Working smarter
Many of my businesses are reacting to the various price rises that are now filtering through in different ways – looking at the necessity of making that journey, car sharing, travelling by train, flexible working, conference calls etc – but the one unavoidable consequence of rising prices is going to be increased pressure on salaries in the coming months.
Not many companies have the ability to pass on cost increases without challenge from their customers and so inevitably we are looking at tighter margins over the next few months. Thus the need to work smarter!
Working as a part-time FD with businesses as far apart as Poole, London and Birmingham whilst living in Oxfordshire means that I encourage them to facilitate VPN access to their systems – this gives me the ability to work remotely, at a time to suit me, and also in the event of an urgent requirement for information I can access it without having to travel to their offices.
I can then discuss it with them over the phone or “whiteboard” online. But one of the downsides, as I found recently, is that I end up being my own IT department too – whether it be slow broadband connections, wireless network issues, system crashes – all fall to me to resolve and add to the pressures of working remotely.
Not that I hanker for a return to large corporate life but a handy IT support solution would definitely come in handy.
