Three Reasons Remote Work May Be Better for Your Business

In early July, the Netherlands passed the world’s first law making working from home a legal right. We’re not quite there yet in North America, but after a few years of giving remote work a try during the pandemic, many small businesses have found it has many advantages.

As SMBs weather inflation and prepare for potential recession, proprietors may want to consider allowing some, or all, employees to work remotely, especially if you have the cloud-based voice and texting technology to keep staff and customers connected.

Here are three reasons remote work may make sense for SMBs in today’s tricky economy.

1. You can recruit from anywhere

Many small businesses continue to face persistent staff shortages. A recent jobs report by the National Federation of Independent Businesses found that 51% of owners had job openings they could not fill in the current period, 23% reported labor quality as their top business problem and 12% said labor costs are their top business problem. 

When you have a virtual office setup, with employees able to interact with clients and colleagues from any computer or mobile device, you can throw your hiring net much wider. This lets you look for the best person to match the job description, rather than settling for the not-quite-right individual who happens to respond to a job listing. If you’re in a small town, you can access larger labor markets in major cities across the country, and those located in expensive cities can recruit in parts of the country with lower labor costs. 

You may also get more applicants as you transition jobs from in-person to remote. In a survey of 1,700 workers by the Society for Human Resources Management, nearly half of workers (48%) said they would “definitely” pursue remote work opportunities for their next job.

2. You can reduce your office space

According to NerdWallet, office space runs anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per month per employee – depending on the market in your area and a range of other factors, of course. That means eliminating or downsizing your office or storefront could save you a significant sum — if it’s possible to do with less. 

Sure, you may have to maintain some staff in a brick-and-mortar location, depending on your line of business. But your service agents, sales representatives, financial staff and others can interact with customers and colleagues by virtual voice and text messaging, simply by logging into the service provider’s app. 

Cloudli Connect includes 5 extensions with one main business phone number so your team can benefit from a cloud voice and texting service. You can easily scale your service and add additional phone lines and extensions to meet your team's structure needs.

3. You can improve employee satisfaction and retention

The SHRM survey found that employees value the perceived benefits of remote work and those who work from home report higher levels of positive feelings toward their employers. This means that you may have a happier labor force, and less turnover, if you offer a remote-work option. 

A virtual voice and texting solution is a no-brainer, because employees can interact with clients and colleagues from wherever they live and work simply by logging into the app. With Cloudli Connect, your users will benefit from a dedicated business voice and texting service with unlimited calls and texts to the US and Canada*, and powerful integrations with Microsoft Teams.

Working from home has never been easier, or more beneficial. Request your free demo today and see what Cloudli Connect can do for your business.

*Subject to Cloudli Terms of Service and Fair Use Policy.