How to Manage Your Business from Abroad
20 years ago, managing a business from a foreign country meant that you were doing very well for yourself. The amount of resources and friction that small business owners are faced with has dramatically reduced thanks to technology. Whether it’s a short holiday or applying for a digital nomad visa, it’s never been easier to take your work with you. The only requirement here is that you’re technologically savvy, enjoy being organized, and know when to seek help from a 3rd party.
Ideas to Assist in Managing Your Small Business from Abroad
The key to managing your business efficiently from abroad is that you are going to have to be creative. Particularly if you are located in an opposite time zone, your scheduling is going to have to be flawless.
Here is a recommended list of tasks to remain in contact with your employees and to monitor their progress effectively:
- Weekly Assessment Calls: With each of your high managers, you should be having a weekly meeting to monitor the completion of projects. Due to technology developments, this meeting can occur online. This way, your employees know that they are accountable for their performance even in your absence.
- Have an International Calling Plan with Data: Communication is key. There is no longer the excuse that international plans are too expensive. With the multitude of Apps that run on effective data, there is a plethora of potential to stay in constant communication with your employees. Be sure to take advantage of these technological developments to stay in contact with your employees.
- Utilize Interactive Spreadsheets to Track Finances: Interactive templates allow you to see what your employees are editing – they’re also faster to set up. Use them for your financials so that you can track your bank accounts and how employees are using your money in your absence. This will reduce the temptation for your employees to be dishonest.
- Ask for Daily Minutes from Employees: Daily minutes encourages accountability. The key to your business running successfully in your absence is for your employees to know that you will be reading their daily minutes. Thus, make a designated time to do this on a daily basis and you will see great results.
- Install Office Cameras: Office cameras are also a great tool to discourage non-productive behavior from employees. Do not be afraid to install them even if you are not watching them. Their mere presence encourages performance.
Does it really feel like working when I’m in a cool hostel having a beer?
Technological Assistance to Consider
When abroad, as long as you have an internet connection, there are many sensational innovations that will help you to run your business effectively. Here is a list for you to consider:
- Quip: Quip is a rising competitor to Google that allows customers to share schedules and spreadsheets from far away. This is a great resource for producing and developing projects with employees that are located all over the globe. It is also ideal for supervisors that are monitoring how employees are working from other locations.
- FaceTime: The era of Skype has passed because FaceTime, Facebook call, Google’s Gchat, and WeChat video are now the most effective ways to get in touch for meetings. These are sensational tools to have distance meetings and have a reliable connection that does not periodically cut out.
- VPN: If you are in a country that censors its access to important components of your business such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google, investing in a VPN is a wise idea to remain in contact with your employees. For spending $100 per year, for example, it is possible to have access to any webpage even in countries that are quite restricted such as China. VPNs will also provide you and your employees with better security when using public Wi-Fi.
- Money transfer companies: money transfer companies offer preferable rates on international bank to bank money transfers in comparison to the bank itself which levies heavy fees on each transfer. This is essential for your international business when keeping costs and transfer times down.
- Shipping: International shipping has never been more simplified due to the development of Apps that track global shipments and anticipate the customs duties. Invest in these services because they will make your life as a business owner infinitely easier.
How to Manage Payroll Payments from Abroad
One issue that is paramount for the small business owner who is based from abroad is going to be how they are going to pay their employees. Luckily, there have been many useful developments in this aspect pertaining to the idea of sending wages internationally through utilizing international salary payments digitally. Particularly for many international SME’s, there are many foreign exchange companies that provide this service. Utilizing foreign exchange companies for this resource is quintessential for small business owners because it allows them to have employees in many different currencies and pay them all over the globe. Where this is particularly tremendous is when the employer saves a lot of capital on international transaction fees and currency exchange fees through using this medium. Small business owners should absolutely take advantage of such developments to promote efficiency within their businesses while working from abroad.
Concluding Remarks
The freedom and life satisfaction that is realized from managing a small business abroad cannot be understated. With the current technological solutions available, it’s more than possible to run an entity based in San Francisco from a co-working space in Kuala Lumpur. In fact, this may bring about new networking opportunities and ignite operations in new markets.
Managing employees remotely used to be one of the biggest obstacles, but working from home is now a common set-up – being abroad isn’t much different. Payroll or an Employer of Record solutions may be sought for easier compliance, but ultimately the tools are there at your disposal. To be successful, it’s a matter of indulging in the digital world, keeping up to date with the latest developments, and positioning yourself as an effective leader that never feels too far away.
