With the exception of a handful of companies every business in the world will outsource at least one aspect of their business and if you have a small business here in Florida then you should too. I used to be of the opinion that I wanted to control all aspects of my company but we quickly realized that this wouldn’t be the case. The first time I outsourced was to another company here in Florida called Abaram Network Solutions, who currently manage all of my IT needs, something which I had not been able to do on my own in the past. The key to smart outsourcing is to know when and what to outsource, and here is how you will know that it is time to make that decision.
Pressure
A great benefit of outsourcing is that it can relieve pressure in the business and this is why we ended up outsourcing our IT needs. Prior to using Abaram we would struggle through IT issues, intending to fix them or tweak them on our own, despite not having the proper set of skills to do so. As you can imagine this put great pressure on the business and this is why we eventually looked to have someone else manage it, relieving pressure and improving output.
Skill Gaps
Sometimes it can be glaringly obvious when you should outsource an area of your business because you will be able to see where there are skill gaps within the company. Marketing would be a prime example here, I am fully aware that neither I nor my team have the appropriate creativity and skill to carry out a marketing campaign for the business, something necessary to succeed, and that is why we would always look to outsource this. Take a look at your business and all of its roles and functions, if you see clear and apparent skill gaps then this is where and when you should look to outsource.
Time Constraints
A good friend of mine is a restaurateur and that is where her skills lie, in running a restaurant. In the early years of her business however she found that she was actually investing more time in human resource and finance matters than the restaurant itself, which is of course where her best abilities are. And so she quickly realized that through outsourcing the financial and human resources aspects of her restaurant, this would free up more time for her to actually invest in the day-to-day running of the restaurant. Many look to outsourcing as a cost but when done currently it can actually be the polar opposite. In this example my friend was able to spend more time on the restaurant which in turn brought in more money and the accounts could do their job which meant a better managed finance department and less mistakes, very cost effective.
Outsourcing correctly will take your business to the next level.
