We all know that it’s important to be hands on with your business, but did you know you can easily do it even if you’re away from your place of business?

Yep, you can definitely monitor the ins and outs of your finances, inventories, manpower, etc. even if you’re at home, at a meeting, in school (perhaps doing your MBA?), or on vacation.

Trust me, I’ve done it- for myself and several of my local and international clients.

Here are simple and general steps you can start with to have a business system that you can monitor even if you’re away:

A. Use cloud storage like Google Drive as storage for all of your documents such as inventory sheet, client sheet, employee data record sheet, BIR forms, suppliers data sheet, expenses and purchases, etc

With the tools inside Google suite, you can easily create reports and presentations which you can share with anyone you give permission to view, edit or both. If you’re not familiar with Google suite, these are Google documents (comparable to Microsoft Word), Google Sheet (comparable to Microsoft Excel), Google presentation (Power Point), etc. All of these are very important when you are running a business.

Sounds complicated? I can help you set up, just email me.

Tip: Pay for Google Suite or Google for Business account. It’s about $3 to $5 per user per month. You can enjoy more Google Drive storage, personalized email ie. sales@yourbusinessname.com and receive incoming emails with you gmail account instead of setting up other mailing clients like Outlook.

B. Installation of CCTV units within your business

It’s not actually to spy on your employees but to primarily keep everyone at bay and for you to have eyes when you want to check your business. It’s for the safety of your employees, your business and your clients. Most CCTVs now are equipped with an app that you can download in your mobile phone or tablet so you can view your business wherever and whenever.

You don’t have to shell out a lot of money for a CCTV, most online shops are selling good quality units for less than Php 1,000 per unit. Those work well too.

C. Streamline your customer support from inquiry to after service care

Who gets to answer the inquiry from phone, email, walk-in? What happens next? How long until you give your response to the inquiry? So basically, have a list of steps you share with your admin staff or assistant so he or she can easily follow. You can easily pin point any mistakes when you streamline the process. For this to work, you will have to keep your customer experience in mind and your ability to respond fast to your customer’s needs.

Do you have a script for phone or email inquiries that your employee can easily copy?

Do you have a ready price matrix for your employee because your customers would always ask that.

D. Train your employees

Your employees or employee would not know how to do things on their own. It’ll save you time if you teach them all the streamlined process that you’ve created and explain it to them. Give them time to practice the process and correct any mistakes along the way.

E. Place good internet provider in your business

Because you’ll be monitoring through online, you’ll need your place of business to be running with a good internet as well. Your CCTV won’t work if you don’t have a fairly good internet provider. It’s good to have back up as well. Your email inquiries and social media inquiries would be left unattended if you don’t have a reliable internet too.

Setting up a business system that allows you to have more time outside your place of business to do other important things for business expansion, growth, and learning, is very important as long as you have the leverage and control over every aspect of your business.

Don’t do a hit and miss if you’re unsure of how to set it up. I can help you with your business, just email me and we can talk.