Have your ever heard the saying, “The cobbler’s children have no shoes?” It’s referring to the fact that a business owner works so hard for others and has not time for themselves or their family. If you feel this way about your business, it might be time to consider outsourcing certain aspects of your operation so you can focus on what’s most important to your clients, yourself, and your family. But, business owners need to decide what areas of the business they are willing to loosen the reigns on. An even more important consideration is, who do you trust with those aspects of your business?
Freelancers
Freelancers used to be the pariahs of the professional world. Today, these professional individuals allow you access to a talent pool that would otherwise be out of your reach due to cost or services needed. These digital nomads keep an increasing amount of businesses moving as more and more entrepreneurs realize the benefit of hiring someone short-term and skilled in one aspect of the business. In other words, hiring a freelancer is less expensive than a full-time employee because you only have to pay them for what they know and when they work. Some areas to consider are:
- Branding – Branding is the process of creating what amounts to a persona for your business. McDonald’s, Disney, and Toyota are all examples of brands. The process of branding starts by selecting a name and then incorporating imagery and other elements to make it your own. Since you likely already have a name, consider outsourcing the rest of the work to an artist or graphic designer to create visuals to associate with your brand. Many of which Rasmussen College explains often work from home as freelancers.
- Virtual assistant – When you’re trying to save time each day, a virtual assistant is a way to go. These individuals are tasked with taking on those less important aspects of the business which can take up your precious time. You can hire someone to answer phone calls, set appointments, return emails and even plan events such as travel arrangements or company dinners. This can free you up for more important tasks, like working one-on-one with your customers or refining your products and services.
- Outside sales. Depending on your industry, it might make sense to hire a sales representative that works on commission only. It’s important to keep in mind that their commission is typically a percentage of the sale and can be anywhere from 5% up to 50%. This is a great investment if you are looking to grow your business and you have the profit margin to support one or more of these sales representatives.
And keep in mind, if you find that you just can’t live without a particular service after they are done, you can always look into hiring your freelancer as a full-time employee when it fits your needs and budget.
Special services
In addition to freelancers, there are other services that you can hire out on an ongoing or one-time basis that can put their expertise to work for you. Two of these are:
- Social media management – In today’s digital-savvy world, your social media presence is as important as your brick-and-mortar location. A social media manager can help you set up and manage your social media strategy. Typically this includes monitoring your accounts, adding content and tracking comments as well as engaging customers so that you are always active online.
- Business formation – Business formation is the act of turning your business idea into a registered legal entity. There are many types of business entities such as LLC, INC and DBA. It is important to consult an attorney or formation service like ZenBusiness, the latter of which is much less expensive. They are best ones to inform you of the options available, let you know the pro and cons of each and guide you to one which fits you best. These services are great because they remove all the legal ins and outs of setting up your entity so you can focus on building a better business.
There are many aspects to a business and it can be hard for one person to accomplish everything that is required. There is help out there for those who are looking to outsource some of the lessor tasks which need to be done such as freelancers and service providers. Their purpose is to free you up so you can focus your attention on the more important aspects of your business.
No matter which type of outside help you choose, choose wisely. Pick based on experience, budget, and availability. Whether you’re hiring a freelancer to create a brand logo or a one-off service to set up your social media accounts, you still need to pay attention. Make sure you are getting the benefits you are looking for from them because they are an investment in themselves.
Have you used freelancers or service companies to handle a certain aspect of your business? Let us know! We’d love for you to share your stories with us!
