As a business owner, you need to manage multiple responsibilities to ensure that your business grows effectively. At some point, you need to consider having help for performing your tasks. A survey conducted by Deloitte showed that most entrepreneurs opt to outsource their responsibilities. Outsourcing helps to execute important business functions while enhancing efficiency and connecting with more customers.
In case you have been wondering how you could utilize outsourcing for your business, here we shall explore the same.
When should I outsource?
There are several instances when outsourcing can prove useful. Outsourcing can be beneficial when you are trying to lower your operational costs. During uncertain times, you may need to restructure your business and priorities. For instance, you may need to focus more on selling your existing product line instead of researching and developing new offerings.
In such instances, outsourcing can enable you to reduce your expenses. Instead of hiring a part-time or full-time employee, you can outsource a role to someone having the right skills and expertise to work on marketing your existing products. This would allow you to avoid additional personnel expenses.
Further, hiring and managing a team can be a time-consuming process. You require resources to recruit, train, and engage the right talent for your business which affects resource availability for investment in other areas. This can limit your productivity and overall growth as a business.
Outsourcing can be advantageous by enabling you to focus more on critical business decisions. Businesses of all sizes struggle to find a balance between investing resources on strategy and recruiting skilled personnel. Many businesses choose to outsource to better concentrate on their areas of expertise.For instance, it does not make sense to invest resources in an excellent customer care team if it is not your core business offering. You can instead work with a third-party and obtain customer care services which will allow you to scale your business operations and offer different products.
When your company is starting to grow and you are gaining more visibility, you need to have a strategy for managing ongoing and future demand. Outsourcing can help you to navigate the challenges associated with rapid growth of your business. You can hire workers for specific roles that need immediate focus and avoid bringing in full-time employees.
Outsourcing can also allow you to achieve a balance in your work schedule. Research indicates that about 88% of Chief Financial Officers do not find time to develop business strategy since they are focused on performing transactional duties. Since small business owners juggle many responsibilities, it can be difficult to devote adequate time to planning for the future.
Your strategy is necessary to further your business goals. Consequently, you need to find a way to balance your priorities. Focus on more important tasks like setting up strategy and defining goals while assigning relatively less essential tasks having stringent deadlines to an outsourcing agent. Having a reliable team to assist with non-core tasks will allow you to be more productive in core areas.
How do you outsource your personal tasks?
Outsourcing personal tasks is an effective way to regain time and utilize it for better productivity. When you hire someone to perform a routine task, you are freeing up more time for yourself, your family, or work. Also, outsourcing personal tasks does not lead to financial hardship–rather, despite paying someone for a personal chore you can continue to gain both money and time.
There are many personal tasks that you could outsource in different ways. For instance, if you need any errand to be accomplished, you can post a task for it on a platform such as Task Rabbit. You can connect with freelancers registered on this site who are able to do your task. Errands can range from anything as simple as delivering a family member’s lunch to work to mowing your lawn.
Shopping for groceries physically can be cumbersome especially if you have a busy schedule. You can instead get your groceries by purchasing them online. If you do not have time for cooking, you can hire a chef to make your meals if you do not want to order food from a restaurant.
If you like to travel frequently, you can work with a travel agent to manage your trips. Considering their skills, a travel agent is more likely to find good deals for accommodation and flights. For tasks such as laundry, home maintenance, and cleaning, you can contract with someone who can provide these services on a recurring basis.
How do you effectively outsource work?
There are several things that you need to consider when outsourcing business tasks. Let’s explore them below.
Know all legal regulations
All business owners have concerns about the legal ramifications of outsourcing. These include whether it is legally possible to obtain services from an overseas outsourcing provider and whether their data will remain secure. Other concerns pertain to providers adhering to regulations.
At present, there are several laws which govern how businesses may use customer information. There are other rules pertaining to minimum wage and taxes that all businesses must be aware of.
Being the owner, you need to be informed about applicable laws and regulations irrespective of whether you choose to outsource or not. Based on your knowledge, you may decide to outsource certain tasks over others. Remember that it is you who is accountable to the state and you must ensure that you comply with all laws to avoid penalties and court cases.
Determine what tasks need outsourcing
Once you are aware of legal requirements, consider what tasks you can outsource. Keeping up with every aspect of your business individually can be arduous. Remember that outsourcing can help you save both time and money. Therefore, you can outsource any task that might be repetitive and time-consuming (for instance, managing your calendar). Outsourcing is also an option if you wish to bring in certain skills that you may lack (for instance, graphic design or content writing).
Select your partner
You need to invest sufficient time in finding an outsourcing partner. Research indicates that when it comes to outsourcing, business owners tend to rush toward making agreements with the first provider that they get in touch with. However, it can be more costly if you entered into an agreement and had to end it abruptly.
Treat the selection of an outsourcing agent to hiring an employee. Research their background thoroughly and ask for past work examples. Communicate your expectations from the partnership and ask what the other party’s requirements are. Giving considerable time to the selection process will help you to avoid unexpected expenses later.
Things you should be outsourcing in your business
Now that we have explored some ways you can effectively outsource tasks, let’s see what you should be outsourcing in your business. Outsourcing these tasks can enable you to be a better leader and focus on prioritizing and achieving your goals.
Accounting
When you have an established business, it is practical to hire someone with bookkeeping skills to discuss your sales figures. They can provide insights on how much your sales are fluctuating on a monthly basis and what would be a good sales figure for your business.
Other financial matters such as payroll require knowledge and specific skill sets. Consequently, they are best handled by someone with the appropriate knowledge. You will save more by outsourcing these roles since you can pay a fixed income each month instead of a full-time employee’s salary.
Legal work
Considering the importance of legal knowledge, it is necessary that you have access to all the information that you need to run your business smoothly. That requires expertise of a legal consultant who can acquaint you with all the laws that you need to be aware of.
Within the legal domain, every business needs to file their tax returns in a timely manner. If you do not have expertise in the same field, it might be beneficial to hire a professional who can help you file your taxes accurately.
Marketing services
Like accounting, marketing is a specialized field that requires education and experience. If you are not familiar with marketing tactics such as social media marketing, it is best to work with a professional who can work on them instead. Having their expertise will allow you to reach more consumers via social media, email, blogs, videos, and more.
IT
Technology is another area where most business owners choose to outsource. When you are just starting your business, you may not require much technical assistance. However, as your business starts to expand, installing well-defined technical processes and systems can help to improve your overall efficiency.
Outsourcing can assist you with implementing technical systems which you can use to protect your data, keep records, and share your work among colleagues. Working with an IT professional by outsourcing initially can also help to save the costs associated with recruiting a full-time IT consultant whom you might need as your business grows eventually.
