Business owners take on a lot on their own, especially when they are first starting out. You may have handled areas of business that are well outside your area of expertise or comfort, such as marketing, social media, or accounting. As your business grows, it may be helpful to consider ways that you can reduce your personal workload while still getting the job done through outsourcing.
Here are some signs it may be time to outsource.
1.You Have No Life Outside of Work
If you constantly say no to personal engagements, have little time for family and friends, skip the gym, or are relying on takeout for dinner, there is a good chance that you are way too busy at your job. Separation from work is important for your health and happiness. Getting burned out will only lead to feeling overwhelmed and your work will suffer. Consider help so that you get home at a reasonable time each day and are done with work.
2. Customers Are Not Satisfied
Trying to do everything yourself may lead to a lower quality service or product. Customers may have their phone calls go unanswered, emails returned late, or an order filled incorrectly. Customer service is a keep aspect of successfully growing your business, so if any part of the customer experience is lacking then it is time to get some help.
What business tasks are bogging you down? Outsourcing these will give you more time to focus on your customer experience. Accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, or keeping up with social media can take up a lot of time so these may be a great place to start. Virtual assistants can help with a variety of tasks to help manage your workload, such as data entry or database management.
3. You Aren’t Finding the Right People
Hiring employees to work directly for you can be a huge help or wind up being a burden. The right people are motivated, good at their work, and will give your company a stellar reputation, but workers who are not filling their roles can make more work in the long run. It may also make more financial sense for your business to outsource a task like accounting without the expenses that come with bringing someone on staff. Outsourcing usually means that you will pay an outside company for their services, but that company will be handling the payroll for its employees who are doing your work. Less work and hassle for you!
4. You are Struggling to Keep Up with Legal Requirements
Tax laws, labor laws, county codes, and compliances can be a lot for one person to manage, but not complying with legal requirements because you were unaware is not an excuse in the eyes of the legal system. The IRS will penalize you for errors or you could be open to lawsuits if you are not adhering to the laws of the country, state, and county/city. Outsourcing your accounting and tax preparation, payroll, or human resources tasks will help you stay compliant with all legal requirements. Hiring specialists to do this type of work for you means that they are current and will help you stay current on legal requirements.
5. The Money Is Not Coming In
If you are working hard and regularly fulfilling customer orders, you should have adequate cash flow when those invoices are paid. Being overwhelmed at work may lead to invoices being sent late, or that you are struggling to follow up with unpaid invoices. Outsourcing these tasks can keep cash flowing in regularly, vital to continue the day to day operations of your business.