The 5 Most Common Outsourcing Questions Asked By Business Owners

Do you know the 5 common outsourcing questions business owners ask?

Are you an online business owner who is starting to see more growth and productivity with your company these past few months? If this is the case, you are well on your way to bringing more success and sales to your business.

However, as you may have guessed, there’s only so many tasks you can handle by yourself. Once you get to this point with your business you begin to see a plateau in your sales, growth, or other areas of growth.

When this happens, you need to start thinking about outsourcing some projects to other professionals in the same industry you’re in currently. When it comes to sending projects to remote hires, there are five common outsourcing questions which are always on the minds of business owners everywhere who are on the brink of exponential growth.

In this article, I want to discuss these five major points with you and how you can scale your business by hiring freelancers in order to create a steady upscale in your sales, productivity, and overall explosion of your brand.

#1. How much should I pay for each skill set I need to hire for?

One of the common outsourcing questions is pay rate. While there are many different freelancers in the market for the project you are offering, one can begin to understand how difficult it may be to find the perfect freelancer.

If you pay too much, you risk the budget of the business which could result in a slower overall growth. If you pay too little you risk the quality of work being done. Just because someone can be hired at a cheaper rate doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to do great work. You’ve heard the old saying, “You get what you pay for”.

In defense of these common outsourcing questions, one should never go into the hiring process blind. You should learn what the median rate of pay for the project in question is. If you’re still unsure, you can always talk with our expert who can walk you through the entire process.

For instance, someone who writes content for your business will not be payed the same amount as someone who does customer service. Know the pay scales which come with the responsibility you’re needing.

#2. Should I hire someone domestic or international?

One of the other common outsourcing questions is determining whether or not you should hire someone in the same time zone as your business.

One thing to consider, if you hired domestically, you don’t have to worry about the language barrier, or whether or not you can have regular meetings with them. Since they are on the same soil as you, the time zone will be 3 – 4 hours at the most.

An international hire also has their benefits as well. While you are going off for the day, they could be setting up to get ready for work. It’s a great way to keep your business running around the clock and creating more growth within your company.

#3. What happens if the person disappears? How do I know they are doing their work?

This is definitely one of the common outsourcing questions business owners looking to grow are asking experts. In the freelancer world, you cannot always have them work at set times. However, there are still ways you can keep an eye on a hire.

• Set weekly progress report meetings
• Create a work report shared by you and the freelancer where you can log in and see what they’ve been accomplishing at any time
• Set a deadline for a task to be completed
• Communicate with them on a daily basis with updates

You can get very creative with this piece of your business because the freelancer is usually an expert who is very good at what they do, and, while there are some that will disappear on you, make sure your interviewing process can eliminate those people before it happens.

You will understand whether or not they have left the building, or are doing the work you hired them to do, by completing these tasks with them for the first few weeks until trust builds between you and a hire. Once you realize they are going to do the work required you can rest easy.

#4. How do I pay the freelancer when they are half way across the world?

Payment should always be one of the common outsourcing questions you should be asking yourself when you get payroll figured out. However, the internet has made it easy to send and receive payments across the world to anyone, even an international hire.

Here are some payment options you have at your disposal:

Paypal – Their rates and fees are always competitive and they will be hard to beat. Plus, almost every freelancer has an account with them.

Skrill – While Paypal is usually the go-to resource for payment options, some countries don’t have access to this platform and when this happens, Skrill becomes a great resource for a freelancer.

Braintree – Part of Paypal, Braintree offers a little more wiggle room for the business side of payments you will need. Actually the more you pay out, the less percentage you pay in the future.

Dwolla – If you know your business will only be hiring freelancers inside of the U.S., Dwolla could be an option for you. However, if you’re going to hire outside of the U.S., Dwolla doesn’t allow international payments.

Here are even more payment options you can use.

Common outsourcing questions such as payment processing doesn’t have to be difficult to figure out. Make sure the freelancer knows which platform you prefer, and if they don’t have access to it, oblige and create an account where you both can stay connected.

#5. Where should I start with outsourcing?

Once you learn you’re going to need an extra freelancer or five, you need to know where to find them. Another of the common outsourcing questions asked by business owners is where in the world do these people exist?

Believe it or not, a colleague can more than likely answer this common outsourcing question for you. An astounding 75% of freelancers get their next project from word of mouth. This means someone you know who runs a business like yours online has probably already vetted an amazing freelancer, worked with them successfully, and is ready to recommend them to your company.

First things first…call your friend and ask them who they recommend. It simply makes things a lot easier when you’re looking for a competent freelancer who has a work history of success. The best thing about this is a colleague has already put them through the interview wringer and has experienced first hand whether or not this freelancer is the expert they say they are.

Word of mouth projects have consistently been the best way freelancers get hired online and this is good news for you all the way around.

Your next option is to find hiring platforms which house some of the greatest experts in your niche. For instance, FreeeUp is one of those platforms and can help you with finding the perfect freelancer.

FreeUp is personal, professional and friendly, and can be that “friend” who will recommend a freelancer for your business because they have already found an expert in your niche.

In Conclusion

Have you asked yourself any of these common outsourcing questions yet? If your business is growing, chances are, you have already been talking to yourself about it and possibly one or all of these have came up in that weird conversation you’re having with yourself.

Take these common outsourcing questions and grab the bull by the horns. It’s time for explosive growth in your business, but it won’t happen until you create a group worthy to make it a reality. It takes time to build a business which will be worth reaping the benefits from, but you already know this fact. Think of these common outsourcing questions as goals you need to complete in order to build a well-rounded group of remote freelancers who can help you realize your business dreams.

Do your homework, ask your colleagues, set up times to talk with freelancers you’re interested in. All of these tips do take a little time out of your schedule, however, you will find it to be time well spent once you get freelancers in place.

Do you have your own common outsourcing questions which I didn’t mention in this article? Here at FreeeUp, we have a great group of assistants who will take the time to answer all of your questions and put your mind at ease with your next hiring process so you will be completely confident in the next freelancer you hire. Comment below and let me know what your question is and I’ll make sure it gets answered.

Wade Harman is a content writing wizard with an M.A. in Cognitive Psychology. He share social media psychology and other marketing tips online related to cognitive trigger response. He loves to fish and read comic books for fun, to get the creative juices flowing.