Every successful business outsources. But are you outsourcing the right tasks for your business? Is outsourcing growing your small business?
It’s essential to choose the right tasks to outsource. Some tasks are more sensible to keep doing yourself or to delegate to employees. This post explains when (and when not) to outsource business tasks.
Table of Contents
The Outsourcing Process
Outsourcing involves hiring an external team or company to handle specific tasks or services. It typically starts by identifying areas where outsourcing makes sense, like IT support, customer service, or accounting.
Then, businesses research and choose providers based on cost, expertise, and reliability. Once a contract is signed, the provider takes over the agreed work while maintaining communication to meet performance goals.
This setup helps companies focus on their main priorities while reducing costs or filling skill gaps.
Outsource tasks that you’re not skilled at
It makes sense to outsource tasks that you don’t have the knowledge or physical ability to carry out well yourself. For example, if you and none of your employees know anything about computer repair or cybersecurity, then it’s worthwhile outsourcing managed IT services.
Don’t outsource tasks that you are skilled at. If you’ve been doing your own social media advertising and getting good results, there’s no reason to outsource a marketing company. You should particularly avoid outsourcing the core services of your business (it makes no sense for an accounting firm to outsource accounting).
Outsourcing The Right Tasks That Are Time-Consuming
Some tasks can take up a lot of time and prevent you from managing others. For example, a lot of law firms spend a tremendous amount of time doing litigation work. Outsourcing litigation could be one way to free massive amounts of time on cases.
Avoid outsourcing tasks that are quicker to do yourself. There’s no point outsourcing someone to run an errand that only takes a few minutes – by the time you’ve found someone to run that errand, you could have already done it yourself.
Similarly, if you’ve got a tight deadline, you should consider whether you can realistically find someone in time.
Outsource tasks you don’t enjoy
If there’s a task that you detest, then it makes sense to outsource this. Interrupting work to answer the phone is a typical example of a task many business owners hate. Outsourcing someone to answer phone calls could allow you to focus more on jobs you enjoy.
Of course, if you enjoy talking to clients or suppliers on the phone, then this is not a job you should outsource. Some companies make the mistake of outsourcing time-consuming or difficult jobs but fun and rewarding.
Outsourcing these tasks could affect work morale and make your work more tedious. It all comes down to which tasks you enjoy.
Outsourcing The Right tasks you can afford to outsource
Outsourcing things costs money. It’s only ever worth outsourcing a task if you can afford it. Many solo startups cannot initially afford to outsource tasks like accounting and marketing. You may find these tasks are only affordable to outsource once you start developing steady earnings.
Sometimes, outsourcing is a way to save money rather than doing something in-house. For example, some companies outsource printing services rather than investing in a commercial printer. If you constantly need to mass print items, it may make sense to invest in your own printer.
But if you only need to print things occasionally, it may be more financially sensible to outsource the task when needed.
Conclusion: Outsourcing The Right Tasks To Save Time
Outsourcing works best when it saves time, reduces costs, or brings skills you don’t have. Look at tasks that slow you down or aren’t worth your full attention. Admin work, bookkeeping, IT support, or marketing are common ones to outsource.
\But don’t give away anything tied to your core goals or that needs your personal touch. Ask yourself: Is this task something I should handle only? If not, it might be the right one to delegate.
