Telecommuting Has Benefits, Too

Well, I've telecommuted myself, and I've managed employees who telecommuted. From a manager's point of view, I would say that telecommuting arguably works in very limited circumstances, but I don't think that small start-up businesses meet those requirements for it to work well. (sorry! that's a generalization, I know...)

If you have no choice and need to work with some employees (or collaborators) that telecommute, then picking the right collaborators is key - i.e. that "D" type of personality who is always on task, works hard to finish a task before moving to the next, etc. Also, if there's at least a few days per week that you're all together physically at work, that works much better than a 100% off-site plan.