The motto for real estate has been “location, location, location” for as long as I can remember. In my former corporate life, I was an accounting manager for a couple of property management and development firms so let’s just conclude that I’ve heard the phrase more than a few times!
I mention this motto as a basis for my theory. As a small business owner, I venture to theorize that in order to attract the best talent, in order to attract bigger fish outside of your little pond, in order to succeed…you, Mr & Ms Small Business Owner, have to start thinking, breathing and living outside of your location. Venture to live outside of brick and mortar of your physical location.
Consider this: the world is becoming more and more connected with every second of every day that passes. It is becoming smaller and the community is becoming more global. However, employers and small business owners seem more and more resistant to this reality. Now don’t be silly and assume that I mean stuff like construction where location is paramount to the task at hand… you have to actually be at the location to build something tangible. But what I’m referring to are those instances where intellectual products creation – doing “mind work”.
Sure it takes a little work on the front end to accomplish a virtual office and/or a virtual network of team members but it CAN be done…and for the small business owner, I suggest that it should…MUST be done. How? Your specific “how” is up to you… But here is how I would start and how I have broken down the process for my company:
- The Task aka your WHAT. What do you need done?
- The System aka your HOW. How do you get it done now?
- The Location aka your WHERE. Now let’s take it virtual… How can you translate WHAT you do and HOW you do it to a virtual worker and/or a virtual platform? For example: in lieu of a physical file cabinet, you can scan everything and use a virtual file cabinet. How can you effectively and efficiently move the WHERE from your home-office to the your ‘virtual’ office
Going virtual doesn’t mean that you should throw common sense/cents, out the door (pun intended). You should still do all the things that you would do if the person you hire was going to work at a desk 10 feet from you. You should take your time with selection, you should check references, you should supervise and delegate tasks wisely and you should not manage by abdication.
Taking the time to set up effective and efficient systems can have enormous pay-offs if you just think outside of your location. If you open up your mind to the alternatives, it is my belief that you open your business to more talent and more success that you would not have had access to otherwise.
Questions? Agree/Disagree? Want help going virtual? Let me hear it in the comments section!
Absolutely agree!! You can’t grow your business if you don’t grow your team and you can’t effectively use your new team members if your business doesn’t have basic systems in place. I’ll take it one step further – you can’t delegate if there are no structures. If you ask me, if you don’t have systems, you don’t have a business… you have a hobby, at best. Brilliant article, Joyce!
thanks so much for stopping by and giving my your systems 2cents 🙂