Many small business owners begin by juggling lots of different responsibilities. While this keeps costs down in the early days, it can lead to errors and inefficiency that could be detrimental to your business’ success. Outsourcing specific business areas can help address this issue as business owners do not need to employ additional staff but can give tasks to third-party companies with relevant experience and expertise. By outsourcing the right areas, you can ensure they are managed effectively and more efficiently while getting on with the tasks you are good at and growing the business.
This guide highlights the key areas of your business that you might want to consider outsourcing to a reliable third party.
Marketing
To attract customers to your small business, you need to market your products or services to the right audience. This is a complex and time-consuming task that takes time to master, particularly as digital marketing has so many different avenues to consider. An external marketing agency can work with you to create an effective marketing strategy and creative campaigns and deliver them across multiple platforms on your behalf. For example, small business SEO services will focus on getting your website to the top of search engine results to increase traffic to your website.
Market research
Before launching a new product or entering a new market or region, you need to make sure you have a realistic chance of success. Completing the necessary market research can take a long time and, as you will have limited access to data, difficult. An external market research firm can take the time and hassle out of the task and present you with the information you need to move forward.
Accounting
One of the most popular parts of a business to outsource is accounting, as very few small business owners are also experts in finance, compliance, and tax law. By hiring an accountant, you can ensure your finances are in good order, and they may even be able to save you money on taxes or highlight benefits that you are entitled to.
Manufacturing and shipping
To avoid the need to set up a manufacturing facility, you can outsource your manufacturing process to another organization. You may want to outsource to an offshore facility, but there are also plenty of options in this country too. You could also outsource your storage and shipping by using a dropshipping service. Click here for more information on dropshipping.
IT support and management
It makes sense to outsource your IT to an external company, not only because it is a specialist area that requires expertise but also because the efficiency and security of your IT systems are key to success in the modern world. Ideally, your IT services provider should provide ongoing security checks, enable you to innovate and evolve technologically and be there for advice and support when needed.
Recruitment and Human Resources
When you start to take on employees, you will need the advice and support of recruitment companies, HR services, or both. Of course, you can manage your own recruitment, but a recruitment specialist should be able to streamline the hiring process for you to ensure you find candidates that are the best match in terms of experience and personality. Once you have employees, you will need to ensure you are on top of payroll, vacation, benefits, training, and any disciplinary issues that may arise. An external HR company will be able to help you with all of this and more.
