelance workers don’t have to be complete strangers. You can still set up meetings on Skype to go over work. In fact, a short Skype meeting every week will let you check in on your employees and build a more personal connection with them.
Create a Virtual Private Network
Not working in an office means you’re no longer on a secure wireless network with heightened security standards. This is why you should get a Virtual Private Network.
Without an office, you might be jumping from Wi-Fi connection to Wi-Fi connection. One day, you might be using a coffee shop’s connection, and the next day, you could be using the library’s internet. You have to take caution because these networks aren’t always secure, and hackers could gain access to your entire business.
A virtual private network gives you a secure connection. It masks your IP address to give you more anonymity when using W-Fi at a public place. A VPN also keeps your connection secure with top-secret encryption that makes it impossible for anyone to access your information.
The security of your business rests on your shoulders. Get a virtual private network so you never put your business at risk.
Without an office, you’ll be more flexible with your work-life balance, and your small business will thrive.
About the Author:
Sarah Landrum is the founder of Punched Clocks, a career and happiness blog. As a freelance writer, Sarah enjoys writing about a variety of topics from career and business to healthy living. Catch her on Twitter @SarahLandrum for more great advice.
Photo Credits: Pexels
