Being able to work from anywhere is the dream for many people. With so many jobs and professions now relying on the internet, there’s no reason to keep employees shackled to the office. Companies are beginning to listen by offering a set number of annual work-from-home days, but Cashcow, a Maltese online company, has taken things to the next level by offering fully remote working positions all-year-round.
Working off-site provides numerous advantages for the employee which are well documented. No commute, no dress code, you can easily run errands, pick the kids up from school – the list is endless. However, bosses were initially, and understandably, sceptical about productivity levels falling – until data began to suggest otherwise.
One of the most cited studies on remote work productivity was published back in early 2014 in the Harvard Business Review. Professor Nicholas Bloom, together with graduate student James Liang, concluded that a selection of workers at the latter’s Chinese company completed 13.5 per cent more calls when working from home than another group did when working from the call centre. Employees from this remote workgroup were also less likely to quit than their office counterparts, and, naturally, had a higher job satisfaction rate.
Of course, as with many studies, the findings provoked a lot of counterarguments, while companies didn’t exactly rush to change their processes and implement work-from-home policies there and then. Fast-forward to today, though, and that’s all changed, with 56 per cent of companies around the world allowing remote work in some form during 2018, according to Owl Labs. Further evidence has also mounted which suggests that remote working does in fact yield high productivity levels in the right environment – and Malta has its own great example in the form of Cashcow.
Founded in 2017, Cashcow is a digital marketing company that was set up by three Finns. Employees are offered a range of perks – such as six-hour workdays, performance bonuses, and professional development opportunities. However, Cashcow’s biggest benefit is that workers can choose to perform their six-hour days from wherever they want. This has resulted in the company growing to reach several full-time members of multiple nationalities who are based all over the world.
This philosophy has always resonated with the co-founders, Mika Kujapelto, Kirmo Kolehmainen, and Antti Alatalo, who wanted to create a company where they would want to work themselves.For both, that meant the ability to work remotely all the time, with Antti being especially keen.
“This was something that originally got me into the world of online marketing. I wanted to have the possibility to work wherever I wanted to,” said Antti Alatalo, Cashcow’s marketing director and co-founder. “It’s a philosophy that’s also reaffirmed the potential company benefits of allowing such flexibility.”
Cashcow’s main product is Casino Professor – a website where users can find the best online casinos, free spins, and casino bonuses by using interactive filters. It launched only a month after Cashcow itself but found success almost instantly despite iGaming’s notoriously fierce competition. Less than a year after going live, Casino Professor won Best Affiliate Newcomer at the iGB Affiliate Awards 2018. This was achieved with no workplace restrictions, proving that remote work could indeed foster success with sheer effort and dedication.
Today, Casino Professor is available in multiple languages across several channels and is managed by a variety of remote workers. This, naturally, has brought challenges and relies heavily on trust. Yet, the founders have stayed true to the company’s roots by continuing to offer remote working to all. Despite the obstacles, this stance has also brought about additional company benefits – such as the ability to attract skilled overseas workers and retain employees who decide to leave the island.
As a result, Casino Professor continues to flourish as Cashcow’s flagship brand and is a classic example of remote working done properly.