DIY or Delegate? How to Decide What You Should Outsource
Have you gotten caught up in the idea that you need to do everything yourself to make your business successful? Many of us fall into the trap of taking on too much because we feel so personally attached to our brands and it can be hard to delegate and trust others to do as good a job as you. However, outsourcing some tasks can free up your time so you can focus on the parts of running your company that you truly enjoy and where you generate the best return on investment. . So it’s important to consider what in your business you can delegate and what tasks you should take on yourself. Here are some areas in business where delegation can be beneficial:
Accounting
Maybe your business is growing more quickly than you realized. Maybe you’re spending more time than you expected on sorting through invoices and preparing taxes. Maybe dealing with bookkeeping just isn’t your thing. Whatever the reason, accounting is one area that you can, and probably should outsource. You can hire a bookkeeper and should also find a CPA to handle tax time.
Tech Tasks
When you’re running a business, a website is your way to meet customers online. 64% of small businesses depend on websites to connect with customers. Start with the website itself. If you’re unhappy with the design, you can hire someone to design a beautiful new website with all the features you’re looking for. After that, you might outsource IT services to avoid the headaches of resolving website issues later.
Social Media
This is one area that could go either way. If social media is something that you love and a way that you feel you’re connecting with customers, that’s great! On the other hand, if it’s starting to feel less like a conversation and more like a chore to check off your list, you might want to outsource. When you hire a company to post your social media, you can still hop on to your accounts to respond to comments and build those important connections.
Daily Office Work
When you’ve upgraded to a dedicated office space, it’s an exciting time for your business! It also means you’ll be faced with a new list of daily tasks that may not have been an issue before. For example, you’ll need to clean the space, keep paperwork organized, stock inventory for employees, and keep supplies for the space on hand. You might consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of some of these day to day tasks. You’ll be surprised by how much time you’ll free up.
Planning and Implementing New Ideas
When it comes to making big decisions that will affect the business in the long term, you should be handling things yourself. This is your business and you’re more invested in it than anyone else. Any tasks that you consider important or influential in the success of your company should be up to you and potentially the employees you’ve hired and trust.
Hiring Employees
If you have a lot of tasks that you’re ready to outsource, you might be ready to hire an employee. According to SCORE, 27% of women owned businesses hired employees last year. An employee can take some major projects off of your plate and even help you manage the outsourced work you’ve planned.
Take some of the stress off of yourself and decide which tasks you can outsource to keep your business running smoothly.
