The Skinny on Outsourcing and Why You Should Be Doing It
I’m a big believer in knowing where your strengths are and getting help in the areas where you’re not so strong, which is precisely why I started outsourcing years ago! Outsourcing has helped me to grow my business to where it is today. And I think it is something all small businesses could benefit from.
So this week, I thought it’d be fun to speak a little about that and I invited my fab office manager, Gabby de Janasz, to write a guest blog on outsourcing. Check out what she has to say below!
Why Outsource: By Gabby De Janasz
If you have children, you probably know how scary hiring your first babysitter is. Not only do you have to find someone trustworthy and capable (not to mention affordable!), but leaving this person at home with your baby while you FINALLY enjoy time for yourself -- now that’s the hard part. But after you have a great time spending time on yourself, come back home and see your baby fast asleep, you realize just how worth “outsourcing” your child care was.
In the case of outsourcing in your work life, your business is your baby. And if you haven’t started outsourcing yet, it’s time.
I’m not saying you should just hand the keys to your business over to just anyone. It’s a process, and just like anything in your life and business, once you figure out how to do it, you will be so glad you did!
So, what is outsourcing?
It may seem like a term only used in reference to huge companies with massive factories or call centers overseas, but in the solopreneur and small business realm, it simply means hiring someone (either local or virtual) to take over some of the tasks that you’re overqualified for. Those day-to-day tasks that are tedious and time-consuming and can be done by someone other than you.
Why outsource?
The beauty of outsourcing is that it frees up your time and bandwidth so that you can focus on growing your business. If you let someone else handle the small tasks, maybe five to ten hours per week, you’ll be able to focus on the big picture! You’ll have the freedom to use your time and brain to think about scaling up and strategizing your next moves for your business. Sounds pretty great, right? It is!
What tasks should you outsource?
You might be thinking, “what would I even hire someone to do for my business?” You’ve done it ALL up until now and it’s hard to imagine letting go of even a small piece of the business you’ve built. I get it! But trust me, your time is incredibly valuable and there are definitely things that you do NOT need to be doing anymore.
My suggestion? During your the week while you’re working, keep a running list (a piece of paper on your desk, a note on your phone, an email draft) of every task you do that makes you think “wow I hate how tedious this is” or “hmm I bet someone else could do this for me.” Write these things down and you can even include how long it takes you to do each task. By the end of the week, two things will happen:
First, you’ll realize that the number of hours you spend per week on these tasks is probably more than you’d expect. This is how much time you could be spending growing your business or enjoying your life!
Second, you’ll basically have your job description ready to go for your new outsource person! All you really need is a bulleted list of tasks you want this person to do for you and a blurb about what kind of experience you want them to have and you’re set.
Now all you have to do is talk to your network or go online and reach out to potential new assistants. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to grow your business, increase your profits, and have a whole lot more time in your day.
Happy outsourcing!
P.S. Curious about the kinds of things you could be outsourcing? Check out Gabby's latest blog post about 10 things you can (and should) be outsourcing!
