Should I Outsource Tasks In My Business?
It is possible that as a freelancer or entrepreneur, you have at some point thought about the possibility of outsourcing certain tasks or steps that must be carried out for the future of your business.
Not having time, reducing costs, gaining productivity and profitability are reasons why sometimes it is best to outsource some external processes to manage your business better.
Due to the impact that it can have on your business, it is important to be clear about the entire process, as well as the most common outsourcing areas or processes.
What aspects should you take into account before outsourcing tasks and processes in your business?
Before acting, you must carry out an analysis of your current situation, assessing the factors that will influence this decision.
It is vital to reflect on certain questions that you may ask yourself:
Type of task to outsource
What do you want to outsource? The management of the warehouse, the commercial department, the maintenance of the facilities, etc.?
It is important to ask yourself the added value that these processes generate in your business. And if with outsourcing, the process will continue to be carried out from within the business or from outside.
How frequently you carry out the task or process that you want to outsource
If it is an occasional task, carried out on a few occasions, like acoustic testing for construction projects, contract experts such as TheBuildingComplianceTeam.com to carry out the activity whenever needed; it will be more productive and profitable.
What is the size of your operation?
In the case of small companies and freelancers, the availability of human resources is limited. Therefore, faced with a possible increase in activities, the internal team itself may not capable of absorbing everything.
The costs and economic resources invested when outsourcing a process
You must analyse the cost that the task will generate with the different variables: by hiring new staff for your own team, or by outsourcing the process to a subcontracted company.
What are the tasks or activities that could be outsourced in a business?
As a general rule, the most outsourced tasks in a business are the following:
- Taxation – More than 50% of the self-employed people transfer their tax obligations to a financial adviser. However, more and more tools are appearing on the market, such as online billing and accounting programs for freelancers and companies, which allow anyone without experience to carry out their accounting and tax management in an easy, agile and visual way.
- Accounting – As in the previous case, many companies prefer to outsource the accounting process to another company. The lack of accounting experience and the loss of time in this process are the main reasons.
- Human Resources – The search, selection and hiring of personnel are important tasks in any business that require experience and specialisation that few companies or freelancers can afford. For this reason, it is very common to outsource this process to companies that are experts in this field.
- Graphic and advertising design – It is no longer surprising, nowadays, to make a substantial investment of money and time in enhancing the brand of your business, as well as carrying out online and offline marketing actions that better position your products and services. Expert companies in this area will help you take the most appropriate steps for your business.
- Customer Support – In recent years this type of outsourcing has increased in business. Generating sales, conducting surveys, or other commercial actions can be carried out by an external company. A call centre will allow you to gain productivity and profitability because it is a company specialised in this type of business process.
Are there tasks that should not be outsourced?
Yes. Although there are quite a few tasks and activities that you could outsource without any problem, there are others that you should never outsource due to their type and importance within the business.
These tasks are those that have a direct relationship and a great impact on business management.
Normally, these are tasks that allow you to differentiate your business from the competition, due to their added value in business management.
Final thoughts
As you can see, if you consider the analysis of resources, productivity and costs in your business, you should take the possibility of outsourcing some tasks or processes very seriously.