As a small business owner, you're probably noticing that your to-do list gets longer, and you are always looking for tips, tricks, and hacks to make sure you get the most out of your day. At some point, we all have to admit that we can't do everything ourselves, and we need to start delegating or looking for answers.
One of the best tips for any small business owner looking to maximize productivity is to learn how to outsource. But what is outsourcing? Outsourcing is simply an agreement or understanding in which one company hires another to be responsible for an existing activity. You are shifting a task or workload to someone else so you can focus on other more pressing tasks or better manage or maximize your own time.
So, why should you outsource? The advantages of outsourcing for your business are apparent:
- Minimized risk by delegating to more experienced personnel
- Maximized access to expert knowledge
- Freed time to focus on what matters to your company
- Reduced costs by outsourcing tasks that would require internal hiring
- Maintained productivity even while you are not on the clock
- The ability to take advantage of the latest tech and knowledge
- Your project planning is more targeted
Even if you have never outsourced any of your operations, several websites and organizations can help match you and your needs with external companies willing and able to handle your outsourced tasks. The following ten functions are things you can easily outsource to ensure your business stays productive and gets more done!
10 Functions to Outsource in Your Business
1. IT Management
In a world that relies on tech and online solutions, IT Management has become critical. You may know your business well, but that doesn't mean IT management is your forte, and this is why IT management is one of the functions that many small companies outsource. By outsourcing IT management, you relieve yourself of the hassle of technical errors and gain on-demand support when your servers and services are not working at peak capacity.
2. Marketing
One of the essential elements of any business is marketing. The difference between your company fading away or having staying power could be your marketing efforts. Outsourcing your marketing efforts allows you to focus on your company's internal workings while an expert handles your ad design, content creation, or social media presence. Without the help of seasoned marketing professionals, you may miss out on vital creative ideas and concrete strategies that will set your business apart from leading competitors.
3. Sales
Outsourcing sales is an excellent idea if you prefer to focus on your product or service. Your organization may have a great product or idea, but you can't afford future development without professionals who can close deals and win negotiations. This, in turn, can bring in more business and free up your time to focus on your strengths.
4. Accounting
Accounting is a great area to outsource because it can seem daunting or overwhelming to the average business owner. If you aren't a financial whiz, why take up all of your time trying to learn the ins and outs of finance? A skilled accountant can ensure your finances are in tip-top shape and that you are following all standards and laws your company must meet, which in the end saves you money!
5. Shipping & Logistics
Depending on your business model, shipping can be an expensive and time-consuming step in your product/service life cycle. For example, businesses running an e-commerce store can spend large sums of money and time planning and distributing their services and products to consumers. Outsourcing this task allows you to focus on your service and product delivery and marketing while ensuring you have the reliability of a solid shipping and logistics partner. This suggestion can be overlapped with the following advice in the form of a manufacturing and shipping provider.
6. Manufacturing
Manufacturing is a massive step in any business wheel. Whether you need to set up a manufacturing site and facility, hire tradespeople to operate the facility or source the raw materials to build your product, it will be a costly endeavour. As a small business, this may not be feasible for you or rational financially, which is why you should consider outsourcing your manufacturing instead. Established manufacturing firms have access to mass production facilities and labour pools that can help you bring your product to life on a larger scale at a fraction of the cost.
7. Customer Services
If your businesses deal with customers on a routine business, whether online or over the phone, you may be tying up the time of many of your key staffers. An incredible way to increase staff efficiency and reduce downtime due to redundant customer service is to outsource your service needs to a customer service strategy team, call center, or chat service. Doing so will allow you to have quicker customer service times, potentially better service hours for customers, and free up your staff's time to focus on internal operations without disruption.
8. Admin Tasks
The rise of the virtual assistant industry has triggered an increase in the outsourcing of administrative tasks. Today, a reliable virtual assistant can handle everything from web management to email management and scheduling. This is an excellent option for solo entrepreneurs or business people that need to free up their time by having an assistant handle or streamline their mundane day-to-day tasks. Depending on the cost of outsourcing, this could be a great and inexpensive way to get more done in a week and increase your organizational efficiency.
9. Human Resources
Human resources in today's world cover many tasks – hiring, onboarding, exit planning, and personnel management. Outsourcing this wide array of functions from payroll to hiring and onboarding can ensure you keep up to date with modern practices while finding the best possible candidates to fill out your team.
10. Research
No business can sit still forever, and you always need to grow and adapt. But launching a new product or designing your next prototype is not an easy or quick feat. This is why you may want to consider outsourcing your research. Whether it be product research or weeks of surveying and crowd polling, you can outsource these efforts to research firms that already have systems and resources in place to find you meaningful insights in a timely and efficient manner.
Increase Efficiency and Streamline Your Business with Ridgebase
These ten functions are just some of the things you can outsource in your company to increase your productivity. If you're a business owner or entrepreneur looking to streamline your efforts, advantages are plenty and worth giving a try.
If you are looking for a partner that you can leverage to outsource the technical aspects of your business, consider reaching out to an experienced advisor at Ridgebase to chat about your options and learn how you can lighten your workload.
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