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Outsourcing is not just a buzzword for a big corporation anymore. It’s become a smart and practical solution for businesses, no matter their size, especially for solopreneurs and startups. Whether you’re looking to free up your time, reduce your costs, or focus on what you do best, outsourcing is going to help you get there. We want to explore 10 areas where outsourcing makes a lot of sense for your business, and why you might want to consider handing off some of the work elsewhere.
Photo by Kevin Ku
1. IT support and Management. If you’re no longer in the tech business, managing servers, software updates, and cybersecurity can quickly become overwhelming. This is where outsourcing truly shines. Hiring a managed service provider or IT consultant can take a huge load off your shoulders, especially when it comes to strategic IT management for creative professionals. Outsourcing works to help avoid costly tech hiccups while letting creatives stay focused on designing, writing, filming, or whatever they do best. An outsourced IT team can monitor systems around the clock, manage backups, and keep everything ticking without needing to be on your payroll full time.
2. Accounting and bookkeeping. Unless you love crunchy numbers, balancing books and interpreting tax quotes, finance can go over your head. Outsourcing bookkeeping and accounting services ensures that your finances are handled by the professionals who understand compliance and can help you to avoid penalties. Services can range from basic bookkeeping to full accounting, including tax filing and strategic financial planning. It also means that you’ll always have someone keeping an eye on your bottom line while you focus on growing the top.
3. Customer support teams. Providing excellent customer service is essential, but staffing a full-time in-house support team can be very expensive and hard to manage. Outsourced customer service firms can handle inquiries through phone, e-mail or chat, often 24/7 and in multiple languages. This is a setup that helps to maintain a professional image and fast response times. Especially important if your customers are in different time zones or expect round-the-clock availability. As a business owner, you are just one person, which means that you’re not going to be able to be everything to everyone. Handing this off and having an entire team working for you behind the scenes can make a big difference.
4. Marketing and social media. Marketing hasn’t been just about running ads for a very long time. It’s a complete mix of content creation, SEO, analytics, social media management and more. By hiring an in-house team with all those skills, you’re going to end up spending a lot more money than is necessary. Outsourcing to a marketing agency or a freelancer can give you access to experts in each of those areas that you need. This is often at a fraction of the cost. Social media, in particular, can be time-consuming for a business to manage. Outsource teams can manage your posting schedule, engage with your followers, and even handle ad campaigns while keeping your brand voice consistent.
5. Graphic design. As a business, you need logos, pitch decks, videos, infographics and more. And for that, good design matters. Hiring a full-time designer might not be practical unless you have a steady stream of design work coming in, but outsourcing your design projects gives you access to the talent that you need across the globe and allows you to scale up or down based on your current needs. There are plenty of websites out there, like Upwork or specialised design firms, that offer a range of designers for just about any budget or style.
Photo by Judit Peter
6. Content Writing. Content is still king, which means that you need to make sure that you have great content fueling your website, blog, newsletters, product descriptions and more. Writing, editing and proofreading take skill and time, and rather than writing everything yourself or pulling team members away from their main responsibilities. Learning to outsource writing tasks to freelancers or content agencies is a good step to take. You could need technical writing, marketing copy or SEO optimised blog posts, so outsource, because there’s someone out there who will do it faster than you and often better.
7. Human Resources. Hiring is time-consuming, especially if you’re trying to fill multiple roles or you don’t have an HR background. With the help of outsourced HR services, you’ll end up with a hand on job postings, applicant screenings, background checks, and even the onboarding process. There are some services out there that also offer ongoing HR support, like payroll, benefits administration, and policy creation. It’s this kind of support that is especially valuable for small businesses that need HR expertise but can’t afford a dedicated in-house team.
8. Admin support. Not everything you outsource has to be technical. Sometimes you can get bogged down in the busy work, and that’s where the problems lie. Admin work can often pile up or, worse, fall through the cracks. With the help of a virtual assistant, you’ll be able to get help with email management, scheduling, data entry, and more. They can be hired on a project basis for ongoing support or on an ongoing basis, depending on what you need. Many virtual assistants have specialities too, like travel booking, research or CRM management, so you can match their skills with your needs.
9. Legal help. Legal advice can be critical but expensive. Having an in-house legal team is great, but you might not need them all year round. Outsourcing legal work to a law firm or freelance legal consultant can help you get the support that you need without hiring an in-house lawyer. For creative professionals, protecting copyright and managing license deals often requires specialist legal help, so outsourcing gives you the access that you need for that without the long-term commitment.
10. Web development. Your website is your first impression on the world, so it needs to look good and work well. If you’re not a web developer, building and maintaining a site can be difficult and frustrating. Outsourcing web development ensures that you get a polished and functional website that’s tailored to your business needs beyond the initial build. Outsourcing ongoing maintenance means someone else handles updates and bug fixes.
