If you’re a small business owner, you might be wondering how all the video conferencing and hybrid office excitement appearing in bigger companies and offices might apply to you. All the hype around this new and exciting way of working is mostly coming from employees looking forward to the freedom and flexibility from a hybrid work arrangement. The real question for small business owners, however, is: How can it help benefit and grow my small business?
So, we’ve prepared a few ideas that we’ve seen improve small businesses all around the world thanks to video conferencing hardware and hybrid office arrangements.
Reduce Travel Costs
This might seem like an obvious one – hybrid offices mean less movement which means less travel. While at first this might just seem like pennies, once you start to factor in travel like business trips to meet overseas clients, and even domestic travel to other parts of the country that all need to be company-paid, you start to see why it is estimated by Wainhouse that a company can save up to $11,000 per employee in travel expenses. In addition to this, businesses looking for a good track record in corporate responsibility and ethics can shrink their carbon footprint with this easy reduction in the use of transport, such as airplanes and cars.
Hasten Employee Training
Training employees to use the software your business chooses, that can often be different and difficult to use depending on the software (much of which is ageing), can be addressed with the implementation of video conferencing software. Not only will most staff members likely already be familiar with it, but also due to the ubiquity of video conferencing software, it will likely be something that they have used at work before. With this software evolving at a rapid rate, and new functions being added all the time, versatile video conferencing applications can be used all the way from proposing a meeting time to holding the meeting itself. The software is often low cost or free for small business, and just needs a video conferencing setup to get going.
Open Your Small Business to the World
As a small business, going on international business trips to network and meet clients all over the world might seem expensive and impossible in the short-term. Fortunately, in 2022, most businesses are familiar with video conferencing applications and many have video conferencing setups of their own, and are ready to hold meetings and communications online. While it is possible to just log in on a computer and use low-quality included microphones and cameras, such as those on a laptop, is possible, if you’re serious about making a good impression with international partners a good video conferencing setup is a must. Aside from international partners and clients, using video conferencing for international communication also opens up the possibility for your small business to locate talent internationally, giving your small business a huge chance at international growth.
Improve Employee Retention
In a small business, your employees are often your greatest asset. Despite the smaller number of employees, the people you hire are likely talented and vital to the operation and growth of your business. This brings me back to what I mentioned in the beginning, which is the hype around hybrid offices built up by employees all around the world. The freedom this provides without any sacrifice in communication or productivity makes it a very valuable option to employees and employers alike. In addition to this, it means if an employee needs to change their geographical location for any reason, they can continue to provide their talents and experience to your business.
Create Fluid Communication
Video conferencing provides you with the tools to create fluid communication in your small business. Sending employees out on the road for events such as exhibitions doesn’t have to come with a loss of communication, simply start up a video conference to keep updated with all the news in detail. The same applies if you have an employee who needs to isolate, or quarantine, where they do not need to sacrifice their working days thanks to your hybrid office setup. Within the office, video conferencing setups can be used to easily communicate ideas, create plans, and even digitize content.
For small business owners, there has never been a better time to make the leap to video conferencing with potential partners and opportunities all over the world ready to connect using more popular than ever before video conferencing methods.