Should Your Small Business Outsource Tasks?

At some point, a small business owner will need to hire a team if they want their company to grow and succeed. Some roles require dedicated personnel such as a contractor, agency or freelancer. This will also allow you to focus more on your business and help it get to the next level.

Companies choose to outsource work for two reasons. One is that they simply do not have enough space in the budget to hire a full-time employee because this means they have to give them a salary, cover their benefits, and take care of payroll taxes, unemployment insurance and other expenses.

The second is there are never enough hours in the day. So, as operations start to scale, small business owners often decide to outsource certain tasks they have taken care of since the beginning.

An entrepreneur might decide to hire a payroll company for small businesses instead of taking care of accounting every quarter. This allows the person to have more time to spend on other things for the business.

Benefits from Outsourcing

More and more small business owners are working with contractors, freelancers, and third-party agencies. The benefits of outsourcing are numerous which we will discuss below.

More time to focus

As a business owner, time is a limiting factor. There is so much to do but so little time. At one point a small business owner needs to step away from these tasks and start delegating them to other people.

When you outsource, you are able to reclaim time each week to invest in other more important areas of the business that need attention.

Hire experts to do specific tasks

Most small business owners are not experts in copywriting, accounting and people ops. They are more experienced in the core functions of the business.

By outsourcing the right tasks to be better-qualified parties, small business owners are usually able to ensure the resulting outcomes are more impactful than if they took care of the same things themselves.

Get the job done cost-effectively

There is no way around it but hiring employees is expensive. Businesses are responsible for payroll taxes, benefits, training and more. There are other hidden costs to consider too such as how many employees you have, and you might have to hire additional workers. Equipment, utilities, office space are other costs associated with equipment too.

Outsourcing certain tasks lets you bypass all of this because someone else will handle it and you do not have to break the bank or absorb indirect costs.

Investing in other areas

By spending less on payroll while outsourcing, there is more budget to devote elsewhere. You can put your savings from outsourcing to open a new location or get new equipment for your business.

Additionally, you can put any excess funds away and save them for emergencies. Having an emergency fund is nice to have in case something ever happens.

Improve business continuity

All business owners know how rapidly things can change, an unforeseen even can cause problems and struggles. By working with third parties, entrepreneurs can reduce some of the risk while improving business continuity.

Outsourcing Ideas and Questions to Ask

Every small business is unique but there are some common threads that tie everything together. Here are some of the responsivities a small business owner outsources often.

• Marketing
• Web design
• Accounting
• HR

Here are some questions to ask yourself to narrow down your options of what you need to outsource.

• Is this something I should delegate or is it critical I do it?
• Is this the right move for the long term?
• Can I afford to pay the contractors and freelancers?

The Bottom Line

The truth is, no entrepreneur can do everything by themselves. There comes a time in every small business owner’s life when outsourcing tasks is a necessity for taking the company to the next level. Form a plan and start small and you are going to be well off on your way to success.