What is success? Well, there is hardly one definition for a word like that. For some, sipping on a bottle of beer and feeling the satisfaction of a day’s honest labor is success. For others, the whole world might seem like a failure at their feet. It is after all a word that has very deep and confused roots in a multitude of human emotions, circumstances and historical relevance. Anyway, without getting too deep into philosophy, let’s say that success is how you stack up against others like you. I think we can all agree to that. Ultimately, history judges you based on not just what you did, but what others did or should I say what they could not do. In life, as in business, we call this competition. All of us compete, and all of us draw satisfaction or feel inadequate based on how we stack up against others like us- our competitors! In business, how you stack up against competition is arguably the only measure for success. Hence, if there is something that can keep you ahead of your competition, it is indeed foolish not to use it.
Help from anywhere, everywhere
Remote staffing or remote workers are no more a novel to businesses. Many businesses, big and small are using remote workers for various roles across multiple domains. Over time, remote staffing has proved to be extremely useful to these companies and we keep seeing a growing trend wherein more and more companies in the “West”; are seeking out remote workers in the “East”. I have tried to list down a few ways in which remote staffing can help a business stay ahead of competition.
- Savings on resources and overheads: If you manage to spend less on your resources, it leaves you with more to grow as a business. Since remote staff can exist pretty much everywhere and hence anywhere, you can easily hire your workers in a place where wages are lower and rents are cheaper. Less expensive employees and infrastructure to support those employees will free up capital, which you can then use to promote your product and be in a position to flex your muscles more as compared to your competitors when it comes to marketing and advertisements.
- No HR or payroll hassles: 99.99% of the time, you are going to either hire a remote workforce on a contract or hire them through a managing agency. Hassles like HR, payroll etc., simply vanish. The only interaction you have with your employees is work related. This makes you more productive, more focused than your competitors. And well, a focused you is a very different kind of a beast! Am I right or not!
- The most prime real estate is yours- Now this may sound a bit odd, but if you have a majority of your workforce working remotely, you don’t need to provide an office space for them. And what does that mean? It means that all you need to do is find enough space for yourself and your core team, whom you might probably want onsite. Since your requirement is now reduced, you can look for a space bang in the downtown or pretty much wherever you like with the very same budget. Having offices in premium real estate is bound to impress your clients. It also means that you would never have to travel too far for a meeting, neither would a majority of your clients.
- The best talent is now within reach- Now this works two ways. Firstly, hiring remote workers opens up the global talent market to you. There are talented people all over the globe, and the cost of really good talent differs in different markets, thanks to the unique socio-economic realities prevalent in that region. Hence, while you might struggle to find top notch talent locally at X price, you might be able to procure the very best of talent overseas in countries like India, Philippines, Malaysia, China etc. However what if your requirement for a top talent is local and the work that you are entrusting your remote staff with are at the best peripheral in nature? What if you need talent on site and you can do with average staff overseas? Well, hiring remote workers in countries like India and Malaysia are still saving you anywhere between 50% to 70% on local talent. This means that you are able to hire two and sometimes even three employees for the price of one. The amount you save there automatically enables you to spend more on local resources if required. Outsource all the work that is peripheral to offshore agencies at a fraction of the cost and focus on hiring the best possible talent for the positions that are there locally. And frankly, if you are in a position to poach the best talent in the industry, you are putting your competitors at a disadvantage from the word go!
The best of both worlds
Remote staffing allows you the kind of flexibility and agility that you would need to achieve numero uno status in the industry. Several large and successful organizations have thrived on this model and there is no reason why you cannot. If you are a small and medium business, if you are a startup, you will end up enjoying the best of both worlds by one hand saving a lot of capital by remote staffing overseas and on the other having the financial muscle to command the best offices and the best of the talent from the word go. You will always be a couple of steps ahead of your competition and will have the best opportunity amongst all to power ahead to bigger things.
