HOW TO GET STARTED WITH OUTSOURCING

Congratulations! Your business is

growing...

Unfortunately, so are your stress levels. Finding quality new recruits, cash flow, additional office space and equipment to buy, the time and effort it takes to do it all etc. So, what should you do?

Well, if you’ve read our blog post “The Top 11 Reasons Businesses Outsource”, then you’re already clued up on the benefits of your next strategy: Outsourcing. The question is, how do you get started?

Getting started isn’t as hard as you may think. Of course, everything takes a bit of time to implement.

But you will implement it with a solid strategy and have it done in a timely

manner. You don’t realise it at this early stage but your new team members

will become a very important part of the business and you will build a

fantastic relationship with each person.

In this blog post, we’re exploring the nitty-gritty of how to get started with outsourcing, so you can walk away with some practical action steps to use today.

1. Know what you want to achieve

If you know you need some jobs taken off your plate but don’t know exactly what that would entail, then you’ve got some work to do! Talk to us about the type of flexibility our employees here can bring to the table for you. (Multitasking)

Start by brainstorming the tasks you’d like to hand off to an outsourced employee, then formulate a job description. Think about your overarching goal and then work backward to establish the necessary steps. Build the role and we will employ the right person to match those requirements.

2. Deciding which tasks to outsource

You can outsource all sorts of jobs – from administration and accounting tasks to marketing, IT, and HR (Human Resources).

It’s a smart idea to outsource as much low-value and time-consuming work as possible. (In the beginning) You and your team should focus on what you’re good at and the tasks that add the most value. This way, you’ll have the greatest opportunity to drive results and ultimately, scale up within your budget.

On the flip side, outsourcing specialized or advanced tasks (like Accounting, Legal support, I.T. services etc) can also be helpful…Sometimes we fear passing on these tasks, but you can be safe in knowing that a lot of the biggest companies in the world have been doing exactly this for many years now. And getting results!

3. Relinquish some control and trust the experts

Many entrepreneurs are so brilliant and driven that they can also be crippled by perfectionism and controlling tendencies (of course, there’s a control freak in most of us when the right buttons are pushed!). This can make outsourcing difficult, so getting outside of your comfort zone is critical. Covid has definitely allowed most of us to let go a bit and realise we don’t need to micromanage as much as we think.

Outsourcing and interacting with other brilliant minds open doors. It saves time, increases productivity, supercharges innovation and often means you can get the job done to a higher standard – by a team of experts.

Hiring skilled employees in an outsourcing model, allows you to save a lot of money and scale up in a more manageable fashion. With more money to reinvest, your creative juices will kick into action and the results will be there for the world to see. Put aside the control freak in you, (Haha) just a little. You’ll be amazed with the results.

4. No Need to Spend too much time or money on recruitment

Outsourcing is a long-term investment. It will take time and energy to identify the right people for your business. But you don’t have to do that. We do it for you. We only get you involved at the end when we have found a good short list of candidates. You can interview them at that point and make your final decision. It is a very organised process and works very well with all of our Partners. We also don’t charge you for running recruitment Ads, or the time it takes to find the people. It’s a part of our service to you.

All we ask you to do is prepare the training in the same manner as you would at home and be ready for day 1 when they start. We find that most of our Partners are very good at this part of the process.

5. Make an effort to understand the outsourced culture

It’s a blessing to have the opportunity to work with people who bring diverse backgrounds and experiences to the table. However, if your outsourced employees aren’t from the same country or culture as you, remember to spend more time communicating instructions and aligning expectations to avoid any issues.

A hefty dose of patience is required in the beginning – from both parties. Make the time to learn about what doing business in your new staff member’s culture entails, what they value and how they like to work. Take an interest and ask questions – they’ll appreciate the effort. They will be excited to meet you. You will most likely find that your new employee has worked with international companies in the past.

6. Take baby steps

Outsourcing isn’t a process that you should rush. You don’t need to commit to long contracts with lots of heads in the beginning. We don’t hold any of our Partners into long-term contracts. We let the quality of the work we do speak for itself. Once you are comfortable with the people, the work they produce and our relationship, then you can scale up in an organised manner.

7. Don’t step too far away from the business

This phenomenon is on the other end of the scale of relinquishing control! On occasion, entrepreneurs enjoy letting their virtual assistants run day-to-day operations just that little bit too much and taking too much of a step back can be risky.

What will you do if that staff member is spontaneously off sick? Do you still understand the basics of your company’s operations? Do you have your finger on the pulse when it comes to customer needs and feedback? Are you present enough to keep the team focused on the vision or the bigger picture?

No one will ever drive the company forward with the same energy as you do and that is worth remembering before you get entirely swept off your feet by outsourcing success! Stay close to the business and close to your people. This is your recipe for success!

First things first though. Even if you are not quite ready to get started, it’s best to line up a call with us to understand how it all works and then when you are ready, you can hit the ground running. Please DM me with a day and time and I will set up a Zoom call. I look forward to speaking with you soon.