2017 July 03 Archive - EXEIdeas – Let's Your Mind Rock

So many new entrepreneurs feel that it’s important to maintain full control over their business. They take on every task themselves, no matter how large or small it might be. This is quite understandable since entrepreneurs are building a business from the ground up. We are all highly motivated individuals who have a focused vision. We are not afraid to put on as many hats as it takes to be successful.Eventually, if we continue to follow this pattern, then we’re going to hit a wall. Many of the tasks we do are eating away at our precious time – time that could be better spent working on more important aspects of our business. True business success comes from outsourcing. Delegation is perhaps the most important business skill you will ever learn.Why Outsourcing Leads To Business Success:As entrepreneurs, it’s natural to have doubts about the abilities of people you’ve never met. What you have to realize is that outsourcing provides rewards that far outweigh the risks. For starters, freelancers often specialize in tasks within their niche. In short, they are much more qualified to be performing those tasks than you are. For example, transcriptionists can transcribe audio files much more efficiently than you could. They have tools and experience specific to that task. They also have a system in place that is specifically designed for transcription. Accountants are much better bookkeepers than you are. It might take you 12 hours to do what they could in just 1-2 hours.When you think about it, it will make sense to pay someone for 1-2 hours when it frees up 12 hours of your time. That time could be used to grow your business. In many cases, you’ll spend far less on the operation of your business than you would if you were to waste time trying to perform those tasks yourself.What Tasks Should be outsourced?Another area that can be intimidating for new business owners is deciding what tasks to outsource. Here is a quick guide to making that decision. Keep in mind that you should start out small. Delegate one task, get a system in place and ensure that everything is going smoothly before moving onto the next.Specialized Tasks: Web design is a great example of a specialized task that you should outsource – unless of course, you’re a web designer. First and foremost, web design specialists can create much better websites than you could in-house. Other specialized tasks include copywriting, marketing, and bookkeeping.Repetitive And Mundane Tasks: Even if you have a team working in your business, it’s a good idea to outsource repetitive and mundane tasks so that your team can focus on core business operations. Data entry and routine web updates are two examples of repetitive tasks that can easily be outsourced.Lead Generation Tasks: Tasks that involve generating leads are often a great candidate for outsourcing. Talented salespeople are usually better prepared to speak with potential consumers. Some examples of lead generation tasks include social media engagements, cold calling, and forum engagements.IT Operations: This is an area where so many people drop the ball. They believe that it’s cheaper to do this in-house, but that’s simply not true! I could write an entire book on why it’s essential to let experts handle your IT Operations – security and cost being at the top of the list. Remember, specialists will have tools at their disposal that you don’t have access to.When Should You Outsource?Timing is everything in business success. The market changes so rapidly that a great decision today might be a poor decision tomorrow. The bottom line is that you need to choose the correct time for outsourcing.The first step is to define your core business tasks. Those tasks are off-limits for outsourcing!With that said, here are three questions you must answer before outsourcing:1.) Is the task a core business task?If you answer “no,” then you can outsource the task.2.) Will this service be needed full-time?If the task would require 40 hours per week, then you should consider hiring a full-time employee or else it would be more feasible to outsource the tasks.3.) Does it cost less to outsource the task?If the answer is “yes,” then you should outsource it.About the Author:Catherine Park is a professional Content Writer and a blogger full of energy and positivism currently working on the BackOfficePro team, a business process outsourcing firm. She is an expert in writing exclusive content on business and technologies that are helpful for large enterprises, SMEs and business startups.Find Me On Facebook | Twitter