There are many benefits to be had by operating a virtual business — both to yourself as a business owner and to your clients — and in our last post about closing your bricks and mortar office doors to create a virtual one, we discussed the importance of getting the timing right.

But once you know the timing is right, how do you make the transition?

Setting Timeframes and Testing

Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day, so set yourself a timeframe of say, 12-18 months, to make the transition from bricks-and-mortar business to a virtual one. This should give you ample time to help your clients and staff get used to the idea.

But while it’s important not to rush the transition, you shouldn’t dilly-dally, either. Use this time to implement new systems, structures, procedures and protocols — and test them.

Help your staff get into the habit of working from home but you’ll inevitably encounter a few glitches, so make sure you work on resolving them before you do away with your physical office space. This may involve upgrading existing infrastructure, software and computing equipment.

Keeping the Team Spirit Alive

You should also consider ways to ensure your employees continue to function as a team even when they’re removed from the team environment. People are known to be more productive when they feel valued, so you might consider reinvesting those rent-cheque savings in regular meet-ups or team building exercises, and more efficient computing equipment like tablet devices.

Prepare People for Change

Importantly, make sure you communicate with your staff and clients along the way so that they’re prepared for the new virtual realities of either working with a virtual business or being employed by one. This will also help you gauge any potential pitfalls so you can nip them in the bud before they become larger issues.

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If you’re interested in finding out more about making the transition from a bricks and mortar business into a virtual or online one, why not subscribe to our EzyLearn blog? You can read more about what a virtual bookkeeping business is like, how to turn your bookkeeping business into a virtual one and how you can run a remote bookkeeping business in the cloud.