As a small business owner, you have to wear so many different hats it can become exhausting. As well as running your business and trying to get sales, you need to deal with the marketing, bookkeeping, payroll, social media and a whole load of other things. There comes a point when it can all get too much, and that is when you should consider outsourcing some of these tasks.
The big advantage of outsourcing id that you only pay for the work that is completed, and while you are getting your business off the ground, that can be a huge saving.
Outsource Your Weaknesses
You need to be honest with yourself and make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. For most small business and startup owners, they are best at concentrating ion running the business and their weaknesses lie in other areas. There is no shame in not having the time or inclination to do everything yourself. In fact, researchers say that business owners that try to do everything are about 40% less productive than those who admit they need help.
Web Design And Maintenance
Your online presence is crucial to the success of your business, and it matters that your website is engaging, pleasing to the eye and very user-friendly. Outsourcing the creation and maintenance of your website can be the first step toward your business getting off the ground, and you can learn more by reading here. There is so much to do to make sure that your website is as effective as it should be, so do not leave it and let it get stale. Outsource your website to someone else.
Content Marketing
You need your website to have easy to read content that is not too promotional. It should be designed to engage your target audience and nurture leads that will turn into sales.
Your content should earn you the respect and awareness of viewers, which will help to build trust in your brand. Large companies often have someone that is solely responsible for this task, but as a small business that cost would be prohibitive. It is far better for you to outsource the task to a freelance writer, or employ an agency to create the content for you.
The same applies if you want videos or images as part of your content. You do not need to hire professional actors or models, but someone that is good with a camera could be very useful.
Trying to write or create the content yourself is time-consuming and your hours could be spent more productively.
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping can be tedious, but having proper records of your sales and expenses is vital. Outsource your bookkeeping to someone that knows what he or she is doing and the whole process will become much easier. You just need to keep everything in one place for them, and then they will take it off your hands.
This can be even more important is there are any queries. You may well remember something that happened in the last couple of weeks, but would you remember a problem from 6 months ago? This is the sort of thing that arises when your bookkeeping is not done on a regular basis, and as your business gets busier, it is one of the jobs that will get constantly pushed to one side for when you have the time. The trouble is, you never do.
Outsourcing it make a big difference to the time you can spend on your business, as after all that is what you will be best at.
Payroll
Payroll can be very complex and to make matters worse, the IRS changes the rates and sometimes the rules every year. You can end up with horrendous fines and penalties for getting this wrong, so outsourcing your payroll makes a lot of sense. You cannot just take a guess at how much someone’s stoppages should be. You have to get it right or suffer the consequences.
In 2014, the total fines and penalties the IRS was able to charge amounted to more than $2 billion. Do not make your financial situation worse by having to pay these things, get someone with the knowledge needed to do it for you.
General Administration
It is too easy to get bogged down with tasks that could so easily be carried out by someone else. General administration is an example of just one thing that can take up your valuable time. A virtual assistant could save you hours in answering emails, organizing appointments and other repetitive tasks.
Social Media
Social media can be one of the biggest marketing tools your business has. It is not costly in terms of money, but in your time it costs far too much. However, it cannot be ignored as many businesses have found out in the past. Regular posts need uploading. Comments need replies, which should all be positive if you want to build trust in your brand.
Even paid adverts on social media platforms are not overly expensive, and can be targeted at the people you want them to reach.
Email Campaigns
Staying connected with your existing customers is in some ways more important than finding new ones, and certainly, it is cheaper. Email campaigns are a great way to do this, and there are websites that will send out many thousands for you at very little cost. However, the email address you want messages sent to have to be entered into them, and this is something that you could easily outsource to someone else.
Then when your next newsletter is ready to go, you will know that it will reach the whole of your customer base rather than just part of it.
Outsourcing Makes Sense
There may well come a time when your business is profitable enough to employ people to do all of these tasks, but in the meantime, outsourcing makes sense. In fact, some businesses never stop outsourcing some of their tasks. They build a relationship with a bookkeeper, for instance, and no matter how large they get, find that the trust they have in that person is so worthwhile, that they keep using them all the time.
