The benefits of outsourcing for small businesses

Are you a small business owner? Are you so busy with the day-to-day running of your business that you are loosing track of your goals? If the answer is yes, you need to take a step back and think about outsourcing. It is perfectly okay to let professionals take some of your workload.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a cost and time-saving strategy that has become really popular in the past two decades. It involves transferring some of your workload to professionals elsewhere because it is more cost effective for your business. Even though it seems like a big step for a small business and you want to keep all the strings in your own hands, the outsourcing strategy will prove beneficial for you in the long run.

Why outsource?

As a beginner entrepreneur, you need to have your eyes firmly set on your business. You have a promise to deliver to your customers. Whether it is a product that takes some time to assemble or a service that is yet to be organized, your customers expect you to deliver as soon as possible. If you are the head of a new start-up, chances are that you will be doing all the work by yourself for a while. But, are you capable of running the show alone? Can you afford to spend so much time and money on learning how to do every little thing? If the answer is no, you need to consider the possibility of outsourcing some of your work.

When should you start thinking about outsourcing?

The answer is right away. Considering the fact that customers place their confidence in you and your business, you need to clearly state what you can offer. Having the big picture is great, but do you have the time to work on all the tiny details it consists of?

Whether it is an online store, where you have to make sure that the website is user-friendly; easy to navigate; bug-free, or a small coffee shop where you have to create the perfect ambience; choose the suitable background music; be in charge of the marketing campaign, etc. in the grand scheme of things, these are all distractions from your main goal. As they say, “time is money”, so the more time you end up spending on finding a solution to the small problems, the more money you lose in the long run.

What should you outsource?

Let’s take the coffee shop example again. You want to open a place that is going to be the synonym of relaxation, a place where you can spend a pleasant time chatting with your friends. You have a logo in mind, and the array of music that would be best suited for your type of clients. Unfortunately, you are not a graphic designer that can create the logo representative of your ideas and you could end up spending hours in frustration, trying to learn how to use one of the many graphic design programs. At the same time, you have to think about the interior and how you are going to promote your shop. By outsourcing the task of creating the logo to a designer, you save precious time. Time that you can spend doing what you are doing best and promoting your business. Of course, there are always tasks that are too important and you have to handle them by yourself as the manager or owner, but delegating the smaller things to professionals will prove to be a good investment in the long run. Consider outsourcing your web development, part of your administrative work, your social media content and your book keeping and you suddenly have a lot more time to spend on growing your business.

In conclusion, outsourcing represents a real time and money saver for small businesses. By letting others take care of what you are not great at, you can focus on your strengths and grow your business. Even though when you outsource, it seems like dollars leaving your business, hour for hour, outsourcing delivers a better bang for the buck than doing everything yourself.

Convinced? Contact us at InterloperInc.com and let’s help you out from data entry to web design, virtual assistants to customer service. Contact us. You’ll be glad you did!