The document discusses the advantages of operating as a fully distributed company, highlighting benefits such as access to a wider talent pool, employee satisfaction, reduced commuting, and enhanced communication. It details how sjn sales has successfully implemented this model with over 50 employees across multiple locations and emphasizes the positive impact on work-life balance and team dynamics. The author invites others to consider transitioning to a distributed model to attract and retain top talent and improve overall efficiency.

1. and your company should
probably be distributed too!
www.SJNsales.com

2. ¡ More
and
more
start
ups
are
distributed
companies,
from
the
beginning,
and
customers,
employees,
and
investors
are
accepting
this
trend
as
normal
in
high-­‐
tech
and
other
trending
industries.
¡ Our
company
SJN
Sales,
based
in
Albuquerque
New
Mexico,
is
fully
distributed,
and
I’m
always
happy
to
sing
the
praises
of
working
for
and
managing
a
business
in
this
way.

3. ¡ An
aside,
I
think
the
more
commonly
used
virtual
company
(“nearly
real
or
simulated
to
be
real”)
is
a
lousy
way
to
describe
a
business,
with
all
of
the
transience
it
implies,
¡ while
distributed
(“spread
throughout
an
area
or
territory”)
is
a
better
description
for
a
company
that
has
dedicated
employees
working
from
multiple
locations,
rather
than
from
a
centralized
headquarters
office.

4. ¡ At
SJN
Sales,
we
currently
have
just
over
50
employees
spread
across
11
states
and
2
foreign
countries.
¡ Here
are
my
top
6
reasons
why
we
love
our
distributed
model
and
think
you
might
want
to
consider
joining
the
parade
and
making
your
company
fully,
or
at
least
partially,
distributed:

5. 1. You’ll
be
able
to
hire
great
people
and
save
money:
The
world
is
full
of
great
candidates
for
your
company’s
jobs.
Albuquerque,
or
even
New
York
is
not
necessarily
where
your
next
great
hire
lives.
¡ SJN
Mobile
or
SJN
Sales
healthcare
or
any
of
our
other
teams
can
hire
the
best
salespeople
and
project
managers
for
the
company,
and
our
clients,
regardless
of
where
they
live.

6. ¡ You’ll
also
most
likely
cover
more
time
zones
and
reduce
airfare
and
other
travel
costs
by
having
employees
distributed.
¡ The
original
SJN
Sales
employees
started
in
one
location
but
spread
out
as
one
after
the
other
followed
spouses
to
jobs
or
grad
school.
Now
we’re
fully
distributed
and
while
we
still
have
an
Albuquerque
home-­‐base,
our
teams
are
dispersed
across
all
of
North
America.

7. ¡ You
may
get
lucky,
as
we
did
and
get
to
hire
top-­‐tier
employees
who
have
already
worked
together
at
a
previous
employer.
¡ We
hired
one
top
salesperson
from
a
huge
software
firm
and
it
was
natural
for
them
to
recruit
other
members
of
their
old
sales
team
with
the
option
of
working
on
remote,
a
very
compelling
perk
of
joining
our
small
firm.
We
add
people
this
way
whenever
possible.

8. ¡ Working
with
old
colleagues
in
a
distributed
company
really
seems
to
ease
the
transition
of
people
who
have
been
working
in
a
cubicle
farm.
¡ It
helps
logistically
to
use
an
outsourced
company
to
deal
with
the
payroll
and
tax
needs
of
people
working
in
various
states,
and
even
countries.

9. 2. Staff
will
love
it:
SJN
Sales
employees
tell
me,
and
generally
anyone
else
who
asks,
that
they
can’t
fathom
going
back
to
a
cubicle
that
they
reach
after
a
commute.
¡ Quality
of
life
is
not
just
a
cliché
for
our
people.
Working
for
a
distributed
company
they
get
increased
time
with
family
and
friends,
flexible
hours,
a
reduced
or
eliminated
commute,
and
flexible
hours
and
they
get
to
live
where
they
want.

10. ¡ Several
people
have
joined
the
SJN
Sales
group
because
they
have
always
wanted
to
live
somewhere
with
a
rough
local
job
market
(Wyoming
ranch
anyone?).
¡ Several
others
travel
as
a
hobby
in
between
traveling
heavily
for
the
company.

11. ¡ A
solid
core
of
our
highest
performing
salespeople
work
here
because
their
spouse
gets
transferred
regularly
and
they
love
not
having
to
worry
about
starting
a
new
job
or
a
new
empty
territory
with
each
relocation.

12. 3. Employees
who
want
social
lives
with
co-­‐workers
will
thrive:
Some
companies
see
a
huge
disadvantage
in
the
perceived
lack
of
social
interaction
at
a
distributed
company.
¡ Most
people
enjoy
socializing
with
like-­‐minded
coworkers,
and
very
few
employees
want
to
work
in
total
isolation.

13. ¡ SJN
Sales
people
are
assigned
in
small
teams
and
use
all
sorts
of
online
and
offline
methods
for
communicating.
¡ And
yes,
cat
pictures
and
a
meet-­‐up
at
the
bar
near
Moscone
Center
are
part
of
the
team
communication
and
social
life.
Our
teams
also
see
each
other
at
client
meetings
and
at
the
large
number
of
trade
shows,
industry
meetings,
and
forums
we
attend
in-­‐person
each
year.

14. ¡ We
also
have
company-­‐wide
meetings
at
least
every
3-­‐6
months.
Generally
these
all-­‐call
meetings
take
place
at
our
Albuquerque
headquarters
but
we
have
also
met
in
Hawaii,
Akumal
in
Mexico,
Scottsdale,
and
Washington
DC.
¡ As
we
grow
into
more
widely
divergent
specialty
teams,
we
continue
to
find
new
ways
of
gathering
all
SJN
Sales
people
together
in
ways
that
make
the
meetings
a
treat
rather
than
a
time
wasting
chore.

15. 4. Your
work
groups
and
offices
will
experience
less
conflict
and
have
more
fun:
¡ As
a
distributed
company,
SJN
Sales
doesn’t
have
mandatory
reporting
at
a
centralized
office
but
we
utilize
all
sorts
of
other
office
options
that
are
available
where
our
employees
live
and
travel.

16. ¡ Team
members
often
work
in
co-­‐working
space
when
several
team
members
live
near
one
another,
even
when
the
individuals
are
not
assigned
to
the
same
accounts
or
projects.
¡ Other
employees
work
from
home,
rented
office
space,
and
in
one
case
the
guest
house
of
the
employee’s
hobby
farm.

17. ¡ The
key
is
that
no
one
has
going
to
a
particular
desk
every
day
as
part
of
their
required
job
description.
SJN
employees
don’t
clock
in
or
out.
¡ They
come
and
go
when
they
want
and
typically
do
a
fairly
small
percentage
of
their
total
work
at
their
official
office
address.

18. ¡ We
offer
suggestions
on
how
to
avoid
being
at
work
at
every
moment
that
staff
spends
at
their
laptop
because
freeing
work
from
location
can
often
mean
too
many
hours
on
the
job.

19. ¡ Social
&
business
interaction
(both
within
SJN
Sales
and
with
the
other
businesses
that
share
our
space,
whether
office
or
airport
lounge)
doesn’t
generally
lead
to
conflict
or
interruptions
for
others.
¡ One
key
is
that
SJN
Sales
team
and
management
decision-­‐making
and
communication
is
channeled
online
and
is
set
up
to
be
accessible
to
everyone.

20. ¡ SJN
has
always
had
an
office.
When
the
company
started
it
seemed
essential
to
avoid
client
concerns
about
our
“virtual”
workforce
and
because
we
needed
a
centralized
space
for
support
staff
to
work.
¡ Now,
virtually
all
support
functions
are
outsourced
or
distributed,
and
our
suite
of
offices
in
Albuquerque
serves
most
often
as
the
site
for
all-­‐call
meetings
and
for
some
local
staff
to
use
as
a
work
or
meeting
space.

21. ¡ We
also
make
our
Albuquerque
conference
room
available
to
community
groups
and
non-­‐profit
boards
for
events
and
meetings.

22. 5. You
will
have
better
employee
and
client
communications:
Every
company
has
to
manage
communications
challenges.
¡ Distributed
companies
are
no
exception
but
we
start
with
a
great
advantage:
structural
excuses
to
abolish
inefficient,
time-­‐wasting
meetings,
in
the
hallway
one-­‐on-­‐ones
that
aren’t
documented
for
anyone
else’s
use,
agenda
free
conference
calls,
and
email
and
voicemail
silos.

23. ¡ We
have
complete
freedom
to
set
up
team
and
company
wide
collaboration
tools
and
systems
that
make
work
days
more
pleasant,
more
efficient,
and
more
flexible.
¡ We’ve
found
that
in
nearly
every
case
the
work
is
better
documented
which
leads
to
additional
efficiencies
as
problems
once
discussed
and
solved
can
be
handled
again
by
looking
at
previous
team
efforts
and
results.

24. ¡ Individual
staff
members
and
work
groups,
and
client
teams,
can
establish
working
hierarchies
of
preferred
communications
methods
and
tools
based
on
travel
schedules,
client
preferences,
etc.
¡ We
did
learn,
in
a
brutal
but
brief
experiment,
that
we
can’t
actually
automate
our
way
out
of
having
a
receptionist.

25. ¡ Yes,
you
can
leave
a
voicemail,
but
one
of
our
hard-­‐
working
and
generally
chipper
receptionists
or
assistants
will
be
happy
to
talk
with
you
when
you
call,
and
then
handle
forwarding
a
message
in
the
manner
that
will
get
you
a
response,
without
needing
to
know
our
systems
or
travel
schedules.

26. 6. You
will
attract
and
retain
better
employees
than
your
firm
could
otherwise
recruit,
retain,
or
probably
afford.
¡ This
is,
admittedly
related
to
the
first
benefit
of
being
a
distributed
company.
One
of
the
most
frequent
questions
SJN
Sales
receives
about
our
staff
is,
“how
did
you
get
so
and
so,
from
GianTech
to
work
for
your
little
company?”

27. ¡ We
do
gain
tremendous
recruiting
advantages
when
old-­‐guard
traditional
model
companies
tell
employees
where
to
be,
when
to
be,
and
how
long
to
be,
in
their
cubes
or
on
the
road.
¡
Most
of
our
employees
like
the
distributed
model
we
offer
because
it
allows
them
to
prioritize
work
along
with
some
other
passion
or
responsibility
in
their
life.

28. ¡ Nearly
all
of
us
have
a
“refugee
story”
about
how
our
old
traditional
work
life
ended,
when
a
manager
told
us
that
we
couldn’t
have
some
accommodation
because,
“then
everyone
would
want
it.”
¡ If
you’re
great
at
your
job
and
this
model
sounds
attractive
to
you,
check
out
our
career
page.

29. ¡ We
are
growing
and
we’re
hiring.
The
dental
plan
is
only
ok
and
salaries
are
competitive,
but
you’ll
want
to
earn
your
bonus
too.
www.sjnsales.com/careers.html