Running a small business is exciting, but challenging. You want to give your business the best possible chance of success, but at the same time, doing everything yourself can be a struggle and can mean there are certain tasks that just keep slipping to the bottom of your to-do list.
Employing more in-house staff members may feel daunting in terms of budget, but continuing to put too much on your own plate could be equally as detrimental as forking out for a bigger team.
So, where’s the middle ground?
For some small businesses, the middle ground lies in outsourcing. Outsourcing allows you to share the workload where certain tasks are concerned, without having to take on more in-house team members to do so. It gives the illusion and feel of a bigger team, just without all the expense.
Outsourcing is becoming a more and more popular way for small businesses to compete with their bigger competitors and move up the ranks of success.
But what are the benefits of outsourcing, and how could it help your small business succeed?
How Outsourcing Can Help Small Businesses Succeed
Increase Efficiency
No matter how much time you put into your business, nobody can do everything. Especially when you’re running a small or startup business, it’s easy to become quickly overwhelmed with administrative-style tasks.
There’s paperwork to take care of, credit control to manage, and emails to reply to. And while all these tasks are necessary for the continued functionality of your business, spending too much time on them can pull your focus and efforts away from managing and growing your business overall.
Instead of putting all your eggs in your own basket and taking on too much, outsourcing particular tasks can have an incredibly positive impact on efficiency.
While skilled professionals take care of your admin, your hours are freed up and you can spend more of your time working on your business strategy and pushing your business to the next level. You’ll get more done overall while also ensuring vital admin tasks are kept on top of.
It’s also important to note that in terms of efficiency, outsourcing to professionals means tasks are often completed quicker than they could be in-house. There’s no employee training involved or waiting around for someone to have a spare hour to spend on credit control. Everything you need to be done will be turned around within your time boundaries and you can rest assured that deadlines won’t be missed – a positive both for your business and your customers.
Reduce Costs
As well as improving efficiency, outsourcing to business support specialists can reduce costs in the long run. If you’re running a small business or a startup, you’ll know that money fritters away almost as quickly as it appears in your bank account, and what you really need to be doing as your business gets off the ground is breaking even.
This means taking on extra full-time, in-house staff can be a complete no-go. Paying salaries as well as additional benefits like sick pay or forking out for workplace equipment can be too much as you’re starting out. But the alternative of managing everything yourself doesn’t always seem feasible either.
Outsourcing to business support professionals can be a worthwhile alternative. While paying for quality work isn’t cheap, outsourcing will still cost you considerably less than the alternative. You’ll only be paying for the hours worked and you won’t have to worry about funding the additional extras.
Outsourcing is also incredibly flexible. You won’t be tied into a costly contract if things don’t work out and you can terminate support immediately if your budget requires you to. When you’re running a small business, reducing risk when it comes to cost is vital, and outsourcing to business support professionals is a great way to ensure that’s the case.
Level the Playing Field
Running a small business can often feel like you’re a little fish swimming in a very large pond, usually inhabited by a few big sharks! Particularly in saturated industries, it can feel difficult for your small business to compete with the big shots with their hundreds of employees and solution for every problem.
While we aren’t saying investing in outsourcing will grow your business overnight, it may help you to level the playing field somewhat. Outsourcing gives you access to some of the advantages larger businesses are already in possession of. For example, someone to manage admin tasks, a team to support credit control, advice from talented marketing specialists, etc.
Put simply, outsourcing to business support professionals allows you to reap the benefits of a large company without matching them on a scale. If you’re hoping your small business will rise through the ranks and carve out its own space in your industry, outsourcing may be one method you can use to help that aspiration become a reality.
Utilise Talent
When you’re running a small business, not everyone on your team is going to be an expert in everything. For example, you might be great at sales and customer service but less confident in marketing and social media. You might be amazing at bookkeeping and keeping on top of admin but not such a fan of credit control.
Deciding to outsource means having a huge pool of expert talent at your disposal. With a little bit of research on your part, you’ll be able to pinpoint an expert in the area you want to outsource and utilise their skills as and when you need to.
No, taking on new staff, new training existing team members – just thousands of skilled individuals ready and waiting to support your business in exactly the way you need them to.
Outsourcing with The Edwards Company
Here at The Edwards Company, we provide a range of outsourcing solutions designed to support businesses like yours.
Whether you need some support in keeping on top of admin and data entry, a helping hand when it comes to credit control or an expert to point you in the right direction with your marketing materials, we can help.
For more information on our outsourcing solutions and how we can support your business, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our brilliant team.