When is it Time to Outsource?

A lot of companies have been turning to outsourcing to help manage and solve their business problems. Due to this, the outsourcing market is expected to thrive more in the next few years as more and more companies are turning to outsourcing some of their services and get other firms to do the work for them.

But why choose to outsource? How would one know when is the right time to outsource?

Here is a question. When was the last time you spent quality time with yourself, your partner, your friends, or your family? If you can’t remember, it is highly likely that you are being overwhelmed with managing your business.

Not the life you intended when you first started running your business, right? One of the worst mistakes that most SMB owners make is wearing too many hats and doing way too much on their own or with limited staff.

This not only leaves them unhappy, but completely stressed out. It’s time you recognise the signs and realise that you need help.

Things to consider when it comes to outsourcing.

For any business owner, time is both a valuable resource and asset. For every hour that is spent on something that could be outsourced, is time that you could spend on accomplishing other tasks that lead you closer to your business objectives.

It would be hard for you to realise the benefits of outsourcing if you don’t look at hours as a tangible cost. In short, your time is valuable. This needs to be recognised.

By acknowledging this, it will help you quantify and measure your business performance, and the positive impact of outsourcing. When you track the time, you spend on something, you’ll know what it costs your business. What may cost you a couple of hours each week might take a trained outsourced professional, or a reliable and trustworthy software significantly less time.

It’s a fact that as your business grows, you’ll get busier. You would need to set your priorities and decide where to focus your energy, which, by the way, is also a vital resource. The greatest contribution any business owner can provide their company’s is to look ahead and allot time on what’s going to raise the bar and/or move the needle.

The points raised above cites two primary reasons why businesses will outsource:

1. To cut costs.
2. To focus on core business objectives.

As a business owner, the right time to outsource is when you start noticing the following:

1. Tasks become too repetitive and time-consuming – When big or small tasks consumes a substantial amount of time, every time, it’s time to consider outsourcing these tasks. To scale a business successfully means to maintain or to improve operations as you go. To be more efficient, processes should get easier and more streamlined, not the other way around.
2. Responsibilities are being pulled away from higher priorities – This one is the easiest one to spot and measure. If something is not contributing directly to your bottom line, why not consider outsourcing it? Especially If this is keeping you from performing more vital tasks that impacts the business substantially.
3. Your staff are performing multiple roles – It is not uncommon for smaller businesses for staff, or even you as business owner, to don more than one hat to keep things rolling. But overextending yourself and your employees is a recipe for disaster. Chances will arise that their outputs are unsatisfactory and/or rife with errors. Both can turn out costly in the long run.
4. There must be a cost-effective way to get things done – There is an app for almost everything. If current technology can alleviate time-consuming burden on operations, you are not wrong. But if you need an extra pair of hands, eyes, and mind, you can also outsource a VA so as not to hamper operations.
5. You can’t keep up with high demand – When sales are at an all-time high with orders stacking up left and right, pressure starts to fiercely mount to get orders out quickly and efficiently. If you happen to throw a promo into the mix and fulfilling those orders can be quite a major challenge, especially for SMBs. If you are not properly staffed, you won’t be able to keep up with the demand. Choosing the right outsourcing partner will solve this.
6. Budget is getting tight – Hiring in-house employees is always expensive. With high salaries, benefits, and other costs such as paid vacations, sick leaves, and infrastructure, you’d be better off with outsourced personnel. In fact, by delegating tasks to outsourced experts will not only help in cutting down operational expenses but can also increase profits.

Companies can outsource as per their needs and financial capabilities. There are companies that delegate only two to three functions.

There are some that are comfortable operating with only a few staff and outsourcing the maximum amount of their operations. Regardless, the goal remains the same, and that is to increase the flexibility of the business model and to lower operational costs.

It may seem that outsourcing sounds like a dirty word if you haven’t done it before. At first, you may feel like you are giving up on doing everything yourself when you used to be able to so.

Consider what you are getting back, time and peace of mind. This apart, of course, savings you gain from expending financial resources.

Outsourcing tasks or part of your operations could end up growing your business in the long run. The bottom line is outsourcing isn’t a bad thing. It might even lessen a huge portion of the day-to-day stress that many business owners feel.

If you feel you need help in managing your business, we at The Growth Manager can help you out with our Business Mentoring Program and 5 Steps to Increasing Profit by Outsourcing. Expose yourself to new ideas, implement new strategies and tactics.

Let us help you develop modern business methods in running your business.