Too many small businesses owners try to handle tasks they shouldn’t and think that they’re saving money that way. In reality, they might be losing valuable time that could be redirected towards more crucial tasks. Some will pass these tasks down to employees who are either not supposed to handle them or don’t have the skills and expertise to do so. If you want to avoid issues and run a smoother operation, you need to consider outsourcing at least some of your functions. Here are some examples of tasks you could be outsourcing.
Accounting
Accounting is not an area in which you can rely on guesswork, and you certainly cannot afford mistakes. This is something that should be handed to a professional immediately if you have any doubt or find yourself being overwhelmed with all the rules and regulations you have to abide by.
The job of an accountant is not only to balance the books either. Accountants often know more about a business than the owners. A skilled accountant could warn you of areas where you might be bleeding money or help you with things like forecasting, for instance. Having a solid accountant will also help you know if you can handle equipment purchases or if you’re ready for expansion.
Payroll
Payroll is another function you should consider outsourcing. It should never be handled by someone with limited experience since errors can have such deep consequences. Your employees need to get their paychecks on time and without mistakes. You also have to worry about things like employee deductions, paying payroll taxes, and time-tracking, among others. These are all things an outsourced payroll administration service will be able to handle for you.
Human Resources
Your employees are the heart and soul of your organization, and hiring should be handled by professionals. HR is not just about hiring people – it’s also about creating the perfect environment for employees, building a company culture, boosting morale, training and onboarding, and crafting benefit packages. This is something only a few business owners will be able to handle competently on their own. Hiring a full-time HR team is also not a viable solution for many smaller companies either. Therefore, consider outsourcing this task. Here is where a PEO Company can be really helpful. In some countries with stringent regulations, having a partner can streamline the process of building a team and payroll.
Sales
Building a sales team is a lot of work and it doesn’t make sense for all companies to handle this function themselves. This will cost you a lot of money and you have no guarantee that it will get your results. Instead, you could look for a reputable team that is known for getting results. This way, you’ll at least know that you’ll be getting a return on your investment. An experienced team will have all the expertise and resources to make successful sales calls while setting up processes and funnels to close sales.
IT Management
If you were thinking of hiring an in-house IT manager, you should reconsider your decision. First of all, one expert will probably not be enough as they may be lacking some expertise in a certain area. Second of all, you might have to use some creativity to keep them busy as IT systems don’t always need to be actively maintained.
When you work with an IT service, you’ll only have to pay them a flat fee. You never know when you might have IT problems and you need to have access to an expert 24/7. Having someone on the payroll just so they can put out the occasional fire is counterproductive and outsourcing is often the best solution.
You should also consider hiring an IT team if you’re thinking of going remote. There are so many security implications that come with remote work and you may be oblivious to many of them. A dedicated team will be able to put all the necessary safeguards in place while reducing the chances of breaches. They will allow you to better monitor who is accessing your network and prevent attacks from malicious agents while they’re in progress.
Administrative Tasks
If you’re a one-person organization, you should definitely consider handing over some of your menial and repetitive tasks to a virtual assistant. You can find virtual assistants that will do everything from making follow-up calls, social media posting, managing emails, or maintaining a blog. This is also one of the easiest and most affordable ways to outsource. You can find VAs for as little as $10 these days but, as with anything else, you get what you pay for. If you want someone with specialized skills, expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $75.
Customer Service
Customer service is something many large and small businesses delegate to a third party, and you should consider doing it too. Hiring an in-house team would be overkill for most organizations. You have to be very careful when picking a team, however, since their performance will reflect on your brand. You have to set up the proper processes in place, pick a team with a good reputation, and make sure that they truly understand the nature of your business and clientele.
Online Marketing
Online marketing is one of those functions a lot of business owners think they can handle themselves. You might be able to do a few things on your own. However, things like content creation and online marketing are usually better handled by professionals.
Professionals will not only be more efficient but will be able to monitor the results of your efforts down to the last detail. This allows them to know exactly what works and to do more of it. A lot of business owners who try to do things like content creation on their own end up either being unfocused or not being able to monitor or replicate the results. Some may not even know which pieces are getting the most traction. Working with an outside team will translate to better results and less time wasted.
These are all tasks that you should consider outsourcing right now if you aren’t already. Outsourcing could ultimately help you keep costs down, run a more efficient organization, and focus on what truly matters.
