There are three reports on your desk. At least two of your phones are ringing. You have a meeting on Zoom. There are also messages on your phones. Everything is happening at once when you are running a startup. You’re trying to convince investors and also closing deals with clients. Do you have time to interview job applicants, file your taxes, do the inventory, and fix a glitch in your computer?
Small business owners, especially those starting in the industry, have less time for themselves and their families. They hardly have time to think about a marketing campaign because they are too busy with the logistics of running their business. These everyday tasks can be overwhelming. They are also taking you away from the important task of assessing risks, looking out for crises, and engaging with customers and clients.
It is time to think about outsourcing these services. More than a third of small businesses are already outsourcing the needs of their organizations. It is time to ditch the mentality of doing everything and offload the tasks to more skilled and experienced teams.
Information Technology (IT)
Startups don’t always have the money to form their own information technology department. Plus, if you have a small business setup, you do not encounter big IT problems and issues every day. The cost of outsourcing managed IT services is affordable enough for small businesses. Since these managed IT agencies are handling multiple clients at the same time, they can divide the cost of their services among their clients.
Accounting
Very few small businesses have the skills or resources to handle an in-house accounting team. Small businesses have no complicated accounting needs like bigger organizations. More than 40% of small businesses are outsourcing their accounting needs. It is time to follow suit. They will be the ones to handle your taxes and payrolls. These two tasks can be very time-consuming for people who are not skilled enough.
Marketing
The most critical element of running a business today is the marketing perspective. But when you are too busy with other logistical problems, you might be missing the tough competition on social media and internet marketing. This is the worst thing you can do for the company. It is important to find a reputable marketing agency that will understand how to reach your target audience with well-crafted marketing strategies.
Recruitment
If you do not have time for your marketing team, then you do not have time to recruit the right team members, too. You will not be hiring people every day. Chances are you will need to hire people only when your business starts to expand. There is no reason for you to build an in-house recruitment team. You can outsource this to an organization that has a wide pool of talents to tap. This way, you can reach more skilled and experienced workers.
Freelancers
Whether it’s writing content for your social media pages or your corporate blog or designing your website, freelancers offer a lot of flexibility for startups. In the United States, one-third of the workforce is already choosing to do freelance work. This allows them to also work for multiple employers compared to getting their salaries from only one source.
Logistics
As a small business, you probably started in a room in your house. Your garage has enough space for your inventory. However, as you try to expand your business, the demand for more space also increases. Should you rent a warehouse to store your inventory? This is going to be expensive for startups because you have to rent the space and hire the people to manage it. You can instead outsource your logistical needs. Logistics companies have more expertise and resources to handle your needs.
Customer Support
What will you do with inquiries, technical support, complaints, and returns and refunds? These are usually the most challenging and overwhelming tasks for business owners. This is why call centers became a huge industry lately. They train people to handle customer service complaints. If your customers need support for a particular product, the call center agents can handle that service for you.
You have to invest in third-party companies to ease the burden of running your business. You have to focus your wits, energy, resources, and time on the more important component of starting a business. Things like accounting, logistics, and customer support are best handled by more experienced staff. Outsourcing business services have a positive impact on your business because they streamline your resources and provide cost-effective solutions.