COVID changed a lot of things, namely, where you go to work. In a blink of an eye, employees had to devise strategies that allowed their employees to work, but under lockdown conditions.
Yet, this move into remote working has been a long time coming.
Research previously suggested that by 2021—and before COVID existed—50% of the workforce would work remotely. However, in light of COVID, this figure is significantly higher, as forced lockdown procedures encouraged numerous businesses (who had never considered remote working before) to make it a key part of their strategy so they could survive.
And they liked it…
They suddenly realized how much money they had saved on rental space, amenities, gas, electricity, etc., as well as how much it had increased productivity because team members were no longer causing distractions for the staff.
And these businesses were not the only ones to recognise the benefits of remote working.
Faced with cut hours, furlough pay, and, in some cases, job losses, the public began using their natural creative juices to launch their freelance businesses.
Take, for example, Etsy.
This independent seller platform existed long before COVID; however, it witnessed a rapid rise in sellers as people sought other means to supplement their income.
What are the benefits of remote working?
There are many advantages to working remotely, whether it is on behalf of a business or for yourself.
1. Save money on travel fees
Running a car, catching a train, or using the bus all take time and money that you have to factor into your cost of living. Even short distances can mount up, so when calculating your savings or income, you need to remember how much you are spending on travel. Remote working can vastly reduce these costs, as you’ll spend the majority of your time at home working. Most remote workers only pop into the office once a week for meetings. Otherwise, there is no travel involved.
2. Can work further afield
Have you ever seen a job that you desperately wanted to apply for, but the location made it unattainable? Distance can play a major role in your job-choosing decisions because, unless you’re willing to move, there is only so far you can realistically travel to work each day before you end up having no life. Remote working eliminates this problem, as again, your place of work will be your home. Aside from the occasional visit to the office, you won’t have to go anywhere, meaning you can apply for positions further afield, increasing your opportunities.
3. More pay
Similar to many freelance jobs, remote work can often pay you more than being in the office. This is partially due to employers having more moveable cash and the fact that you’ll be using your own equipment, gas, and electricity to do the job. Likewise, instead of a set yearly salary, most remote workers are paid on an hourly basis, meaning they aren’t spending as much to employ you. Now, this doesn’t mean you can take forever to finish your work, so they have to pay you more. When they set tasks or projects, you’ll be given a timeframe on how long you can spend on them, and sadly, the longer you take, the less efficient you will appear. Instead, you will need to find a healthy balance between being productive and not being low on funds.
4. Manage your own time and schedule
Some places will want to be able to contact you within certain hours of the day. Aside from that, your working hours will be your own, meaning if you’re a night owl or early riser, you can choose when you work, maximising your efficiency. At the same time, if you’re a parent, you can easily fit your working hours around your family commitments, saving you money on having to organise childcare or send your child(ren) to clubs.
5. Be your own boss
When choosing to work remotely, you don’t necessarily have to work for someone else. Instead, you can choose to become your own boss and start your own business. The modern age has made it possible to work and operate entirely online, so if you want to take a hobby and turn it into a career, you can.
Likewise, you don’t always have to attend college or university to get the qualifications you need to start a new business or improve your skills. Online courses can offer you the same accreditation as a college or university course but enable you to do them from the comfort of your own home. Photography, creative writing, teaching, childcare, psychology, social care, dog grooming, etc.—you can pick from thousands of distance learning courses and improve your skills on your terms. At the same time, you can acquire the training and knowledge you need to run a business, manage your accounts and bookkeeping, and build up your portfolio while still working for someone else. And this is great news if you want to start your own beautician, child care, marketing, or photography business, as online courses can give you the flexibility to choose when and how you study without negatively impacting your work or social balance. For more information on online courses, click here.
What are the dangers of remote working?
Now, we have to agree that remote working sounds amazing, especially if you want to explore the possibility of being your own boss and moulding your working hours. However, remote working is not for everyone and does come with some disadvantages that you need to consider:
You have to manage your own time. If you know that you’re easily distracted, will put things off until later, and aren’t very motivated unless someone pushes you to do something, then remote working may not be for you. A key part of remote working is managing your own time and ensuring that you meet the deadlines set by your employers. If you can’t keep to their schedule, then you could miss out on work opportunities or even earn a bad reputation amongst businesses for being slow. For that reason, you should only work remotely if you know that you’ll get the work done and will remain as motivated as you would be in an office environment.
1. You’ll be paid hourly
As we mentioned before, a lot of businesses choose to pay remote workers on an hourly basis (similar to freelancers). This means you won’t always have a steady income from the same employer and will have to source additional work from other places.
This can prove to be a double-edged sword. For instance, there could be times when you’re overwhelmed with work and don’t have enough time to complete it all (because you have offered your skills to numerous businesses), and there could be times when there is no further work and it is quiet. In light of this, you need to be careful about how you manage your time and that you don’t place yourself in situations where too much is expected of you. Remember, businesses won’t take into account that you work with more than themselves. As such, they’ll see themselves as having a higher priority and won’t appreciate it when you aren’t available to work for them. Similarly, there will be times when they’ll contact you at unsociable hours, as they won’t consider that you may not work evenings or weekends.
As such, not only will you have to prove yourself so they continue seeking you out for work, but you will also need to find a healthy balance between each of your employers so you’ve always got a realistic but steady amount of work.
2. Self-assessment
In many ways, remote workers can end up working in a more freelance capacity, especially if you choose to be your own boss and pick to whom you send proposals. This implies that you will have to arrange your taxes and national insurance contributions unless you are a sole employee of one company that is willing to pay you an annual salary but wants you to work remotely for your job. Now, unless you’re willing to pay an accountant to manage these for you, you will have to complete your self-assessment as well as ensure you keep plenty of money aside to pay these taxes and contributions. Bookkeeping and accounting courses can help you deal with them and ensure that they don’t prove too stressful.
3. Mental health
Working alone, day after day, with little to no conversation can prove lonely and taxing on your mental health. You must factor in time to socialise and converse with other people so you don’t end up isolated. Similarly, working on your own can prove incredibly stressful, as you may not necessarily have anyone to voice your queries or concerns to.
4. Work issues
Nothing is ever smooth sailing, and there will be times when you encounter a problem that you cannot solve on your own. This can range from technical problems with your equipment, e.g., your laptop breaking, power cuts, software crashing, etc., to you misinterpreting a work brief and needing help to solve this. Now, in an office environment, you can easily go to your boss or seek the support of their technical IT team. At home, reaching out for help won’t be as fast or efficient as you’ll have to wait for them to be near a phone or PC, resulting in a lot of time wastage and unwarranted stress. Likewise, not all problems can be solved by email or phone call, meaning if you live 500 miles away, you can’t quickly resolve the issue.
How can you get into remote working?
The answer to this will depend on two things:
1. Are you working for yourself or launching your own business?
2. What kind of remote work do you want to do?
If you’re aiming for option 1—starting your own business—then you can technically start doing it right away. Your only limitation will be any additional training you may need.
For instance, if you have worked for years as a developer, marketer, photographer, or copywriter, then you’ll already have the qualifications, training, and experience to begin applying for remote work. The only limitation you’ll have is learning how to manage your finances, deal with your accounts, and run your own business. Luckily, online courses can provide you with the training you need to successfully start your own business while you seek out work.
Now question 2 is a little more complicated, as not all jobs are easily done remotely and will require additional training on your part to make them possible, especially if you have no prior experience doing them.
For instance, while online learning is more prevalent since COVID, not just anyone can become an online tutor. You need to have the right teaching qualifications first. Similarly, a parent will want proof of your experience before entrusting their child to your tutelage. So even if you’re great at English or math, you cannot just leap into remote work. You’ll have to train first.
And this can apply to numerous other careers, i.e., counselling, social care, and law. Without prior training, qualifications, and experience, you cannot explore it in a freelance or remote capacity.
How can you start your own business?
The hardest part of starting your own business is proving to customers that you can do it. Whether that is styling hair, writing website content, grooming dogs, or making jewellery, customers won’t just take your word for it. Instead, they will want access to your credentials and portfolio, so they can see your work in action.
Now, while working for others will allow you to build up your skillset and experience, you won’t be able to use any work you have done for them in your portfolio, as they’ll own it. Instead, you will need to create a fresh portfolio of work and combine it with your qualifications and experience to prove you are worth the money. In turn, you may initially have to charge less until you have a decent portfolio to reinforce your price.
What else do you need?
Complete courses on business management, bookkeeping, and accounting; doing online courses on each of these will help you manage your time and finances so you can launch your own business more successfully.
Conclusion
Remote working certainly comes with a lot of perks. From saving you money on travel and office attire to allowing you to manage your own time, you can even start your own business at the click of a button. All you need to make this a reality is the right qualifications and training, so you can earn the fees you desire. For more help on how to manage your accounts or boost your training, take a look at our breadth of online courses.
Click here to visit our website.
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