When you first start running a small business, you have total control over every single aspect of it. However, as time goes on, you realise that you don’t have enough hours in the day to properly manage every single aspect of it. One solution is to hire people in different departments to take care of the responsibilities. Of course, this can end up getting quite costly for a small business owner. The other obvious answer is to outsource certain aspects of your company. The question remains: which parts of your business should you outsource? And while we can’t answer that question for you directly, we can give you some points to mull over which are here to help you out.
Why Should You Outsource?
Before you do anything, you need to know what the specific benefits of outsourcing are in the first place. There are various advantages which your business can experience by passing over your responsibilities elsewhere. First of all, it frees up time so that you can focus on your core business responsibilities rather than trying to manage areas which you may not be all that experienced in. At the same time, you should be more productive as you are not constantly having to bounce around from one task to the next without being sure of what you are doing. You are also handing over parts of your business to an individual or company who specialises in that area and should do a better job than you can. Finally, from a financial perspective, it is generally cheaper to outsource rather than hiring a full-time member of staff to take care of the job in hand.
Which Tasks Would Be Best for Your Business to Outsource?
Now that you know the benefits of outsourcing, your next job is to work out which tasks are going to be best for your business to pass over to someone else. To start of with, you could think about the tasks that you dread doing – the ones which you are most likely to put off and procrastinate on. Next up, you could look into the tasks which tend to be repetitive and time-consuming. Essentially, anything which is diverting your attention away from the creative endeavour of running your company. You could also choose the jobs which you don’t have a great deal of knowledge on or the areas which simply aren’t your strong point.
To give you a little more inspiration and direction, let’s go through some of the most commonly outsourced tasks for businesses.
Graphic Design
Running a small business may mean that you only need a limited amount of design work, but hiring in someone with a creative eye can really pay off – particularly when it comes to the logo and branding of your company. Since so much business is conducted online these days, you also may need some promotional graphics for your social media accounts, blog, and other marketing materials.
IT Support
If tech has never been your strong point, you may decide that you want to outsource some IT support services – especially if your company is the process of expanding or introducing new and complicated new hardware or software. Before you are choosing an IT support company, you need to check whether they have the relevant credentials such as reviews, recommendations and company case studies. You need to ensure that they are adept in dealing with the specific items of tech which you are using in your company.
Social Media Setup and Management
Social media as a marketing tool has taken off over the past few years, and if it is done right, it can be highly effective. But there is also no doubt that it can be mighty time-consuming trying to manage all of the individual accounts which you have set up. Not only this, people are increasingly using social media as a direct means of contact for businesses. You may think that you are better off leaving social media to someone else so that you can concentrate on other aspects of your business.
Content Creation
Successful websites revolve around the continual creation of content, and there is no doubt that this can eat into your time – particularly if you are not so good with words. If you still want to maintain a degree of control, you could handle the article research yourself and just leave the writing to someone else. Other content that you may want to hire a freelance writer to create includes your company brochure, press releases, marketing materials etc.
Podcasts and Video Creation
It is not just through words that people are looking to communicate with their customers these days. Two of the other popular means of conveying information include through podcasts and videos. Even if you want to appear in these media yourself, you still have the option of outsourcing the script writing or production editing. After all, you want whatever your company is producing to look slick and professional.
Accountancy
Good accountants should pay for themselves in the money that they can save your business. Plus, trying to handle the financial side of your business all by yourself can be quite intimidating for a lot of people. All businesses need to have a good handle on their finances to ensure that they are managing their cashflow properly and growing.
Sending and Answering Emails
Sometimes, it is not the complicated tasks that take the most time. Outsourcing something as simple as sending and receiving emails can end up helping you out in a big way. You could either outsource this area of business to an admin professional or else leave your inbox for a virtual assistant to take over. Of course, you will probably still want to answer the most important and pressing messages yourself.
Hopefully, after reading through this article, you have a better idea of which areas of your business you would like to outsource in the near or long-term future.
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