Feeling like you’re wearing one too many hats and balancing a lot on your plate running your business? It may be time to consider outsourcing some of that work. Social media, bookkeeping, and other services are all forms of work that can be outsourced to experienced personnel and allow you more time to focus on the core of your business product or service. But how do you know when to outsource to others? And what work should you consider outsourcing versus keeping in-house? Read on to learn more!

What Work Can Be Outsourced?

Looking at your business, are there tasks or jobs that are actively taking time away from the core work of your business? Identifying those can be a first step towards finding which tasks can outsourced to freelancers or contract workers. You may end up finding that just a few tasks or certain departments can be outsourced. A wide range of jobs can be outsourced, including:

  • Accounting and Finances
  • Customer Support
  • Content Writing
    • Digital and hardcopy formats
  • Social Media
  • Website Design and User Experience
  • Information Technology Support and Logistics
  • Marketing
    • Traditional and new media marketing
  • Legal Documentation and Advice

There could be other tasks you can outsource that are specific to your business. Taking the time to look at your business in detail and notice what’s pulling your time away from the core work you do can help highlight tasks you can potentially outsource to the right person or business.

What Should You Keep In-House

You need to keep the essential functions of your business in-house – this allows you to ensure the quality of your product or service. Look at what the actual core aspects of your work are – not what takes the most time but what makes your business. Sometimes, the small tasks that take the most time aren’t critical to the product you’re producing and can be outsourced (think payroll or bookkeeping). Outsourcing some of the work can allow you to refocus your energy and time into the products and services you’re offering.

Benefits to Outsourcing

No matter the size of your business, having the option to outsource can lead to several benefits for your business. The two largest benefits are cost savings to your business and allowing the business to be more efficient. Outsourcing some of your tasks to other experienced people outside of the business can allow your team to focus on the details of executing your product and services to the highest quality. It can also allow your team more flexibility to divide their time on several projects.

Plus – outsourcing allows you to contract with someone with specialized experience to handle the work to a high standard. It allows someone else to worry about some of the additional needs of the business without pulling any of your staff to work on it. And it can take a mental load off of you as well – knowing someone highly trained and professional is handling some of the aspects that support your main product or service.

How to Find the Right Person

Finding the right person to outsource will be the next step once you’ve decided that you’re ready to outsource. Ask fellow business owners and community resources to find experts to assist you with the work you’re trying to outsource. Plus, there are plenty of online resources to turn to as well.

One important step to consider as you’re looking at potential people to outsource work to is to do research or interview them. Look at the range of problems and processes they’re able to do as part of their work and ask for their portfolio to review previous work done – this also allows you to see the quality of their work. Once you’ve reached the point of seriously considering someone, look at specific reviews and ask about their current client load and if they’ll be able to dedicate the time you are looking for to completing your outsourced work to the level you expect.

Learn More

Even our team here at LeMay and Company (located in Springfield, VA) outsource some of our work to people with more detailed experience on that subject matter – such as our social media. Reaching out and hiring or contracting someone to take on some of the non-critical function work is something to consider as your business grows. If you’re looking for help with your bookkeeping or financial needs, our team may be able to help! Reach out today by phone at (703) 912-7862, email, or schedule a meeting to chat with one of our staff members and learn how we may be the right fit to take some of the work off your busy plate.