Remote Working and SMEs:A study into the working preferences of small businesses in North America

Foreword

Hello!

Welcome to 'Remote Working and SME's: A Study into the Working Preferences of Small Businesses in North America'.

When we recently surveyed 275 small businesses across North America, we asked them in-depth questions about their preferred working habits. Here are just a few of the interesting facts we discovered:

The majority of small businesses in North America work remotely on a regular basisMany believe that working in this way improves quality-of-lifeMost participants would rather work from home when working on creative tasks

Plus, we also got an insight into what SMEs believe would improve remote working models.

Here we take a closer look at how the working preferences of SMEs and how these habits impact their business. We think you'll find the results interesting...

Stefanie NeylandCopywriting and Communications Manager

Overview

81% of small businesses work remotely.

81 per cent of small businesses surveyed either work remotely, or employ others who work remotely

19 per cent of small businesses surveyed don't work remotely

Number of SME's That Work Remotely

Remote working

93% of small businesses work remotely at least once per week

Number of Days Per Week Spent Working Remotely

38 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely all the time

14 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely 3 – 4 times per week

30 per cent of businesses surveyed work remotely 1 – 2 times per week

7 per cent of businesses surveyed never work remotely

Productivity

56% of small businesses think remote working increases productivity.

56 per cent of small businesses believe remote working increases productivity

24 per cent don't believe remote working increases productivity

20 per cent aren't sure whether it does or not

Percentage of businesses that think working remotely increases productivity

Quality of Life

88% of small businesses think remote working improves quality of life.

Number of SME's That Believe Working Remotely Improves Quality of Life

88 per cent of businesses surveyed think working remotely improves quality of life

12 per cent of those surveyed don't believe it does

Preferences

53% of small businesses prefer working from home.

Percentage of SME's That Prefer Working From Home

53 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working from home

39 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working at an office

8 per cent prefer working elsewhere (coffee shops, outdoors, etc.)

Creativity

60% of small businesses prefer working from home when working on on creative tasks.

60 per cent of businesses surveyed prefer working on creative tasks at home.

25 per cent prefer working on creative tasks in an office environment.

15 per cent prefer working elsewhere (such as a coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)

Where businesses prefer to work on creative tasks

Logical Tasks

44% of small businesses would rather work at an office when doing logical or repetitive tasks.

44 per cent of small businesses prefer working on logical tasks in an office environment.

49 per cent prefer working on logical or repetitive tasks at home.

7 per cent prefer working elsewhere (such as a coffee shop, outdoors, etc.)

Where businesses prefer to work on logical tasks

Advantages

71% of small businesses think the best thing about working remotely is the savings they make.

Less stress

Improves well being

Helps achieve work-life balance

Improves productivity

Saves on costs

Increases efficiency

Helps with employee retention

50% 60% 70% 80%

*Par

ticip

ants

wer

e ab

le to

sel

ect m

ore

than

one

opt

ion,

so

perc

enta

ges

may

add

up

to m

ore

than

100

%

The advantages of working remotely for small businesses surveyed:

Disadvantages

56% of small businesses think the lack of team spirit is the biggest disadvantage of working remotely.

Trust and accountability

Security

Lack of team spirit

Equipment

30% 40% 50% 60%

The disadvantages of working remotely for small businesses surveyed:

*Par

ticip

ants

wer

e ab

le to

sel

ect m

ore

than

one

opt

ion,

so

perc

enta

ges

may

add

up

to m

ore

than

100

%

Improvements

Small businesses believe a daily or weekly progress report and a weekly face-to-face meeting would help remote business models.

Daily update call

Daily or weekly progress report

Weekly face-to-face meeting

Monthly face-to-face meeting

Weekly team conference call

Regular team face-to-face meeting

20% 30% 40% 50%

The most effective measures small businesses feel would improve remote business models:

Summary

Key findings:

1. A majority of North American small businesses work remotely.

2. They believe working remotely improves quality of life.

3. They miss the sense of team spirit that working in an office brings.

About BizLaunch

Over the past eight years we've become North America's most trusted small business advisors. We've worked with Fortune 500 companies to improve their brand presence with over 100,000 entrepreneurs by providing high quality webinars, seminars, marketing content and training. We understand entrepreneurs because we are entrepreneurs. Bizlaunch Founder & CEO, Andrew Patricio, has started seven businesses, authored two books, and is an internationally recognized small business expert who has delivered over 100 key note speeches across the globe. But our small business expertise doesn't end there. Everyone from our content developers to our presenters know what it’s like to start, run and grow a business—because they've done it themselves.