Funny isn’t it? One of the reasons people choose to start their own business is to be their own boss and have control over their work. As many consultants discover, however, the work load is much greater than what can fit into a very long day.
In particular, a consulting business is faced with many tasks that can be overwhelming. From the financial management pieces to the administrative work, the details never seem to end. Have you considered outsourcing some of your work functions?
Outsourcing Is Not A Dirty Word
Outsourcing is simply contracting out various tasks to others, usually freelancers and small businesses. Although it’s possible to outsource to large firms, the independent and small business owner cannot usually afford these services.
Outsourcing does not mean you have to send your work to another country if you don’t feel comfortable doing so. Using the resources at the end of this article, you can find people in your region that are familiar with the subtleties of your language and your country’s way of doing business, if this is important to you.
You can also advertise locally for help if you prefer to have in-person meetings and you can search specifically for freelance web-based sites in your area of the world. Outsourcing is a concept that can be implemented in a variety of ways. So get creative about it.
Knowing What to Outsource
One of the main purposes of outsourcing is so you can focus on providing services and on business growth, leaving the messier details to someone else. There are probably certain aspects of your business that may be easier to outsource than to manage, including some of the following:
- Advertising and Marketing: Do you need help with creating an ad campaign, writing compelling copy, shopping around and finding placements for ads or optimizing your web sites for search engines? These can all be outsourced to experienced professionals.
- Business Plan: If your business is seeking additional funding from an investor or a bank, a professional business plan is a requirement. The details involved with the content and overall presentation of the plan might be better managed by an outsourced business plan specialist.
- Bookkeeping and Accounting: Whether it involves taxes, accounting balance sheets or overall calculation of where your finances stand, the financial aspects of a consulting business can be time consuming and out of your reach.
- Graphics: From the creation of a logo to the design of your business card and website, a professional graphic designer can give your business a unique and polished look. Freelance artists can be obtained from several online services.
- Help Desk and Customer Support: If your consulting business provides a technical product, consider outsourcing the help desk or customer support end of things. Then you can turn off your pager and relax once in awhile.
- IT Support: You’re not expected to know how to set up a wireless router, add a new DVD drive, network your home or office computers and which type of hardware is best for backing up your work every day. That’s when an IT professional can help with these tasks.
- Legal Services: Do-it-yourself types like to have their hand in everything. But if you spend hours reading through contracts or are trying to figure out the best way to incorporate, don’t forget that you can outsource all of your legal tasks.
- Public Relations: If you’re looking for publicity through the press or want to find speaking engagements or put a video on You Tube, consider outsourcing these tasks to a public relations expert.
- Special Projects: Some consultants with seasonal services or temporary work load issues, such as the editing of new web content, may want to consider some sort of open contract with a freelancer. This will allow you to quickly receive administrative assistance from contractors with a proven work record.
- Virtual Assistant: Small business owners that would rather not deal with the administrative details may benefit from a virtual assistant. These assistants conduct administrative activities including managing email, paying business related bills, sending out communications to your contact list and handling appointment schedules, to name a few.
- Website Services: If you don’t yet have your own website or if you don’t have time to deal with technical issues, consider outsourcing the website aspect of your business. Someone who provides website services can: register a domain name, help you find a host, design and create a website, maintain your website and troubleshoot technical issues.
The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing
A great advantage of outsourcing is freeing up your time to concentrate on growing your business and improving your services. Another major benefit is that it keeps your operation nimble and light, because you don’t have to do everything nor hire new employees before you’re certain you can afford them.
The down side is that is difficult for some to release control of certain business tasks to others. There’s also the security issue. Exposing proprietary and financial information can be risky. Finally, the costs of outsourcing must be weighed against its benefits.
Don’t Expose Your Business to Risk
Probably one of the most important things to remember about outsourcing is to protect your business throughout the process. If you’re outsourcing to strangers, go slowly. Provide them with tasks that are relatively risk-free, such as creating a logo or writing a few articles for your blog. Also, be sure to use safeguards. Don’t give away account numbers and passwords. The bottom line: think things through before passing on work and make sure you’re not taking any risks.
Popular Outsourcing Sites
With outsourcing, it pays to consider all of your options. Which aspects of your business must you manage personally? Which can be managed remotely to free up your time? Try to maximize the time you invest in your business by outsourcing the details someone else can carry out. Essentially, you’re giving up something to gain something else. Outsourcing has to help your bottom line and you have to feel comfortable with the situation.
I work in a BPO company here in the Philippines. Outsourcing here in the Philippines is a big help because even there’s a lot of issues of the degrading quality of education but still it’s nice to hear that we are the top choice in BPO industry. I read a lot of articles already that they give us a positive description why they want Filipino workers and I’m so proud to be a Filipino.
Anything you can think of can be outsourced. Your work will have to be professional and on schedule if you want to keep your clients and obtain referrals