If you’re a small business owner or sole trader, it’s like that YOU are carrying out every aspect of your business from marketing to finance to day to day admin – not to mention actually delivering the product/service that your business is set up to do! Chances are that though you are the marketing department, finance team, HR department, customer service desk, etc., you don’t actually enjoy all of those jobs. So why not do the ‘unthinkable’ and relinquish control of some of these tasks to someone who actually does like them? I know, mad idea, right? Let me explain how and why it could work…
When you are at the top of your game and doing the job that you were made for (be that sales, technical support, coaching, whatever!) and have the opportunity to carry out the task efficiently, you bring in £X per hour to your business. When you are carrying out administrative tasks, or doing your marketing (or something else you don’t enjoy) you aren’t able to bring in the £X per hour that you usually can and the actual process of completing the task may be a long and arduous process. However, if you outsource some of the tasks that a.) take ages because you aren’t very good at them or b.) you’d rather poke yourself in the eye with a fork than complete, you’d have extra hours in the day to go and get your £X per hour, and would be paying £Y per hour for the privilege – probably less than the £X an hour that you are able to make.
Even if the immediate financial benefit of outsourcing isn’t visible (i.e. £X per hour minus £Y per hour leaves nothing, or involves you paying out extra), the long term benefits of outsourcing definitely have value. For example, by bringing a talented and proven external team member (a virtual freelancer, in this case), you are enabling certain aspects of your business to continue, come rain or shine, providing back-up and support if you are out of the office or the country, unwell or on holiday. The feelings of comfort and wellbeing that an experienced and proven ‘extra pair of hands’ can bring to a small business can be significant, leaving you to recover/sip your G&T at a beach-side café* with significantly reduced stress levels. So why not consider what you could outsource in 2018?
*delete as applicable