In these trying times running a small business can be incredibly challenging and stressful but equally working smart with the right tech means you can benefit from the abundance in interest from people looking to change the companies they do business with.
Time to reset the clock and make your business shine.
Ultimately being successful is down to sheer hard work and being good at what you do but assuming you have those qualities already then investing in the correct tech can really help you take things up a notch.
Forget ‘the office’ – Embrace remote working
An obvious caveat to the above is if you have a shop / bricks and mortar customer facing business but if like us you are a serviced based business then chances are the requirement to have a physical office has been brought into sharp relief over the last year. Yes, having a office does offer some collaborative Joie de vivre that comes with in person office chemistry but consider the benefits of having remote working in place.
Let’s face it no matter how good your job everyone of us has woken up thinking ‘uugh I have to get to work’ , Using a familiar space with your own ‘stuff’ around you can massively increase morale which in turn increases productivity
- No more wasted time on commutes – By having your staff spend 1, 2 or more hours each day in traffic / stuck on a train or walking in the rain you are ultimately encouraging them to start the day in a bad mood. A recent survey found that by having long commutes on average businesses lose a entire week’s worth of productivity – check it out here
- On average a UK based office costs between £200 – £1400 per month / per employee in rent! Imaging saving £1000 per month on office space whilst increasing revenue through improved productivity?
- Home workers work more – 40% of home workers put in more hours than office workers , this is not always a good thing but by having saved time on commuting most home workers will be at their computer earlier and stay longer meaning more time to get the work done.
So whilst its not ideal for some if your business is not customer facing then the rewards of embracing remote working are obvious – A significant reduction in office rent , improved morale, improved productivity, higher staff retention rate…
You may be wondering ‘won’t my staff just take it easy?’ – The simple answer is possibly but this is GOOD NEWS, allowing remote working is the single easiest and most effective way of finding out who are ‘grafters’ and who are ‘slackers’ – You cannot hide a poor work ethic. Results will soon show who needs a helping hand or indeed disciplinary action.
It needs to be done right..
So now the benefits are obvious the next step is making sure you setup your employees with the right kit and invest in the proper tech. Over the last year The Red Penguin Group has helped dozens of businesses setup remote working, often at short notice due to the various Covid-19 restrictions being put in place so we know what works and what does not. We have also seen the consequences of leaving employees in the dark… To keep employees happy (read productive) then you need to invest in the right kit.
The fact that most of our customers have now committed to remote working post lockdown (and in some cases have even vacated offices permanently) is testament to how remote working with the right tech and right staff is the way forward.
For remote working we suggest avoiding the BYOD approach (Bring Your Own Device) – By sourcing your own tech you can ensure everyone is using secure , fast and effective equipment. This is crucial in light of GDPR guidelines.
You need to consider a few things first however before taking things further.
HARDWARE
LAPTOP
Assuming your remote workers need a computer then a laptop is the obvious choice, it allows portability and still offers all the computing power you might need. Most of the time staff member’s personal laptops won’t cut it, they invariably are running Windows 10 Home and are often more geared towards basic entertainment rather than office productivity. So we suggest sourcing business grade laptops, Of course we can help with this and source for you.
Things to look for….
- Windows 10 Pro (assuming you are Windows based business) – The Pro version of Windows offers additional features that will allow you to better secure and control your business data. Things such as BitLocker encryption are built right into Windows 10 Pro along with the ability to connect to a server/domain.
- CPU – Get a laptop with at minimum a Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 CPU , Anything less and you will just end up with a slow laptop that ends up costing more in lost productivity
- RAM – Min 4GB for basic tasks (Excel / Word / Outlook / Web based apps) however we suggest 8GB as this will allow for proper multi-tasking
- External Monitors – Check out my workspace below – Its far from perfect as I have a small house but I have still followed the main principles – Multiple monitors / external keyboard and a clear workspace. Being able to have multiple programs open on different screens makes a HUGE difference.
- Decent Camera – Consider laptops with at least 720p HD webcams or better yet get a 3rd party dedicated web camera that will clip onto your monitor. These tend to offer auto focus and stereo microphones. Given that most remote workers routinely hold video chats via Zoom / Teams a decent camera and mic is a must
CONNECTIVITY
Ensure your home broadband connection is up to the job – For a small household with 1-2 remote workers we would suggest as a minimum 20Mbps internet speed, if you regularly require HD video calls then 20-50+ Mbps is better. Check out our Full Fibre package offerings to see if we can help improve your internet speed. Basic internet may have been fine for the odd foray onto Facebook but for teleworking you need a decent connection.
Once you have a good internet connection coming in its time to ensure you have good coverage within your house (wireless). Ideally you will using ethernet cables plugged into your router as this will offer the most reliable connection but failing that if you are relying on wireless we would suggest following the below best practices:
- Use 3rd party routers – If your connection allows (most do except Virgin Media and some other smaller ISPs) spend £100-£200 on a dedicated ADSL/VDSL wireless capable router (we can help with this). Not only will this give you higher powered and better quality wireless antennas but you will also have better control over security (allowing the closing and opening of ports etc).
- Create a Mesh system – If you have multiple rooms then investing in a MESH based wireless boost system which will allow you to significantly improve both the wireless coverage and the number of devices that you can connect at once. Most are fit and forget , We have had great success with both Ubiquiti and Tenda systems – These can be sourced for as little as £100
- Check your data allowance – Most broadband packages these days are ‘unlimited’ but some still feature ‘fair usage policies’ in which your connection speed may be limited if you use more than a certain amount of data. Check your ISP contract for data usage. Whilst more remote working tasks are not particularly data heavy having multiple HD webcam calls can be data heavy
VOIP
Being able to receive and make calls as if in your office is critical to business continuity, simply forwarding calls onto mobiles is not a very good solution. Not only is this relying on a mobile network (that may have coverage issues) but also any calls made will present your mobile number – Not very professional looking!
Instead look to move your phone system to a hosted VOIP service such as ours (details here) that way your phone system works anywhere in the world from any device, no more phone lines, ISDN rental or nasty ‘boxes on the wall’. You don’t even need a phone! Everything can be done from a computer/iPad app (which connects via wireless internet) and a bluetooth headset further saving costs and space. On average we save £3500 for a business switching to our VOIP system and its even cheaper when call costs are taken into account.
Our system is based on BT’s infrastructure so benefits from 99.99% uptime with added features such as Auto Attendants (“Press 1 for sales etc”) and custom hunt groups, voicemail to email, disaster recovery and many more features besides starting at just £10 per user per month.
A further incentive other than being able to be completely flexible with telecoms is the upcoming IDSN switch off – If you are still using a traditional phone system then in 2025 BT will be turning off the service forever so failure to move to VOIP by then will result in the loss of your phone and numbers.
CLOUD STORAGE
If you have not already then you should consider keeping at least a copy of your business data online, If you rely on office based servers / USB memory sticks / Local computer hard drives to store your data then you are missing some great benefits of cloud data solutions. Many platforms such as Microsoft One Drive and Google Drive offer very affordable packages staring from just a few £ a month allowing you to store and share (securely) all your data with your co-workers. No need to dial VPN’s or carry around memory sticks! Add in features such as data encryption , file version history retrieval, data access reports then it becomes a no-brainer!
We can help set you up with a cloud system that works for you allowing you to collaborate with your staff with easy to access data – securely.
GET YOUR BACKGROUND SORTED
Ok so not really considered tech but I have lost count of the number of video chats I have had with large companies in which all I can see is a distracting mess of stuff surrounding the caller. Try and setup a simple uncluttered background behind your camera to avoid distractions, a simple white wall will do but also consider a small bookshelf or analogue clock to show that you are well read and punctual!
Dont always rely on fake digital backgrounds as sudden movements can cause odd moments of ‘seeing behind the magic’
We hope we have inspired you to consider moving to remote working but if you have any questions as always we are on hand to help.
Get in touch today – Contact us here