Monday Morning Quarter-Buck: Outsourcing for Small Businesses

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Outsourcing, Should I?

By Kate Welker, CFP

Hornell, NY

When you’re a small business owner, especially starting out, you are everything. You are the boss, the accountant, the clerk, the handyman. As your business grows you will need to start thinking about the best use of your time and money. Delegation is hard, letting go of a piece of your business might feel like you are losing control but it might be the perfect opportunity to gain more control of your business. One of the easiest ways to begin to delegate is to start outsourcing.

When considering what to outsource start by looking at the areas that are causing you the most frustration or feel like the biggest time sucker. By hiring someone else to handle that task it frees you up to be producing for your business or to build in more free time for your life. If outsourcing a task for $50 an hour will let you make $150 an hour you are coming out ahead. If there is a task that can be outsourced that will give you five more hours a week with your family the cost may be well worth it. You will also want to look at the other benefits to be gained such as specialized knowledge.

There are many tasks you may consider outsourcing, I’m going to touch on a few of the more popular.

Accounting: Generally the first task a small business will choose to outsource.  Accounting tasks can take up a large amount of time, especially if you are not a numbers person and struggle to keep up with the process. A professional bookkeeper will be able to accomplish this in a much faster time period. A professional may also be able to recommend strategies to save money and get the most beneficial tax deductions.

Human Resources:  Payroll, staffing, recording keeping. There are many options available now to outsource HR needs. There are apps and software to help with recordkeeping. Consultants are available to work either virtually or in person to come in and take some of this burden off your plate.

Maintenance: Starting out funds may be tight and you are tackling everything including the construction, repairs, lawn care, and more. As your business grows and there is room in the budget consider sourcing these out. Particularly if you are not a handy person this will save you a lot of frustration and money in the long run.

IT: In an ever increasing digital age having an IT professional on hand will help your business in multiple ways. You may be adept in this area, I am not and find myself unable to keep up with the newest technology and requirements in security, speed, and advancement. I could spend hours on the research, but that is not a good use of my time. Having a trusted professional that can make sure your cyber security system is solid will protect you information and that of your clients. An opinion on whether you need to upgrade or are ok to continue the current protocol will also help save money over time.

Marketing: When you are ready to start expanding a marketing specialist will be able to focus the funds you are ready to spend go to the best use. Take advantage of the knowledge this person may have of social media channels, demographics, website traffic and SEO optimization.

There are so many other areas you could choose to outsource, it will ultimately come down to your business and what will make the most impact to you. At Rooted Planning Group we are also able to assist your business with financial planning to get your business and personal financial life together.