10 Tools To Run Your Business Remotely
If you are a business owner, I’m pretty sure you will agree that there is no holiday for entrepreneurs. Urgent tasks just keep coming up all the time and you just cannot take a break. The good thing is that with the advance of web technology nowadays you don’t need to be in the office all the time and you can do almost all of the work remotely.
And to help you during the summer holidays we have prepared this list of tools that can help you run your business remotely.
(Check also: 12 Great Small Business Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs To Get Familiar With)
Cloud storage
Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive
Keeping your most important files in a cloud storage gives you easy access every time you need them which is essential if you want to run your business remotely. Not to mention that it is a good backup option for your documents.
The three most popular platforms are Dropbox, Google Drive and OneDrive. They offer similar features and if you don’t need to store big files you can pretty much go with the free plans. Google Drive and OneDrive each give you 15GB of free storage while Dropbox limits the free account to only 2GB. If that space is not enough you can buy a premium plan and get 1TB for about $10 monthly.
The advantages of using cloud storage platforms are huge. First of all, you can access your files from everywhere and you only need an internet connection to do it. You can also easily share files with other team members which makes team collaboration better. Cloud storage platforms are also a good backup option for your files as you make sure that you won’t lose them if you have problems with your computer.
Remote access
Sometimes cloud storage doesn’t do the job you want and you need to directly log in to another computer (for example, your office computer). Remote access programs allow you to easily and securely do so. There are plenty of such platforms, but two of the most popular ones are TeamViewer and LogMeIn.
TeamViewer is perhaps the easiest platform to set up and use, plus it’s free for personal use (commercial accounts start from $499). Running it takes a few minutes and you can directly log in into another machine and control it. Another big advantage of TeamViewer is that it doesn’t require any firewall or router settings to be adjusted which makes it easier to use even by inexperienced users.
Another software offering remote access capabilities is LogMeIn. Unlike TeamViewer it doesn’t offer a free account even for personal use and prices start from $99/year.
Both platforms offer tons of other features, such as file sharing, chat with clients, files backup and others, but if you just want to remotely access your computer, you are good to go with both options.
Team Collaboration
As a business owner you may not want to end communication with your employees when on holiday. The good news is that there are plenty of better options to be in touch with your team members than talking constantly on the phone or on the email.
By far the most popular team collaboration for small businesses these days is Slack. The app is mainly used by tech teams, but it’s suitable for other industries as well. Basically, you need to make an account for your company and then team members need to be added to the team account. After that you can create different channels with different team members in them. You can also use direct massages. One of the biggest advantage of Slack is that you can integrate tons of other apps and tools. A great amount of them are only related to the tech industry, but you can also integrate Google Drive, Dropbox and some other useful software platforms.
Another more mainstream option for team collaboration is Skype. The platform is useful if you want not only to chat with your employees but also directly talk to them or even make conference calls. One of the biggest disadvantages is that both users need to be online so that the messages can be delivered. It also lacks the integration abilities of Slack.
The good news is that both Slack and Skype have mobile apps which makes them suitable for communicating with your team when out of the office.
Time Tracking
Some business owners want to track the activity of their employees during the workday. In fact, that is a good idea as you can really boost productivity this way. The good news is that you can manage the working process even if you are out of the office by using a time tracking software.
Two of the most popular platforms are Time Doctor and Hubstaff. Both programs offer similar features with some little differences. They will both let you monitor what your employees are doing on their computer as the programs generate a report of all applications that a team member uses and also make screenshots during the working day.
Both platforms also offer advanced integration possibilities and you can use them together with project management software, for example.
Time tracking software could be especially useful while you are out of the office as it makes sure that your team member will continue with the same workflow.
Website management
Finally, you may want to be able to make certain changes to your website when you are on holiday. If you are the one responsible for doing that or you are just running a home based business, you will find out that Oxxy is the perfect option for you.
Our users can access the platform from everywhere and easily manage their websites. That means that you don’t need to worry if you need to make a little change to your site when you are out of the office for a longer period.
To sum it, we could say that being an entrepreneur is especially time consuming which is the reason why many business owners never take a vacation. But that doesn’t need to be so. With the advance of technology these days, there are plenty of software platforms that could help you stay in touch with your team and manage your business while you are on holiday.
The bottom line:
Pack your bags, grab your laptop and enjoy the summer!
