Telecommuting, also known as working from home using an Internet connection, is growing business trend. Entrepreneur Daily mentioned that 73 percent of remote and home-based workers said they’re satisfied with the company they work for. There’s also a Senate Bill focused on telecommuting for SMBs (Small/ Medium Business).

The question is, are you ready to implement this system in your own small business? To help you answer this question, let me lay down the advantages to your business of telecommuting:

4 Major Advantages

Who Should Telecommute?

Not all employees in your business can take this option. Commonly, this system is applicable to writers, salespeople, researchers, public relations professionals, and architects. With the use of VoIP technology, even phone-based tasks can be outsourced.

Qualities Needed

Even if your employees are technically qualified, you should assess first if they have adequate self-discipline to deal with any distractions at home, the ability to make their own decisions on small matters, and enough drive to deliver results.

Who’s the man behind the success of Apple Inc.? Maybe 9 out of 10 will answer Steve Jobs. It is very reasonable because Mr. Jobs is in charge of overall marketing. Business Pundit, however, mentioned Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, and how he is such an inspiration to entrepreneurs.

What struck me from that short but very insightful post is the idea of trying things you’ve never done before. How about you? Have you tried something different in your small business lately? Or are you afraid to change what you’re doing right now? Maybe it’s time for you to expand your business by stretching outside your comfort zone.

The longer you are in the business the more you become careful not to make any mistakes and stick to the conventional methods. However, it will be very difficult for you to gain new customers and expand further. In case you find yourself in this situation, just follow the valuable lesson from Carly Fiorina, one of the most powerful women in corporate America:

In bullfighting there is a term called querencia. The querencia is the spot in the ring to which the bull returns. Each bull has a different querencia, but as the bullfight continues, and the animal becomes more threatened, it returns more and more often to his spot.

As he returns to his querencia, he becomes more predictable. And so, in the end, the matador is able to kill the bull because instead of trying something new, the bull returns to what is familiar. His comfort zone.

Running your business involves different types of planning. The Biz Class mentioned that every growing business encounters 4 types of plans. A bigger question now is HOW do you plan the future of your business? Let me introduce to you the business concept called Gap Analysis.

Don’t be intimidated by this seemingly corporate jargon. In basic terms, it is a comparison of your actual performance versus your goals. It works like your actual-versus-forecast analysis. What you will find after using this tool are your weaknesses and areas for improvement. All you need to do is answer these 3 simple questions below:

1. Where are you now?
2. Where do you want to go?
3. How do you get there?

Looks simple, right? You might be surprised how much insight you can generate by asking these 3 easy questions. Once you get the answers, you should translate these questions to a strategic planning tool called OGSM:

Objectives or what do you want to accomplish or where do you want to go.
Goals are the specific results to meet your objectives.
Strategies are key steps to achieve your goals.
Measures are important to know if your strategies are effective.

Hey, it’s not yet the end of the process. What’s missing? You haven’t looked at the market yet! Try asking yourself this one question:

• How will competitors react to your strategies?

It’s very difficult because you don’t know what the other players are thinking. Try running different scenarios and come up with contingency plans for every reaction.

What you have at the end of the day is a well-formulated plan that will guide you in the years to come.

Office politics is an inevitable incidence in every office, small or big. It corrodes decision-making, teamwork, relationship, and overall productivity of your business. Not to mention the stress it brings and numerous rumors ignited. As the overall leader, here are the things you can do:

Implement Performance-based Measures

You should set evaluation policies based primarily on the performance of your employees, both as an individual and team member. Without any formal system, you run the risk of rewarding the wrong employee and eventually trigger terrible office politics.

Stay in the Loop

As your business expands you will need extra hands to run the daily tasks. Given your busy schedule you may not have enough time to bond with your employees and monitor any tension in your office.

There is an interesting story I read in the book entitled The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, about staying connected with your people. Louis XIV, better known as the Sun King of France, had created a palace where his room is the literal center and surrounded by other members of his kingdom. In this way, he was updated on every single event happening in the palace.

The lesson for entrepreneurs is simple: openness must not only be encouraged, it must be formally organized and channeled.

Rumors go hand in hand with office politics. Learn how to diffuse them properly, because as Leadership Turn points out, rumors never die.

If you want to focus on your core activities, outsourcing your not-so-confidential tasks like administrative jobs or customer service is a viable option. Recently, we cited the benefits of outsourcing. This time let’s go deeper and find out the important factors to consider before outsourcing:

Choose the Right Partner

Finding the right firm or people is very important because you are, in a way, allowing them to take control of your business operations. Brand Curve cautions entrepreneurs to watch out for subcontractors who can destroy your brand reputation. To avoid this situation, you should first look in your own personal network. Don’t hire people because they are your friends. Be objective and consider their expertise always.

In case your personal network leads to a dead end, the internet offers a large pool of talents across the globe. Pay a visit to business networking sites like LinkedIn, Craigslist, or Indeed. Make sure you thoroughly evaluate the references first and as much as possible, run a test to validate their claims.

Make it Binding

In business, being paranoid is better than being too trusting. Don’t believe people when they say their word is stronger than oak. Make it formal through legal contracts and specify all the responsibilities included in the agreement. This will give both parties protection against fraud.

Inspect Quality

Even if the other party has a proven track record and you’re protected by a legal contract, you should still monitor their performance from time to time. You have a lot to lose if they don’t do their job because the whole company identity might be severely compromised.

As entrepreneurs, we deal with business problems often. They can be complaints from angry customers, delayed payments, unreliable suppliers, and many other issues to deal with. Our role is to be the problem-solver in the company, together with our dependable employees. While there are many complicated ways to solve problems, you might to go back to basics:

Identify the Main Problem

Seems pretty obvious? Not quite. Many entrepreneurs confuse the effects of the problems with the real problems. Poor inventory planning, for instance, could result in late deliveries or cancellation of orders. While this is the root cause, some may blame the logistics guys for not sticking to schedule or even your customers for being so impatient. You should retrace your steps to identify the main issues.

More importantly, Software Project Management reminds us not to look back to find who is guilty. Instead, let’s focus on fighting the problems.

Generate Alternatives

It’s time to brainstorm and find all the possible solutions. Follow the advice of Chess Grandmaster Emanuel Lasker: “When you see a good move, look for a better one.” Don’t scrap any ideas yet.

From that pool, start selecting the most practical solutions. You might want to set some criteria for your evaluation. For instance, speed might be more important than cost or vice versa.

Implement

Create your action plans, emphasize accountabilities, and set your timetable for implementation. You will realize that your plan is not 100% accurate and there are times you need to adjust or even abandon your plans. That’s why it’s important to have several options.

Part of implementation is monitoring the progress and impact of your solution. If you are still not satisfied, you can rework again.

While there are multitudes of factors contributing to the success of any startup, it always starts with YOU. In any case, the poem called Invictus says you (and only you) are the captain of your soul and master of your fate. One of the ways to master yourself is to build your self-discipline.

Succession Consciousness defines self-discipline as the ability of an individual to stick to actions, thoughts, and behavior, which lead to improvement and success. Also, it’s the giving up of instant pleasure and satisfaction for a higher goal.

There are different ways to improve self-discipline, depending on your personality. Some entrepreneurs undergo hypnosis while others meditate. It can be as simple as giving up desserts every night. Here are some tips you might want to try:

Engage in Sports

Competition is a good teacher of self-discipline. You’ll appreciate the value of goal setting, teamwork, elaborate planning, and composure under stress. Sports also highlight the need to practice, practice, and practice some more in order to achieve your desired goals. More importantly, it will help develop the winning attitude in you.

Learn from The Last Samurai

You may not like Tom Cruise but his movie The Last Samurai captures the essence of self-discipline:

They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline. I am surprised to learn that the word Samurai means, ‘to serve’…

No wonder the Japanese created some of the best business concepts like kaizen or continuous improvement and just-in-time. Dedicate your working hours perfecting your craft by improving your system regularly, communicating with your customers daily, and spying competition all the time.

Most of us love security and a sense of safety in our lives. However, these emotions obstruct us from taking calculated risks and sometimes lead to fear of change. This very fear stops us from reaching higher goals and conquering greater challenges.

Undeniably, change is very important to our business. The cliché nothing is constant but change remains relevant until today. Slacker Manager profoundly expounds the 3 important things one can learn from change. Below are some of the things to consider in managing changes in your company:

Is it Necessary?

Do not change for the sake of changing. Every change should have strong justifications based on customer feedback or planning sessions. Since your business exists for profits, changes should result in profitable gains over the long haul. More importantly, it should create additional benefits for your customers.

Comprehensive Plan

Some changes in your business might result in temporary setbacks and customer dissatisfaction. That’s why you should have a very solid plan to begin with. If you are shifting to another reliable supplier, for example, you should build up buffer stock to support your business during the transition phase.

Involve Your People

Any change will be a failure if your employees will not adopt the new system. It is important that you involve them in your plans by seeking their opinion. It is unavoidable that some might be inflexible and stubborn. Your job is to motivate them and help them visualize your goals.

Having troubles coming up with a good name for your small business or new product? Don’t worry for there are several strategies available at your disposal to ignite your creativity. The latest trend today, according to Entrepreneurs Daily, is using gobbledygook names like Wakoopa, Imeem, Xobni, and Frengo.

Some of you may even be irritated as to why we should give a damn about names if we can offer great customer service and run effective marketing campaign. To borrow the words of Karen Post, a great name is like extra octane in a brand. In some cases, it can make or break your brand.

Here’s a classic example that came from the book entitled Classic Failures in Product Marketing about having a wrong name:

Hunt-Wesson, one of the largest and most successful food companies in the US, decided to enter the French-speaking Quebec market in Canada. Aiming to localize its brands, it directly translated one of its product lines, Big John, to French and it was called Gros Jos. However they failed to dig deeper and evaluate this new brand name. Later on, they discovered that Gros Jos is a slang term for “big breasts” in French Canada!

In general, you should pick a name having emotional appeal, personality, depth, and very sticky to customers’ minds. Moreover, there are at least 10 different ways to name your business or products and you can read them all at The Name Inspector.

A time may come for some entrepreneurs to say goodbye to their family business and turn over the turf to the next generation. Some major concerns for many outgoing founders deal with effective transition and ensuring the continuity of the business in the years to come. In case you are just starting your family business, you might want to read some practical tips from BootStrapMe.

If you are looking for an inspiration about effective transition, maybe you can watch the Godfather movie and observe how the great Mafia godfather Don Vito Corleone guided his youngest son, Michael Corleone, to become a more powerful godfather and carry the familia to the next generation.

While you don’t need to spill blood and practice the omerta (code of silence) to be effective, the key to smooth transition is careful planning. Here are some practical tips you might want to apply:

Start Early

You should not wait for your children to finish their studies before getting them involved in your business. Expose them as early as possible by giving them small errands. This is also a good gauge of their interest, commitment, and skills about running the business. Still, it is important they finish their schooling before going full time with the family business.

As they grow older, assign them to different departments to fully understand the importance of each unit and learn the day to day operations. More importantly, this will forge a good working relationship between your employees and your children.

Talk with Your Employees

The other side of effective transition is preparing your employees for this big transition. Some employees are afraid that new management might affect their salary or even future employment. Share with them your transition plans and solicit their full cooperation.