5 Benefits of Outsourcing You Need To Know About

Businesses all over the world save money each year by outsourcing various tasks and responsibilities to freelancers. If your businesses has officially reached a point where you and/or your team can no longer handle all of the day to day responsibilities, it might be time for you to start outsourcing, too.

If you’re on the fence about whether or not outsourcing is the right choice for your business, we’re here to offer you some guidance.

In this article, we’ll be discussing some of the benefits of outsourcing and we’ll also throw in a few tips to help you start the outsourcing process. Let’s get into it!

What is Outsourcing?

Before we proceed any further, it’s important to understand what outsourcing is first and why business owners use this model to help grow their businesses.

Simply put, outsourcing is the process of using third-party service providers in accomplishing certain tasks and functions.

Though it’s been a hotly debated topic in American politics due to the impression that it’s a way of taking away jobs and bringing them overseas, there’s more to it in outsourcing than meets the eye.

More than being a business strategy, there are a variety of reasons for a business to outsource work to third-party service providers which we will discuss below.

How Outsourcing Can Help Your Business

It Helps Reduce Cost and Overhead Expenses

It’s natural for a business owner to look for ways to save money whenever possible because let’s be honest, that’s what business is all about, isn’t it?  If something can be done more efficiently with minimal cost, you’d go for it.

This is one of the biggest benefits outsourcing brings.  With outsourcing, you get to convert fixed labor costs into variable costs because you only pay for the services rendered.

Such kind of strategy allows you to become more flexible financially because you’d have more money to spend on other aspects of the business.

Let’s face it.  Not all tasks require a full-time employee to get it done especially if the project is short-term or seasonal perhaps.

Will you need a full-time video editor if you only need a video for your quarterly presentations?  Is a full-time bookkeeper practical if you only need them every once in a while?

Sure, part-timers are always an alternative but finding a skilled professional or an expert who’s willing to work a few hours can be tough.

Besides, it’s always a good deal when you can get an expert who wouldn’t require a full-time salary, government-mandated benefits, office space, and office supplies but still get the job done.

It Allows You to Focus on the More Important Matters

One of the biggest problems a business owner faces (especially the new ones) is the tendency to try to do it all.  You want to do the marketing, the bookkeeping, and even customer service.

Entrepreneurs do this for a variety of reasons.  They either want to save money or they’re merely perfectionists who would rather do something than delegate them to someone else.

The problem with this approach is that not only will this lead to overwhelm but it can also hurt the business because you’re not focusing on what you’re good at or what the business needs from you.

It’s not going to help if instead of performing your “CEO tasks” and looking for ways to generate income you are instead doing unnecessary paperwork.

If you’re good at management and business processes, then focus on them and them alone.  A large bulk of your time should be spent on tasks you’re good at because it makes you more efficient.

If you’re a business owner who’s spending more hours than you should on tasks that you’re not really good at or passionate about, outsourcing would be a smart choice.

It Provides You Access to a Large Talent Pool

It’s important to know that the moment you decide to outsource, you’re giving yourself a chance to work with experts.

Unlike hiring full-time employees that would require training and time to familiarize themselves with your processes, freelancers are more “plug-and-play,” so to speak.

They don’t need to undergo formal training because they already have the skills and the experience to perform whatever it is you hired them for.

Proper onboarding is what they will probably need at most but that’s it.  Just give them a brief overview of how you want things done and they’re good to go.  That’s how self-sufficient freelancers are should you consider outsourcing.

It’s not every day that you get to bring in expertise to your business which, without a doubt, will help improve the quality and efficiency of the product or service you offer.

More than the logistical side, outsourcing also makes sense financially because let’s be honest.  Recruiting and training can be expensive if we go the traditional route.  With outsourcing, the process is not just affordable but it also takes less time (more on that later).

It Helps You Manage Risk

Employee turnover is one of the biggest nightmares of a business owner.  When someone leaves, all that money you spent on hiring and training goes out the drain too.

But what if an important member or staff suddenly quits at the most opportune time?  What if someone goes AWOL when you’re already short on staff?

Chances are, you’re going to scamper for a replacement or worse, hire the first candidate you interview even if their skills are not at par and they’re not qualified.  Such a move can easily hurt your business instead of filling that hole that got left behind.

This is where outsourcing comes in handy because it helps you avoid major disruptions to your business operations which can be costly, to say the least.

Outsourcing also builds a certain level of consistency because it allows you to continue to operate smoothly despite the turnover.

Hiring traditionally takes time (and money) which you cannot afford in times of crisis. What you need is someone who can immediately fill in what was left behind and outsourcing in the shortest amount of time, something outsourcing allows you to do.

It Makes Your Business More Efficient

When you have experts in your team, it’s almost certain that things become more efficient.

This all makes sense because you’re not bringing in someone inexperienced or someone who requires training and further guidance.  What you’re bringing instead is proven skills and years of experience.

What does this mean for your business?

It means better quality and work done on time which leads to satisfied customers and bigger income, not to mention, more potential business opportunities.

This also helps you as a business owner because experts don’t require much supervision.  You can confidently leave them to do their duties without worrying if they’d be able to complete it on time or according to your specifications.

This will allow you to focus more on what really matters and that is the immediate growth of your business.

How to Outsource

If the benefits we mentioned have you all convinced, the next step is to start outsourcing whatever tasks you need help with.

The good news is, outsourcing isn’t as complicated as traditional hiring is.  With a few simple steps, you can be working with a freelancer within the next 24 hours.

Step 1: Decide on the Tasks You Need to Outsource

To leverage the power of outsourcing, it’s important to identify which tasks you need to outsource.  Make a list of the important tasks your business needs expertise with before anything else.

Step 2: Identify your Ideal Freelancer

Do they have to be at the same timezone as yours?  Do they have to be of a certain age or demographic?  While freelancers are experts at what they do, the point of this step is to find someone who will match your personality or the way you conduct work.

This is crucial considering that you’ll be working with them remotely.  If you want better results, you need to find the perfect fit because the skills and talent will cancel each other out.

Step 3: Choose a Freelance Marketplace

There are dozens of freelance marketplaces on the internet today and while each of them has deep talent pools you can look at, they also have different processes in place.

What’s common is they allow you to post your project requirements for the freelancers to apply to.  Some will allow you to vet the freelancer yourself. FreeUp, on the other hand, offers pre-vetted freelancers so that all that’s left for you to do is find the right match.

Step 4: Hire the Freelancer of Your Choice

Once you’ve gone through the potential candidates, the next step is to formally hire the freelancer.  The freelance marketplace will then integrate the changes in their system so you can view and manage their hours accordingly.

The best part about working with freelance marketplaces is that should the relationship not work out, they can immediately connect you with a replacement.

Conclusion

Whether you’re a startup or an established business, there’s no question that outsourcing makes sense both from a logistical and a financial standpoint.  More importantly, outsourcing gives you the peace of mind you won’t get from hiring full-time because you have experts in your team you can rely on even if you’re working from opposite sides of the world.

If you’re ready to start outsourcing some tasks, sign up for an account with FreeUp today and we can help you find a qualified freelancer for your team.