Running a Business? Here Are the Pros and Cons of a Remote Workforce

When you are running a small business, there may come a time when you need to hire employees. Bringing in more workers can enable you to grow your company's bank account balance by scaling up. 

As you bring on staff members, you'll need to make a decision, though. Do you want to have your employees come into an office or would you prefer to build a remote workforce? There are some pros and cons of both options that are worth thinking about as you make your choice. 

The biggest advantages of remote work

Here are the biggest benefits of remote work: 

• You don't have to pay for office space: Office space can be expensive -- especially in areas where there are a lot of talented people eager to work. In New York City, for example, you'd pay an average of $993.17 per square foot in 2021 to purchase office space or an average of $76.34 per square foot to rent space. This is a lot more than most small businesses can afford. And, even in less expensive locales, renting or buying space can still eat up a lot of your profit. If you can eliminate this cost, it's easier to become cash-flow positive. 
• You may find it easier to attract employees: Remote work is popular. In fact, some surveys have shown as many as 65% of workers would prefer to work remotely at all times. Since offering the option to work remotely is attractive to so many people, you may have an easier chance attracting talented workers to join your team. 
• You can recruit workers from anywhere: When you build a remote workforce, you can hire the best people no matter where they are from. You aren't restricted to one specific geographic area. You can also hire in locations where the cost of living is more affordable, so you don't have to pay extremely high salaries just to attract top talent. 

The biggest disadvantages of remote work

There are also some downsides as well, including the following disadvantages: 

• Collaboration can be much more difficult: When people aren't together in person, it can be more difficult for them to work together. Often, the best ideas come from group brainstorming and collaborating closely on big projects. While you can try to make this happen on Zoom, it's often just not going to work as well when everyone isn't in one place. 
• It's harder to tell if employees are being productive: In an office, you can see when people are working and get a better idea of what they're doing. That's not the case when people are working from home. You'll need to have a lot more trust in your employees, which may not always be easy -- especially in light of stories about people working multiple remote jobs at the same time without disclosing this to their employers. 
• You won't easily be able to build a company culture: Finally, if you don't have staff together in person, it can be harder to build a company culture. This is a problem because a company culture can often help you retain talent and because a good one can help your business thrive. 

Ultimately, you'll need to decide if the pros outweigh the cons. But be sure to take the time to think about advantages and disadvantages so you can make the right choice for your small business.