Running a successful business is hard. There are so many roles to juggle that in most cases it’s practically impossible to keep on top of them all (or at least practically impossible to do them all well). The solution to this problem – don’t do these tasks. Pay another company to do them instead.
This is known as outsourcing and is something that all successful businesses do. Outsourcing has many benefits. Most businesses use it as a way of handling the tasks they don’t want to do – either roles that are boring or time-consuming, or roles that require added expertise. All in all, outsourcing allows you and your staff to focus on your strengths, whilst allowing other professionals to handle your weaknesses.
Almost any task can be outsourced. If you really wanted you could outsource every aspect of your business, providing that you can pay for it all. Here are some examples to consider.
Cleaning
Keeping your office clean is important for presentation and for the health of your employees. Cleaning is menial and time-consuming however, and whilst some businesses encourage their staff to tidy up after themselves and follow cleaning rotas, many would rather leave it in the hands of a professional company.
You can hire a cleaner full time or pay for regular deep cleans. Note that there are certain specialised cleaners for different tasks including carpet cleaning companies, tile cleaners, window cleaners, industrial cleaners, vehicle cleaners and pest control services.
Most businesses don’t have the time for DIY. Whilst some may hire a full-time on-site handyman or technician, it’s generally more cost efficient and reliable to hire specific professionals for specific maintenances jobs as and when they arise. Maintenance tasks can include fixing machinery and computers, electrics, plumbing, decorating, roof maintenance, gardening, heating repair, sewerage repair and insulation. Generally anything that needs mending that requires practical skills unrelated to your company if best off in the hands of an outsourced maintenance company.
Marketing
Every business needs to market themselves in order to keep attracting new customers and keep old ones returning. However, marketing is arduous work and is constantly evolving to fit the times. To make impact, outsourcing a marketing company can sometimes be the best option.
You should market online and offline. Various companies will specialise in different areas (although some can offer bundles). SEO is one of the more popular online marketing strategies – aimed at improving your rankings on search engines such as Google. Other online marketing tactics include PPC ads (pay per click ads), social media managing and video marketing. Offline there are all manner of marketing strategies from leafleting, telemarketing, billboards, business cards, branded t-shirts, newspaper ads, Radio ads and TV ads. PR companies meanwhile can help feature your company in the media including news articles, radio interviews and reviews. Outsourcing other companies to deal with these marketing strategies can allow you to focus on your current clients and not have to constantly worry about future business.
Graphic design
Graphic design is important for the appearance of your brand. Some business owners will design their own website and maybe even rustle up a logo, but for specialising branding such as packaging you have to really outsource. With graphic design becoming more and more digitally reliant, attempts to do your own graphic design without proper software and knowledge can often come across amateurish. Most large businesses are even paying designers to produce Facebook headers.
Accountancy
Quite possibly the most common outsourced service by businesses is accountancy. Every business needs to keep on top of their books, but for many this can be an extremely time-consuming and complex task. Hiring an accountant to deal with your books frees up this time, as well as ensuring that all taxes and expenses are calculated correctly. Accountants can also provide financial advice, allowing you to explore options that can save your business money. When outsourcing an accountant, they must be trustworthy. It may benefit you to hire an accountant that has worked in your area of business before (e.g. retail, law, marketing) or to hire a chartered accountant.
HR
HR outsourcing is also becoming increasingly more common for businesses managing multiple staff members. For companies without set shifts – weekly rotas can take a lot of time and energy to produce. On top of this, you may have to account for holiday requests, sick leave, overtime, shift cover and training programmes. This can sometimes turn into a 24 hour job with employees emailing, ringing and texting out of hours. Outsourcing a special HR company to deal with these issues can help free up a lot of time. Some HR services can also provide counselling for staff as well as handling staff complaints. Recruitment agencies can meanwhile help hire new staff and fill important vacancies.
Content writing
Another task that can take up valuable time and energy is writing. Whilst this can sometimes be best left in the hands of your business itself in order to be more personal and carry more expertise, there are times when businesses may prefer to outsource these services such as press releases, reports, copywriting and legal documentation such as staff contracts and client terms and conditions. Such content may require a certain writing style that you or your business don’t possess and therefore outsourcing such talent could strengthen your business’s professionalism.
Emails
That’s right, even your emails can be outsourced. For businesses handling tons of emails every day, having someone to sieve through these and handpick the important ones can be very beneficial. You can free up the time ploughing through your inbox each morning and focus on more pressing matters at hand. Obviously some emails may require specific knowledge in order to know what to do with them, and so this service doesn’t apply to every business, or may require outsourcing a specific company for the job.
No comments:
Post a Comment