The SME guide to flexible working

Small businesses are often suspicious about staff working remotely, as time spent away from the watchful eye of the boss could lead to a questionable use of staff resources. Not to mention that it's also become an annoying buzzword. But dismissing flexible working offhand could be a mistake.

Firstly, there's the monetary saving. "It can mean a huge reduction in property costs - which is one of the biggest expenses facing small firms. Companies can either downsize or get rid of their premises altogether," says Chris Gorman of the Forum of Private Business.

The biggest hurdle

"I think knowledge is the biggest hurdle, although everyone's heard of VPN, or VoIP, identifying these things as something to be used in business is different, and SMEs often don't have the time to investigate technology.

"Part of our work is to introduce these things to small businesses, we provide financial assistance with hardware, but in the majority of cases the business will have 90% of the technology in place to carry out flexible working."

However, until the UK achieves widespread broadband coverage, many small businesses will miss out on these benefits, says Peter Scargill, IT chair at the Federation of Small Businesses.

The Southeast of England

"In some parts of the Southeast of England, broadband is - well, rubbish. Indeed in many parts of the UK, broadband is less than completely reliable. Flexible working often involves remote working - and this in turn often requires reliable broadband.

In the UK, upload speeds can be as low as 300K/s and that's the theoretical maximum - much below that and conferencing, in particular video conferencing - is not reliable enough for business use. Without reliable communications, at least in some circumstances, remote working just isn't practical, he adds.

But Michele Williams, founder of travel company Williams Welsh Walks, often works remotely and says that despite receiving patchy internet coverage in some places, she wouldn't be able to run her company without the internet.

The business

Whatever stage of the business, it seems at least some degree of remote working can play an important role in increasing SMEs' flexibility to get ahead.