Ask
The Small Business Professor?
Dear Professor Bruce:
I have a small business
with 10 employees and need to hire more staff. How do I
manage the cost of additional office space?
Answer:
You don’t need to add
office space to add workers, which is a huge savings for all
those businesses on the cusp of growth.
Expanding office space has
long been a concern for small businesses, where every dollar
is critical. This makes sense, because traditionally it has
been necessary to add workspace to add employees, and in
many markets the cost of real estate is significant. Over
the past several years, the largest companies started to
allow employees to occasionally work from home. However,
this trend was initially a benefit available only to
particular workers, in select markets. All that has changed.
Estimates vary, but by 2008
there are likely to be over 50 million people telecommuting,
at least part-time, in the US. That is nearly a third of the
working population. And, many of those employees work for
small businesses.
Technology prices have come down and connection speeds have
gone up. The result? It’s now possible to support remote
workers across a host of businesses. Road warriors,
part-timers, employees in distant locations—they all are a
part of the core team for many companies. Whether you’re a
two-person shop or an organization of forty, telecommuting
is possible for your organization.
According to Singu Srinivas,
president and co-founder of HiWired, Inc., a provider of
services and support that helps small businesses utilize and
integrate technology, telecommuting is not just possible,
but in many cases it is preferable. It allows you to pick
the right employees, at the right time, without worrying
about procuring the office space to hold them all.
Srinivas emphasizes that all
types of business benefit from remote workforces. Including
accounting firms, real estate agencies, advertising
companies and many others.
The issue is whether it is
better to invest in your business or employees at the onset,
instead of office space. With the right technology and
connectivity set-up, your customers may not feel the
difference. For
further information, contact
www.hiwired.com.
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