Name: Bizdaq
Based: Leeds
Website: www.bizdaq.co.uk
We have decided to keep our new tech company lean by hiring experts to work remotely on either a full or part-time basis. In this way we keep our cost base low in the early stages of our startup as we work on establishing a user base.
Although we could hire a full-time developer and front end designer, we prefer the flexibility gained from hiring freelancers and paying a day rate. Rather than having to find work for the developer and designer to perform, paying a day rate allows us to assess whether the expenditure helps move us towards our objectives.
The inspiration behind this model is Automattic, the company behind Wordpress.com. They have grown to a billion dollar company with 230 people located in 170 cities around the world – all working remotely. Automattic’s head office in San Francisco houses less than 20 employees.
Our copywriter has over 20 years’ experience as a writer working with large corporate businesses, however has no desire to live in a big city. We hire her on a full-time basis working from her home in Cumbria and we have never actually met face-to-face. All communication is performed on email or via Skype.
All of our communication with our flexible workforce is done on largely free or low-cost, cloud-based services such as Google Docs, Jira and Skype.
Jonathan Russell is marketing manager at Bizdaq
