By Michele Scism
The Results Lady
When you are in business for yourself, especially one that is conducted online, you'll find there are a number of different things for you to learn about that can save you time and make you money. Outsourcing is by far one of the more exciting things to discover and put to use.
All too common is the business owner who feels they have to do everything themselves in order for things to go smoothly in their online venture. This couldn’t be farther from the truth! When I started my business I quickly realized that I needed to give up control and find other people and companies that could help me with the things that were not going to make me money. Yes I could learn how to design my website but why not hire a professional who could do in 1 hour what it takes me 10. In case you’re curious about why so many online business owners are singing the praises of outsourcing, keep reading to see just five of the many advantages of outsourcing for business owners.
More Value for Your Time
When you own an online business, one of the most important things to remember is how much your time is really worth. When you think about the dull or repetitive tasks that you are doing, you'll find this work is not worth your high per hour price tag! When you outsource, you'll pay someone else to take care of those responsibilities while you give attention to the more important, money-making projects.
Saving Resources
Think about everything that goes into the tasks that you would outsource. This will range from things like your time and space to costs such as Internet and software. After awhile all of these costs add up. For instance, graphics software can get quite expensive. If you are outsourcing an activity, you get more than just the task itself out of the way. You will also get someone who specializes in areas of your business that you may not know quite as well as or have no desire to learn. More than likely these people will already have the tools needed to complete their assignment. Depending on the project, this might save you money and learning time. This brings me to the next benefit of outsourcing.
Going to the Experts
The tasks you are outsourcing might not be ones that you have no desire to learn about, whether they are troubleshooting, manufacturing, taking orders, website design and maintenance, or something else. By handing the work over to an expert who enjoys and makes it their business to know these things, you'll be able to take advantage of their knowledge in the area without having to learn it yourself. This in turn will give your customers or clients more than you could possibly give them yourself.
Expand
When you outsource, you will soon realize that you are in a great place when it comes to getting more involved with your business. You will be able to expand and provide everything your customers need. Outsourcing frees you up to try new things with your business, learn more and experience new aspects of your industry.
Accountability
When you outsource, you will have a contract with the person or company you are working with. By having someone else who is depending on work from you, you are more apt to stay ahead of the game by planning better and making sure that you’re tasks are getting completed as well.
When you first begin learning about and implementing outsourcing techniques within your business, you’ll find out those boring or repetitive tasks can easily be handed off to someone who enjoys doing them. This will allow you, as the business’ owner, to free up more time to concentrate on more important aspects of your business such as product creation, advertising, networking and other marketing practices.
These are the things that will help your business to grow even more profitable.
Michele,
This is a timely article for me because I have basically reached emergency mode where I *must* hire a VA to support me and my business.
I’ve been saying this for years, and although I’ve used elance and guru.com for specific projects — and even hired a part-timer to help in the office, which was a MAJOR mistake and money pit — I haven’t yet taken the step to hire a VA that works with me on a regular basis.
How did you go about finding someone, Michele? Did you test out a few before choosing one? Do you have more than one that specializes in different things?
Hey Tshombe – Yes I have to say I worked my way through a few. I got really lucky the first time by meeting Michelle Shaeffer at the very first event I went to. Actually it was at Adams event and she did a lot of my website things in the beginning. But like you I hired someone part-time and that didn’t work out. I think Tshombe that you have to kiss a few frogs. :)) That is the great thing about VA’s if they don’t work out you are not required by law to do certain things to end the relationship and then when you find good ones you run with it. Keep your eyes and ears open and when you hear someone say they like who they are working with find out who it is. That is the best way! Thanks, Michele
Thanks Michele! It’s helpful to know that I just need to be proactive and” kiss a few frogs”, as you say, rather than let a less-than-ideal experience stall me out.
This is very encouraging; I really appreciate you responding to my comment!
Wow, great post Michelle, it’s so nice to hear successful entrepreneurs rave about how necessary outsourcing and utilizing VA’s can be. As a VA “matchmaker” I spend a great deal of my time repeating those same sentiments. As busy professionals, it’s important that we use our time wisely and focus on tasks that we really do NEED to be working on and that we enjoy.
The wonderful thing about this industry is that we all have access to incredible talent in any area of our business that we need, so we can afford to be very precise in how we choose to spend our time.
Tshombe – I’d love to work with you to help you find your VA 🙂