Outsourcing for Business Growth and Success
A business owner typically dons various hats during the long day, from salesperson to accountant to HR manager to marketing, leaving you stressed for time. This imposes a negative impact on work life balance. There is no day off and you’re stressed during holidays, too busy to reply to mails and answer calls. Reducing workload without sacrificing output is challenging. Outsourcing is an option to achieve this, by paying a third party company or tapping into cloud-based services to avoid doing the work yourself.
Businesses outsource to get things done quickly or access specialist expertise to ensure a better job. It helps operate your business optimally, and can be an absolute life saver. Outsourcing enables to focus on what you do best, manage and grow your business whilst delivering quality customer services. All are achieved keeping costs low so you are profitable. These goals were probable when your company was launched but became difficult to reach over time.
When to think about outsourcing
When to outsource is critical. Do boring admin tasks fill up your day, drain you of energy and prevent you from real work? Do you fail to address customer requests but yet feel guilty? Are deadlines at slipping point or already fallen behind? Have you rejected paying projects due to lack of time and resources, and wonder if that customer ever gives a chance in the future? Are sales growth tailing off? Are important tasks not attended to as none can measure up? All these signs are accompanied by flashing warning sirens warning that you are on the inevitable slippery slope to a major problem.
Why Outsource?
Remember Bill Gates choosing lazy people for difficult tasks as inevitably select easy ways to get it done. Outsource your work as it’s quicker, cheaper with you finding people with better experience, skills, and more resources than you. Imagine relaxing with a four-hour workweek, to work smarter, not harder? Forget about daily stress as you don’t always keep the machine running. Without room for pleasure, why be a successful business owner? Save precious time, educate yourself and invest in your business
Employing Freelancers
Before outsourcing, have clear, concise objectives. Walking into a fast-food restaurant and saying you’re hungry, ensures your needs are unidentified and unsatisfied. What should you outsource? Tasks you can’t handle, like developing a business website; obviously you hire an expert in web design. Outsource jobs that are repetitive, well defined, and can’t be messed up too easily. Also, you should outsource the tasks that you can’t handle. Give specific instructions with examples so that both your and the freelancer’s life is made easy with the collaboration. Establish quality metrics for your outsourced agreement to be measured against and performance related incentives to reward achievement of agreed targets.
Conclusion
Outsourcing activities impact workload and work-life balance, but what works for one business may not suit another. Two same industry companies may have different challenges. What you plan to outsource and when, is relevant rather than outsourcing in the first place, and would be a smart decision. See your child’s play or visit your relative. Relax with your partner and stop checking emails every ten minutes. Carve out more time for yourself to ensure better productivity for your business.