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Grow your business by outsourcing non core tasks

Running a small-to-medium sized company is not walk in the park. You are tasked with duties of employing new team members, motivating them, preparing their payrolls and ensuring that clients' needs are met- all while trying to accomplish the business goals. To crown it all, you are required to acquire IT infrastructure, accounting software and other equipment, vital for the smooth operation of your enterprise.

In such situations, you can help your business grow faster by outsourcing some tasks. Put simply; outsourcing is the practice of utilizing outside firms to perform tasks, which would ordinarily be conducted within the company. You can outsource your non core tasks such as payroll processing, accounting, distribution among other functions. In response, many industries have ventured into serving companies' outsourcing needs. This overview highlights some of the duties that small and medium-sized businesses can outsource. It also explains how companies grow by outsourcing tasks.

Which tasks are fit for outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a big step in the growth process of your business. As such you should be careful not to relinquish your business' competitive advantage. Retain control to the aspects that make your enterprise unique. Here are some frequently outsourced areas:

Telephone answering services

Small-business owners are forced to recruit a new employee to keep up with the phone calls, emails, and day-to-day operations. Instead, these entrepreneurs should consider enlisting the services of virtual assistants, who can handle communication needs and general administrative tasks. A virtual receptionist can respond to all your clients' inquiries, schedule appointments and keep you up-to-date with the progress of your firm.

Marketing

Marketing is another area that might be challenging for entrepreneurs to manage all by themselves. Identifying the right strategies to market your company can be time-consuming and pricey, particularly if you lack prior experience in this area. Fortunately, you can hire digital marketers to do this; hence, free up time, which you can devote to other core activities.

Bookkeeping

Managing financial statements, bookkeeping and filing tax returns constitute the one area that leads to the downfall of many small startups. Without prior experience in this task, it can be tricky to handle accounting duties. Even if you acquire cloud-based DIY computing applications, they require frequent updates to keep running smoothly. As such, business owners are better hiring external bookkeepers to handle their paperwork and financial statements in order. 

How outsourcing grows your business

Frees up capital for growth

The overhead costs incurred in conducting back office operations are rather high. To reduce these expenses, you can outsource your non core tasks, especially those that can be shifted with ease. For instance, by hiring a virtual assistant to perform administrative tasks, you eliminate the need for additional office space that would cost more. Moreover, eluding the need to hire in-house employees minimizes the recruitment and operational costs. Small companies that outsource non core tasks become attractive to investors; outsourcing reflects their competency in utilizing capital for revenue-generating activities. 

Brings new skills to grow your business

A crucial aspect of expanding your business is ensuring that your employees keep abreast with technical changes in your particular industry. This can only be accomplished by training your team on the newest strategies or computer applications in the market. Unfortunately, training requires an investment of time and financial resources. Although investing in skill upgrading is imperative, it would be wiser to outsource those positions, especially if those skill sets are not utilized often. With the readily accessible pool of qualified and knowledgeable freelancers, it is more cost-effective to hire an individual with the skills your business requires only when you need them. These experts bring in new skills; thus, increase the repertoire of services that your business offers to clients.

Better risk management

Outsourcing enables the small-to-medium sized business to share any related risks with their outsourcing associates. In the long-run, all businesses are bound to encounter challenges including personnel attrition, bad hires, recession among others. These hurdles can significantly slow or hinder the growth of your business. Fortunately, outsourcing ensures that your company does not bear the risk burden on its own. For instance, outsourcing IT operations is a smart move to mitigate the risks associated with data loss or cyber attacks. The IT experts that you hire, work diligently to create disaster recovery solutions. They will also train your workforce on ways to prevent cyber breaches. 

Lets you focus on core activities

Perhaps the greatest benefit of outsourcing is getting the opportunity to focus only on the core activities of your business. By outsourcing, you will not have to worry about the subtleties such as replying to emails, missing important phone calls, marketing your business and much more. When you outsource your non core tasks, you can devote your time and energy to the things that matter most. Such fundamental duties include; attending business-related conferences and meeting up with potential investors, who can provide funding to expand your enterprise.

Gain competitive advantage

Often, the small-to-medium sized business owners lack the necessary funds and resources to provide the range of products and services, offered by the rival large-scale companies. However, these enterprises can boost their competitive edge by outsourcing help. Outsourcing gives you an avenue to offer the same expertise and knowledge that is provided by larger firms. Although your company is not in charge of a particular operation, its association with the outsourcing partner increases the credibility of your enterprise, especially in your clients' perception. Getting more customers translates to higher revenues and company growth.

Initiate new projects quickly

A credible outsourcing company has the capacity and resources to start projects immediately. If a business opts to handle the same project in-house, it might take weeks or even months to recruit the right employees and train them. This startup process will be even more challenging if it requires massive capital investments such as setting up distribution centers. In such situations, the business owner should outsource the project to an experienced and well-equipped firm.

The belief that outsourcing is reserved for only the large corporations is behind the times. Presently, startups and small-to-medium size companies benefit immensely from outsourcing tasks. Through outsourcing, businesses realize cost-savings, tap into high-level expertise, and scale the growth ladder more quickly.