When is the best time to outsource?

By Hannah du Plessis

Answer: As soon as possible.

What do you think will happen to your business if you are spending your time doing tasks that aren’t focussed on growing your business? Are you an expert at all the tasks you are doing? Chances are, you are excellent at the things that need doing in your business; the tasks that create revenue … but there may be tasks that are necessary but repetitive or boring, and you absolutely hate doing.

The first thing you should outsource is the task you hate doing the most. It could be admin or operational work; it could be book-keeping. Very few people are experts in these fields – they are time consuming but important.

The next thing you should outsource is web design (unless that’s your business!) This will usually be a one time payment, so go ahead and pay someone to do it. Get it done right, so that you can stand out from the crowd. Most business today is conducted online.

Next should be simple tasks: Like writing and tracking ads. Typing and sending emails or letters. Chances are you are not good at writing. Get someone to do that. It could also be marketing you outsource. You can outsource flyer posting or letter mailing. How about doing a newsletter to stay in contact with your clients?

Then look at the tasks that take you long to do. Perhaps the same task would take an expert five minutes to do. Your time is valuable; you should spend it on the tasks you do best and not waste it on tasks that bog you down. Get busy growing your business, not making excuses not to grow it.

If you run a small business or you’re starting a new company the one thing you should be focussing on is sales. Everything else should be secondary.

There is some risk involved in outsourcing as it costs money. If you spend money on outsourcing, you have to make money to pay for it. However, not outsourcing is a bigger risk, because it might cost you your business. You need to find a way to do it, for example you can barter with someone.

Outsource as soon as you can. You cannot afford not to. Your business and your pocket will thank you.

About the author: Hannah du Plessis is a Virtual Assistant who can help with the tasks you don’t have time for.