The Benefit of Hiring Remote Employees as a Startup

Starting a business can be incredibly time-consuming, stressful and quite a struggle for the first few years. Finding ways to balance and navigate this issue is therefore important to any new startup. Solutions such as remote workers can be just the solution your new startup needs to flourish. As a result, here are a few reasons why hiring remote employees can be a big benefit when first starting as a startup.

Productivity Increase

Though some may disagree, there is an argument that remote employees are much more productive than their office-bound counterparts. An office is full of distractions, such as coworkers and constant meetings. Instead, a person is free to get on with their own work fairly uninterrupted.

Also, by removing an employee from the 9 to 5 schedule it can quickly improve productivity. An employee can work at hours which are most productive for them personally, rather than just standard business hours. This means that productivity can increase massively from employee to employee as everyone is working at a pace that suits them best.

Save Money

Business costs can be severely reduced when it comes to hiring remote employees. Not only do you have fewer costs such as rent, corporate solicitor costs, paying tax on the space you rent, etc., but you also save money on basic utilities too. It can be astounding for a startup to discover how much powering a business on a weekly basis can cost. Cutting away these costs then gives you the power to distribute these funds where they are more needed.

For example, you can provide more lucrative wages to further employee retention rates. Or you re-invest the spare cash in technologies, equipment and whatever else might be needed to grow your business.

No Geo-Restrictions

Talent from one specific location can be astoundingly good, but it can also be fairly mediocre. The perfect employee for you may be out there. However, they won’t consider working for your startup thanks to a poor commute or being hours away entirely. This is where having remote employees is again beneficial for your business.

When location is not a restriction, nor is the level of talent that you should be able to attract to your new startup (so long as other incentives are also lucrative).

So, don’t be afraid to shed your boundaries for the right person. As not only will it help you out in various other ways, but it can be a real benefit for your potential talent pool.

Employee Turnover

Retaining employees for longer periods of time is a conundrum that many businesses face. And, as a startup, it’s something you want to address from fairly early on in the lifecycle of your business. Otherwise, you may find yourself with far fewer long-term employees than you would like.

Given that many employees either leave for time or money, it’s no surprise that a remote-friendly workplace should be able to retain employees longer. As your employees are much happier spending longer in a workplace where their commute is non-existent; it is an investment in more personal time for themselves.

As recruiting and training new employees costs both time and money, ensuring employees want to stick around can be truly beneficial. Your business will save a lot more money in the long term as a result.

Greener Business

Remote employees more often than not work from home. This not only means they cut down their commute times–which is a personal plus–but they also reduce their carbon footprint. Whether travelling by car, bus, train or other forms of public transport, it doesn’t matter. There is still a noted effect on the environment. The only completely green way to get to work is via walking – which evidently isn’t possible for everyone based on where they live.

So, by cutting out your employees need to commute you create a greener workforce by default. Which can be a great incentive and a selling point for your business. In a world more and more concerned with the state of the world, having extra green incentives like working from home is a real benefit.

On the whole, remote employees can be a major benefit when first establishing a startup company. And even in a company that may not necessarily be a startup, as the benefits are quantifiable.

Related: Is Now The Right Time to Start a Business?