What Jobs Should You Outsource?

One of the biggest mistakes we see many small businesses make, is not outsourcing. And it’s easy to understand why. When you’re growing your own business it can often feel that no one can do jobs as well as you, that it’s quicker just to do them yourself rather than explain to someone else what needs doing, or that you can’t afford to outsource.

But rather than being an expensive drain on time and resources, when done wisely outsourcing won’t just save you money, but can actually help your business to grow faster.

Here’s why:

Outsourcing frees you up to spend time on the jobs that will deliver maximum impact on your business.
It also gives you access to expertise that you don’t have.
It allows you to get distance from your business to think more creatively and objectively.
You start building a team of people you can draw on to take your business up a level.

Three tasks you should consider outsourcing

So if outsourcing is so vital, what tasks should you be paying someone else to do? Here are three common business areas that are often best outsourced.

Accounting

How good at you at staying on top of your accounts? Do you do it regularly? Do you enjoy it? Do you get through it quite quickly? If the answer to these questions is ‘yes’ then you may consider keeping accounting in-house.

But if, like many business owners, accounting and bookkeeping is a much-dreaded (and often put off), time-consuming task, then consider outsourcing it to a professional. Here are some good reasons why:

They’ll be quicker at it.
It will save you stress and time.
They’ll make fewer mistakes.
They could spot ways to save you money.

By ensuring that your accounts are done regularly (which is more likely to happen when you’ve got a professional on the case!) you’ll have a clearer picture of your business’ financial health, and can make wiser financial decisions.

Design and branding

Unless you have a trained or keen design background, it’s a good idea to outsource your design and branding. Yes it will cost you more than having a stab at it yourself, but you’ll end up with MUCH more professional results that will help you to grow your brand faster, and attract more of the right type of customers.

It will also save you a lot of time in playing around with designs yourself. Plus most designers will also be able to recommend good printers who will deliver higher quality finished products for less.

Social media

How much time do you have to spare every day for Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms? We’re guessing probably not enough. You see, to build up a big enough presence on social media – one that delivers a return on investment in terms of brand building and sales – you need time and expertise.

By outsourcing your social media to an expert, you’ll harness all the learning they’ve acquired (learning that it would probably take you months to get yourself) and see more impressive results much more quickly.

Focus on what you do best

These are just three common tasks you may consider outsourcing. But there are many more that may work for your business.

If there was ever a golden rule, it would be to outsource tasks that take you a lot of time, that you don’t enjoy, and that aren’t your key skill set.