Microsoft Teams for Small Businesses & Sole Traders

Just to be clear from the very outset, Microsoft Teams is equally useful for sole traders as it is for larger businesses. Before we discuss how this translates to a sole trader, let’s just start with an example in a small business setting.

Imagine walking through an office block. There’s an open plan room for the Marketing department. There’s another for Finance, and another for Sales. Then there’s common room which all staff use at lunchtime. Each department can chat, hand files to each other and generally plan their work without interrupting any other departments. And then at lunchtime, all the staff converge in the common room and exchange laughs and ideas in a social environment.

Microsoft Teams works in a very similar way. Each department has its own Team in which it can discuss day-to-day operations. It provides an easy way to store & exchange files while providing many ways to have a conversations through instant messaging, Facebook-style posts, Notepads, video meetings and even freehand whiteboards. Each subject is contained within a Teams “Channel” to keep things tidy, structured and retain historical conversations for reference.

A company Team, with a formal discussion Channel for things like Health & Safety notices, and a separate social discussion Channel adds fun to the mix, too. Imagine the banter – it’s like having Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Dropbox all in one, private room!

Let’s then bring this thing up to date, then. The “new normal” is for everyone to work from home if they can. Microsoft Teams ensures that the conversation continues when people are physically remote from each other. The banter, the exchange of ideas, and the structure & organisation all remains in place thanks to Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams for Sole Traders

That’s all great news for small businesses – but what about tiny businesses and, in particular, sole traders? Well, the good news is that it’s great for them, too! Treat each Team as an area of your business (Accounts, Marketing, Sales, Legal etc). Inside each team, you can access your files and most importantly, share your files with people outside of your organisation such as your accountant, or your bookkeeper. You can have professional video conferences with the thousands of other businesses who already use Microsoft Teams or Skype, and perhaps most importantly, feel confident that your data is safe, secure and available from any device you can lay your hands on.

Microsoft Teams is great news for every business.