Three Tasks To Outsource

No one ever said that running a business was easy, whether small or large. There are just so many different things you need to be thinking about at any given time. When you are a small business you may not have the resources to do it all yourself. Whether you are producing products or services, you still need to do a lot of background work that can be tedious and take up a lot of time. This is where outsourcing services can be a huge advantage to small businesses.

By outsourcing, small business owners gain some freedom to prioritise what really matters – working on the business.

Sometimes it can feel like there are never-ending, time-intensive tasks businesses have to undertake. These are the jobs that might make up important processes to ensure a business runs smoothly, they are by no means ones that entrepreneurs or key employees should handle.

Additionally, adding value to a customer should be one of the key reasons to consider outsourcing. You should be thinking about how you can benefit your customers rather than worrying about jobs like organising payroll each fortnight.

The aim of outsourcing has to be to have all aspects of your business and the tasks at hand covered by the best people for the job. This also has to be achieved within the budget constraints of the company.

There is no point in trying to do everything yourself, especially if you not confident in what you are doing. Even worse when the consequences are that you as the owner and key manager are running yourself into the ground trying to get it everything done in a timely manner.

So what are three tasks you can outsource that will instantly save you time and money.

Accounting

Accounting is one of the most common areas where small businesses choose to outsource. If you’re not a financial expert, then it can take a lot of time and skills to learn all the processes and compliance standards your company must meet. Whereas, a skilled accountant can often manage this area for multiple businesses at once. This increases efficiency and saves you money.

You really don’t want to make mistakes when you handle the finances for your business. You often get the experience of a team when you outsource.

Payroll in particular is the most commonly outsourced service, yet many small businesses still handle this function in-house. Handing this task off to the experts or helpful payroll software has been shown to decrease costs and increase compliance. Tax can be equally burdensome. Online services and automated software can reduce the risk of bundling this up and save you a bundle in the long run.

Marketing

When it’s time to grow your business, an outside marketing firm can help you do it quickly. They can take the ad design, content creation or social media posting off your plate so you can focus on the internal functions of your business. Additionally, these firms are usually filled with professionals who can help you come up with creative ideas and helpful strategies you may not have otherwise had access to.

Additionally, content marketing is becoming crucial to businesses but is so time consuming. Additionally when not done by a professional, it could come across  too “salesy.” The objective is to generate leads, but content also nurtures the relationships you have with those leads to improve your chances of closing a sale.

Rather than spending your time producing and distributing content, or hiring a marketing team to tackle it, consider outsourcing it. You can start small by hiring a freelance writer, or you can employ an agency. Both options will save you money, and help you build better relationships with your customers.

IT Management

IT is one of the largest outsourcing industries around as it can be extremely expensive to handle IT operations in-house. The average business has limited ability and knowledge to manage all of its IT needs. The potential advantages of outsourcing IT tasks are enormous.

You can outsource to a managed service provider or work with a firm that offers on-demand assistance to handle any tech issues or initiatives you may have.

In addition to cost savings, using outside vendors or cloud solutions to manage your IT functions makes you more agile as a company and provides flexibility as your business grows.

There are so many more areas than this that you can outsource. Look at your team, your processes and the work you have to do on a regular basis. Consider outsourcing those areas where you and your team struggle. Also, look at the difference in costs between a full-time hire and outsourcing. That difference alone could help you decide. Regardless of which task you’ll be outsourcing, the most important thing to remember is properly vetting the company or individual you’ll be outsourcing the task to.