Outsourcing!

Let's talk about outsourcing! 

When?  Who?  How?

Let's talk about outsourcing!  When?  Who?  How?  These are all questions everyone has as we contemplate outsourcing to allow ourselves the bandwidth to do the things we do best and allow ourselves to work on our business as well as in it,

What are we outsourcing?

We'll start with what can be outsourced.  Think about what you enjoy doing and what furthers your business.  These are things that you should be doing.  But the other stuff?  The stuff that gives you a headache or things that are just not in your wheelhouse are things that you can outsource.  Here are some easily outsourced positions:

• Accounting and bookkeeping  

• Marketing.  

• Virtual assistant or VA 

• Human resources 

There are of course pros and cons to outsourcing functions of your business so let's take a look at those now.   

The Pros

• Outsourcing brings in resources for less money than an employee would cost.  

• Outsourcing may allow you to access a larger talent pool

• Outsourcing lets you bring in someone at a much more skilled level for less money because they are not a full time commitment. 

The Cons

• Loss of control. This is not an employee so you're more at the mercy of their schedule and ability to get the job done in their time.  

• Communication.  Unless really clear lines of communication are set up and maintained, it's really easy for contractors to be left out of the loop and end up wasting time on  projects or tasks that are not needed or a priority. 

When should you outsource?

You should outsource when you need to focus on mission-critical work.  You should outsource when you're faced with a new large project and don't have the staff in-house quite yet.  You should outsource when you're growing quickly - hiring takes time and finding the right talent that is available for full time work might be difficult but getting top talent on a contractor basis is easier.  And you should outsource when you need more hours in the day for strategy work.  If you don't have time to work on your business, you won't be taking care of your company the way you should.

Where do you find outsourced talent?

Some contractors can be found via agencies (for example, VA's or other administrative support).  Keep in mind that agency fees might make this more costly than other options however, they do often guarantee a good match and will replace the contractor until they find a good match.  

Freelancers are another great option.  They can be found on sites such as Fiverr and Upwork.  Often these offer more specialized services.

Freelancers and consultants can also be found from referrals.  Check with your community groups and industry peers to see if they have used someone amazing.  

My Top Marketing Picks

I’m going to share with you my amazing outsourced marketing team here. Robyn Young of Young & Co is my outsourced Chief Marketing Officer. She has been incredible with refining my branding and making sure all my messaging is consistent. Lisa Nicholls of Tira! Strategies is my social media manager and is responsible for the timing, consistent content and placement of my social media material. I can’t recommend them enough! ;)

Today, with so much virtual/remote work, outsourced workers are more and more part of the normal staffing.  Take advantage of that to access some great non-local talent and push your business forward!

For more discussion on outsourcing, listen to my podcast, Thriving in the Chaos with Dorothy Kolb wherever you find our podcasts.