Outsourcing is one of the most powerful tools in any small business owner’s toolkit for increasing their productivity, output and eventual profits.
Most new business owners start out doing everything themselves. This allows them to keep control of all aspects of their business during the critical start-up phase and to keep costs down. Unfortunately, this control over the work and the costs can actually start to hamper them and prevent the business from growing to its full potential.
Here are some top tips on how to use outsourcing effectively for your small business.
* The Boss Does Not Need to Sweep the Floor
Most business owners get into the mindset that if they want the job done well, they have to do it themselves. This might be true, but as your business grows, you will have to decide which jobs you NEED to do for the sake of the business, and which will need to be outsourced because there will never be enough hours in the day to do everything.
It is easy to find someone to sweep the floor for minimum wage. That same person would not be likely to be the best choice to send to a high-powered meeting with potential investors. Therefore, why are you doing THEIR job, when you should be doing YOURS?
Your job as the head of the business is to grow your company to a healthy and sustainable level financially through activities which generate income. No matter what your business, there are administrative tasks that can be handed over to others. The critical thinking and real value creation is where you as the owner should be focusing your attention.
By all means start people off in the process, for example, by creating sample customer service emails that your outsourced worker can edit as needed. And do ask them to let you know of any major problems that might arise, since customer service is an important part of keeping customers loyal and establishing a good reputation for your business. But it would not be a productive use of your time to answer every CS email yourself.
(Continued in Part 2)
