The Top Resources for Running a Business Remotely
This one is about building an organization, not having a productive WFH day
Hi,
Welcome to Remotely Inclined, a newsletter about remote work and remote entrepreneurship. If you’d like to sign up, you can do so here. Want to share your feedback? Take this short survey. Or just read on…
Like any business endeavor, running a business remotely is difficult. Not only do you have a world built for in-person interaction, but there are some noted negatives to remote work that have to be addressed:
As people are forced to go remote, 30% of people in one study report that they are less productive than in an office.
For people not used to it, remote work can lead to isolation, depression, and other mental health challenges.
Even the staunchest advocates of remote work find that creative brainstorming is more difficult when you’re not in the same room with someone.
For entrepreneurs, though, there’s good and bad to every business decision — and the good parts about remote work (cost savings, net increased productivity, net increased employee engagement, and more) usually outweigh the negatives. Or the negatives are still better than in-office problems (politics, massive overhead, and failed office designs killing productivity).
Which brings us to the crux of today’s Remotely Inclined: How can remote entrepreneurs minimize the negative aspects of remote work and maximize the positive aspects?
To answer that question, I’ve collected a few of the best resources I’ve seen on the web for entrepreneurs running a remote business.
Want to dive in even deeper? Check out Remotely In Business, a curated knowledge library for remote entrepreneurs (PS - submit the resources that you found helpful, or created!)
Productivity + Sales + Marketing
Marketing and sales are often seen as very doable remotely, which is true. The difficult part is the strategy shift from how you do sales and marketing remotely.
→ Remote Sales: How to Sell Successfully From Wherever You Are (SalesFlare).
→ 50 Must-Have Remote Working Tools and Apps (Social Media Today).
→ “Things Have Been Accelerated”: How One Startup is Growing Remotely (Remotely Inclined).
Need more resources? → Curated productivity resource library for remote entrepreneurs.
Hiring + Culture
Your people are your greatest asset. But they need to be found, hired, and included differently when you aren’t in an office. Unfortunately, most best practice articles won’t apply here. You need some specific insight.
→ The best virtual team building activities, according to full-time remote workers (Atlassian).
→ Diversity and Inclusion for Remote Teams (Crescendo Work).
→ A Guide to Building a Winning Remote Employee Onboarding Process (Bloom).
Need more resources? → Curated hiring + culture resource library for remote entrepreneurs.
Leadership
Levelling you and your team up. It’s not just about being a great remote leader, but also rethinking how you build a business. Without an office, you’re way more free… but you also have more to think about.
→ Daily Meetings with Remote Teams (Stand-ups Don’t Work, But Daily Cafes Do) (Agility Scales).
→ The Definitive Guide to Building a Remote Team (Growth Everywhere).
→ “You Need to Build Systems”: The Inner Workings of a 15-Year Old Remote Company (Remotely Inclined).
Need more resources? → Curated leadership resource library for remote entrepreneurs.
Product
Build, innovate, and ship remotely. From an execution standpoint, it’s easy enough. But no matter which material you use — digital or physical — distributing the product team requires a different approach and a few different tools.
→ Think globally, code locally: the secret to remote teams (Atlassian).
→ 5 Principles for Effective Remote Product Management (Amanda Woo for The Startup).
→ How to Lead Remote Product Teams: Key Traits for Success (TopTal).
Need more resources? → Curated product-building resource library for remote entrepreneurs.
Want to dive in even deeper? Check out Remotely In Business, a curated knowledge library for remote entrepreneurs.
