Elance, the world’s leading platform for online employment, helps startups hire and manage in the cloud. Elance generously helps many Founder Institute companies by offering a $100 credit in Elance services, and $1,000 in credit to the highest rated company of each Fall 2011 graduating class. The following post, which describes how to manage your business in the cloud, was orignally published on the Elance blog.
Many of us dream of starting our own business at one point. Many actually now make the leap, with a new breed of lean, online startups dispensing with offices, salaried employees and pedestrian processes to gain huge advantages over conventional businesses. A no overhead startup promises lower risks, shorter time to market and smaller investment needs.
Innovative technology, online applications and a paradigm shift in business practices has made the no/low overhead model easier to adopt and even more attractive for today’s entrepreneurs. A wisely spent microbudget goes a long way—a new company can be registered, branded, located in a virtual office, setup with digital communications, marketed and made ready to sell and take payments.
Staff & Expertise
A hefty payroll is often the biggest drain on a business, ringing in as the number one expense, so new models for hiring and managing a workforce are quickly gaining in popularity. Staffing using online contractors slashes overhead and can bring on board skills and talent not easily available locally. Elance makes online hiring easy, while the platform’s online management tools help control and track hours and output. Costs are far lower compared to hiring permanent staff, and there is no need to find space or equipment for your remote team.
Everything from artwork to accounting can be outsourced for projects; Elance is a one stop shop.
Office Space
With even surgeons operating remotely these days, an office for a business owner might be deemed an unnecessary luxury. A hybrid workplace combines limited use of physical premises with a virtual office. With mobile phones, laptops and wireless internet access, workers can be anywhere. For minimalists, a Blackberry, Android or iPhone allows productive roaming with a single device.
In the event of necessary face-to-face interactions, client meetings can be held in business centers like Regus, or even on client premises. This means paying for space only when needed, which saves time and hassle. Paperless work is now the norm, thanks to cloud-based applications like Google Docs and Zoho Docs, which allow collaboration for group documents, spreadsheets, presentations and paperwork to be created and edited online in the cloud. Additionally, storage providers like Dropbox, Box.net or Egnyte let employees share files securely through any browser, through the cloud as well.
Communications
A reliable unified messaging service can bring voice, data and mobile together. For enterprises without boundaries, non-geographic numbers from telecom companies like TollFreeForwarding.com can be routed to mobiles, and includes features like hold messages, voicemail to email, fax and text messaging. Live operators can even answer calls in a company name before transferring them.
VoIP networks like Skype offer free videoconferencing and cheap international calls and a chat client, so a global team assembled on Elance can potentially link together for a conference call from all corners of the globe. For physical postage, mailbox rental and mail forwarding outfits like Mail Boxes Etc. provide an official address and post handling for a fraction of traditional rates.
Brand & Identity
Solid branding is vital for virtual startups, and a standout identity won’t cost the moon. Corporate identity packages with logos, business cards and letterheads can be created inexpensively from professionals on Elance. Freelance designers and copywriters on Elance can also create all the words and visual materials a startup needs, from blogs to brochures.
For your corporate website, competition has driven down prices at webhosts for email, web hosting and domain names, and once you’ve registered your site, you can head over to Elance and find a website developer to execute your branding idea. Additionally, WordPress can deploy a free, scalable blog or website in minutes that can be further enhanced by hiring a WordPress expert on Elance. This way, building traffic and an online storefront can begin at the outset. Content management systems like Drupal and Joomla! mean updating and growing your online presence can be done without programmers or service contracts. These open source systems can build, manage and edit websites, making publishing content a breeze. Written and multimedia content can be arranged and displayed without any of the old technology and development costs.
Sales & Marketing
The internet offers a faster, cheaper route to market than conventional models, and the explosion of web usage has created a vast global marketplace. By mastering search engine optimization using sites like Search Engine Watch and using social media sites like Facebook to generate a buzz, a new company can build awareness and acquire a large number of customers quickly and cost effectively. These social networks have huge user bases, and are such powerful tools for finding and acquiring clients that they can help make or break a fledgling enterprise.
Mass marketing strategies can include email campaigns using systems like Constant Contact and affiliate sales using DoubleClick. Pay per click operators like Google AdWords can display advertisements in seconds, putting them before carefully targeted potential clients, without the cost and lack of tracking that characterize traditional marketing.
Conclusion
Leveraging new available technology to cut operating costs and manage a business frees resources and reduces overhead. A good online startup maximizes time input and expense, never reinvents the wheel and can achieve their goals by using simple, yet effective solutions.
Today’s entrepreneurs have access to free tools, vast internet resources and a global marketplace brimming with support and potential customers. With a little work and some innovative thinking, new enterprises can maintain the same traditional high standards and tight control with far less cost. The key to a successful no overhead startup is finding ways to economize without compromise and spending your time and limited resources on differentiating your product or service.
