Think that a cloud intranet isn’t for you because you only have two employees? Well, think again. Far from being the preserve of large organizations or corporates, cloud intranets have a lot to offer startup enterprises as well. The truth is with over 90 percent of startups failing, you need all the help you can get and a cloud intranet will give you a number of important competitive advantages. What are they? Well, carry on reading to discover how an intranet can help your startup hit the ground running and, more importantly, how it can help to stop you from becoming another failure statistic.
1. Manage And Share Information
In every startup, there’s always lots going on and you and your colleagues are likely to be juggling several balls at once. Whether it’s working on product development, updating investors, developing a digital marketing strategy, recruiting and onboarding new staff, coordinating with vendors – it can all quickly become overwhelming. Using an intranet from day one, however, will help you to manage and organize all this activity and communication in one platform with one login.
Use the intranet’s file and document storage system to manage company information, from sharing internally and externally to bulk uploads and downloads as well as unlimited files and folders. And the intranet’s advanced search functionality makes it easy to locate information by tags, title, author or subject.
Highlight news and important updates on the intranet’s login page. And put the spotlight on important deadlines and industry expos, or schedule virtual team meetings in the intranet’s corporate calendar.
Given that startups often involve remote workers – whether it’s your mum who’s doing the accounts for you or Bob from university who’s designing your website – the intranet will do away with email and paper trails. Everyone knows the intranet is the place to go to source all the information and data that they need.
2. Embed Google Docs Or Microsoft Office 365
Whether your preference is for Google Docs or Microsoft Office 365, you can embed your favorite app directly in the intranet, making it super convenient and easy to use. Team members will be able to share and edit documents in real time and the intranet will automatically update the embedded version. You won’t need to worry about conflicting versions or emailing colleagues with updates every time you make a change. What’s more, colleagues can be working simultaneously on the same document. And embedding your Google Sheets or MS Office documents directly in company intranet pages also provides valuable contextual information.
So, for example, when it comes to your mum preparing the accounts, the intranet could provide a helpful explanation about how to complete the Google Sheet to the accountant’s preferred way.
3. Open All Hours
Every startup knows there’s no such thing as standard office hours. Burning the midnight oil is part and parcel of working in a startup, certainly in the early days. And a cloud-based intranet that you can access 24/7 using a smartphone or tablet will quickly become an indispensable tool. Keep track of your key objectives and progress whether you’re on the road meeting clients, in the local coffee shop or snuggled up on the sofa at 2 o’clock in the morning.
What’s more, it’s unlikely that you’ll have an office space to start off with and so the intranet will be an important way to keep in touch with your mum, your website designer pal Bob, investors and stakeholders or anyone else that is helping the startup get off the ground. You can utilize the intranet’s messaging, notification or follow-me functions to connect all these personnel. Even external parties such as your accountant can be given limited access to the intranet through a series of site permissions to better facilitate joint working and collaboration.
4. Impress Investors And New Employees
Let’s face it, a cloud intranet looks cool and will impress potential investors or new employees.
Investors will be looking for evidence that you have planned carefully, are well-organised and have the best systems in place. And having a cloud intranet will tick all the right boxes. It will demonstrate that not only is your business idea worthy of investment, you as an individual are also worth investing in because you have got your act together and know what you are doing.
And when it comes to potential or new employees, they will see the intranet as giving legitimacy to your company and as evidence that you will be able to pay their salary in the long term. It will have a positive psychological impact, improving morale and retention rates.
5. Adaptability And Flexibility
As a startup, you will want a technological solution that will stand the test of time and that can grow alongside your business. And a cloud intranet is the perfect solution.
The intranet is an incredibly adaptable and flexible platform. Not only can extra pages, modules and functionality be easily added in response to the changing needs of your business, so additional users can be added or deleted with just a few clicks of the mouse.
What’s more, the cloud intranet provider is constantly refining the product and so you get the benefit of their expertise and knowledge as well as an intranet that is constantly evolving in response to changing technology.
Your cloud intranet is also very cost-effective. The set monthly fee gives the startup that all-important cost certainty that enables you to plan and budget with confidence. And the monthly fee provides for unlimited users and unlimited data storage. So, it doesn’t matter how fast your business grows, the intranet is capable of keeping pace.
6. Set The Right Company Culture From The Get-Go
Intranets are all about improved internal communications, uniform and consistent processes, as well as enhanced collaboration and joint working. These are all important organizational attributes that support positive and productive businesses. And if want to avoid becoming another failure statistic, then facilitating this as your company culture from the onset will set you well on the road to success.
Startup Intranet: Can You Afford Not To?
It’s a very competitive marketplace out there. Every advantage you can muster could make the difference between success and failure. The simple question is can you afford not to have an intranet in place? The truth is it doesn’t matter whether you have two or several employees. It makes no difference whether your turnover is currently hundreds of dollars or many thousands. What does matter is that your new enterprise has the best possible start. And an intranet will not only be an important management and communications tool, but it will also help to legitimize your business as well as supporting future growth.
Contact us here at MyHub for an informal discussion on the possibilities for startup companies. Better still, take advantage of our demo or 14-day free trial. Get in touch today.
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