Outsourcing Explained

How Outsourcing Helps Your Business

Learn Which Tech Tasks to Offload and Which Ones to Tackle In-House

Photo courtesy of Toggl Stock Photos

What are the Advantages of Outsourcing

Let’s face it: As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. Each day, you wear various hats – CEO, salesperson, customer support specialist, marketing director, and operations manager – to name a few. You carefully balance all of these professional roles with your personal life, including family, friends, and personal responsibilities.

As your business scales and grows, your continued success will require offloading some of your responsibilities to others. To free up your time to focus on running the business, you may need to hire contractors to help you with certain tasks, such as web design or IT support.

So which tasks should you handle yourself, and which ones should you outsource? Fat Cat Design & Creative Services and Idea Inspired offer some recommendations.

Which Tasks to Outsource?

Technology-related tasks are among the easiest to outsource because many of them can be completed remotely from anywhere with a computer and internet access. To boost your productivity while keeping overhead costs low, here’s a look at some scenarios when outsourcing is the perfect solution.

Web Design

When first launching a business, particularly as a solopreneur, it’s common for new business owners to DIY their website. This is cost-effective in the beginning, and it helps you cross a major business need off your list. However, as your business grows, your online presence needs to keep up and display the best impression possible. To ensure healthy business growth and visibility, you’ll need to upgrade to a professionally designed website that is responsive and mobile-friendly. Fat Cat Design & Creative Services offers web design and other services to help you gain visibility for your products and services.

Data Security and Recovery

The internet has taken businesses to new heights, thanks to cloud storage, ecommerce, and social media. Unfortunately, it’s also opened a door for cybercrime, putting businesses and customers at risk.

Small businesses must take steps to protect sensitive information, such as credit cards, banking details, or customer data. Due to increased cybercrime threats, data security isn’t a choice; in many cases, it’s a legal requirement. Regardless of your location, if your company has European customers, for instance, you must comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. GDPR regulates how much data businesses can legally collect about customers, what companies can do with that data, and how businesses must protect customer data. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines.

Retail Technology

If you run a retail business, McKinsey & Company notes that omnichannel retail is the name of the game, whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or you exclusively sell products over the internet. With Gen-Z buyers entering the mix, consumers are becoming more diverse and tech-savvy. That means you’ll need to have a presence across a wider variety of channels — such as ecommerce sites, online marketplaces, and social media — to reach an abundance of potential customers.

Thanks to smartphones and digital media, the retail landscape is shifting, leading many retailers to outsource digital tasks and projects. Offloading responsibilities like social media marketing, analytics, location-based search, and mobile web design can reduce stress and boost productivity. However, RetailDive cautions business owners to choose carefully. You’ll get the biggest benefit for your money by purchasing Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) capabilities for a monthly fee.

Which Tasks Should You Keep In-House?

If outsourcing an activity would put you over budget, take too long to train someone else, or potentially compromise secure data, it’s best to handle that activity yourself. To save time, install business apps to your smartphone, so you can complete tasks on the go. For payroll, time tracking software like QuickBooks Time automates the process from your smartphone, giving you the advantage of flexible time tracking while on the go. You’re able to schedule shifts and create instant schedules by drag-and-drop features and copy and paste from one shift or payroll period to the next. Employees can also receive notifications each time there’s a change to their shift or schedule.

If you decide to keep tasks in-house, you can also consider saving time with automation software. Before outsourcing or automating, review your options. Consider what your competitors are doing and what makes the most sense for your situation. This way, your decision will improve efficiency, operations, and data security.

Wrapping Up

Outsourcing Explained, and How Outsourcing Helps Your Business

As your business grows, you’ll want to take steps to optimize for success. One way of doing so is by outsourcing certain tasks. Examine time-consuming or specialized functions and seek to outsource those components.