Company owners don’t have to do everything themselves, nor do they need a big in-house staff. Business outsourcing provides many benefits that can improve operations and output.
You’re an expert. Whatever problem your company was created to solve, you know your service or product better than the back of your hand. You don’t know everything about everything, however. There are certain elements of your operations that really should be turned over to experienced professionals who can handle them more efficiently.
While you can certainly bring in experts on the other essential aspects of running a successful business, this may not be feasible for a variety of reasons. You might not have the budget for full-time staff, for example, or might need too many experts from too many fields to keep things running smoothly if everyone were brought on in-house.
Fortunately, business outsourcing is a viable option. Here’s what you need to know about it, including how it can help your business stay on the path toward growth.
Why should your business outsource?
Business outsourcing involves hiring outside help to tackle the tasks that you or your staff lack either the time capacity or expertise to handle. It offers a variety of benefits for both new and existing businesses, including letting you:
Save time
Business leaders need to focus on growth, so they can’t be bogged down with time-consuming tasks that take their attention from more important areas. This doesn’t mean they need to hire employees to handle those to-do items, however. Things like payroll processing can easily be outsourced to a payroll services provider, which could free up several hours every week.
Save money
Do you know what hiring a new employee may cost you? According to Glassdoor, the average company spends about $4,000 per hire. And that’s before they even walk in the door. Add that to their salary – plus any benefits you offer – and suddenly you’re on the hook for quite a bit of money. When you outsource, you are paying for the specific thing you need done. That fee will typically be on an hourly or per-project basis, thereby cutting business expenses and saving your company thousands per month.
Find the right people for the job
Gone are the days of companies only being able to look locally for employees. A global workforce means they can now find top talent anywhere. The perfect people for your business may not be in your time zone or even your country, but hiring them on a freelance basis will let you tap into their specific expertise or skillsets.
What should your business outsource?
Understanding and recognizing the benefits of business outsourcing is the first step. The next is thinking about what you could hand off to other people to lighten your workload. This could include:
Bookkeeping and accounting
This seemingly mundane task is exceptionally important for your business. You need to stay on top of your finances, after all, and the numbers have to be completely accurate. Having a clear understanding of how cash is flowing is also vital, as a large number of small businesses – over 80%, in fact – fail due to cash flow problems. Letting the pros handle your books can help you stay in compliance with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as well.
Administrative tasks
How much time do you spend setting up meetings and appointments or responding to emails and phone calls? If these things take up big chunks of your day, think about utilizing a virtual assistant who can manage them for you. Employee scheduling is something else that can be outsourced, or perhaps even automated by software.
Marketing
Growing a business involves a lot of promotion for it, and there are many firms and freelancers that know exactly how to showcase yours. Quality, consistent content is a particularly crucial element of a marketing strategy, but this doesn’t mean you or your team has to create it. You can start small – perhaps by having somebody write a few blog posts or social media updates per week – and then decide down the road if it makes sense to hire an in-house content creator.
IT
Even if your company doesn’t have a lot to do with technology, it almost certainly relies on computers and other equipment. This means that somebody has to make sure it stays in good working order and that your data is safe and secure. An on-site IT professional might be great, but no longer necessary, thanks to business outsourcing. Offsite teams can manage your equipment and security, respond to breaches or breakdowns, and visit you as needed to maintain your systems.
Hiring
Searching for the right people for your company – whether they’ll be in-house or not – is another task that can be very time consuming. Finding top candidates, vetting them, and then scheduling and completing interviews can be a lengthy process, which is why it could be best leaving this to others. Outsourcing your human resources and hiring needs will allow you to get and secure the best candidates without the hassle.
Training and coaching
If you find yourself spending too much time creating or distributing training materials for your team, this is something else to think about outsourcing. You spend time setting up a framework for how you want your people trained, and an outside company can then disseminate it. That framework also means you don’t need to monitor your team’s performance, as outside coaches can do this for you.
Find the right partner for your business growth needs
Businesses – particularly newer ones – need all the help they can get, and MetaGrowth Ventures can supply it. If yours is dependent on sales, we help you find the perfect salespeople. We’re in business to make the hiring process a lot easier for you, plus handle training and monitor performance. Contact us to get started.
Written by
Joe Arioto