The Golden Rules Of Business Outsourcing
One thought that all entrepreneurs and business owners have all had is whether or not they should outsource some of their tasks and work to freelancers. There are various pros and cons that come with doing so but, more often than not, finding reputable contractors and freelancers to outsource jobs to can be very economical and effective for most businesses.
That’s because hiring freelancers will be a lot cheaper than offering full-time jobs, and that will save you a lot of money from the get-go. Not only that, though, but it can also help you save on office space as you can request that your contractors work remotely. So you can always hold off upgrading to a larger office for the time being at least.
However, outsourcing doesn’t always go quite as smoothly as some companies expect it to do. But that’s usually the fault of the business owner. This happens when they don’t understand how to integrate outsourcing into their company.
As a result, it can often run into few problems. To make sure that your current and future outsourced ventures go according to plan, you just need to remember these golden rules.
Understand fully what you are outsourcing before you hire someone
As your business expands you will start to discover tasks that you can do, but don’t enjoy, or take you a long time. These could be great tasks and work to outsource.
The problem that some business owners get stuck with is trying to outsource tasks they aren’t familiar with. The trouble with this is that if you don’t know how to do something, or what the work should look like, you don’t know if the person you hire is doing a good job or not.
This could create major problems as you may end up paying someone good money for spotty work. Make sure you understand the desired outcome and what quality standards you want before looking for outside help.
You don’t need to be a master in a specific area before you look to outsource something, but you should have at least a basic understanding. This can save you time and money in the long run by finding quality people to work with faster.
Shop Around For Freelancers
First of all, it’s important that you shouldn’t just go for the first freelancer that you find. You need to shop around so that you find the one that can offer you the most value for money.
But that also doesn’t mean that you need to go for the cheapest one. They are cheap for a reason, after all! It’s best to cast your net far and wide when it comes to freelancers so that you have the best chance of finding great talent.
In fact, it might be worth considering offshoring and looking at international freelancer markets. You can find out more about why offshoring can be so great to help you find the best freelancers and employees. So, be sure to check out a fair few freelancer options before you go with one.
Look For Ongoing Help
When you are hiring a freelancer, it’s best not to think in terms of short-term projects. Ideally, you want to bring freelancers into your company who you can develop a long-term relationship with.
Otherwise, you will only waste more money and time going through the whole recruitment process again trying to find someone else for your next process. So, when you are looking through contractor’s applications and portfolios, try to think who you would like to build a long-term working relationship with.
When you find the right people to outsource tasks in your business they should pay for itself. If they aren’t, then you need to find someone else. Outsourcing can be a great form of leverage for you as a business owner.
There are 3 foundations to wealth as a business owner. Money at work, people at work, and systems at work. Outsourcing can be a great place to start leveraging people at work. So when you find someone good to work with, strive to make it a long term option, as long as it remains profitable for your business.
Find people from your tribe
Another place to find good people is actually within your following and tribe. As your business grows and customer base and raving fan base grows, there are potential people you could work with there.
Some people may want to just help the cause and jump at the chance to work more directly with you. You could start off with something small like they do certain tasks for the month for $100-$200 a month. Then increase based on the value they bring in and the growth of your business.
You may also consider a trade off of your services as well if your outsourcing budget isn’t very big to start with. Perhaps you are a business coach or have some other unique skill you are great at.
You could trade off a task you are great at, which can be done with low time and effort on your part. If you do decide to do something like this make sure it is worth the cost on your end.
The last thing you want is to bring new people on only to have it drain more time from your top income producing activities. Remember that time is money and needing more time is probably why you are outsourcing in the first place.
Always Ask To See Samples Of Work
One other thing that you need to remember is that you should always ask to see samples of a contractor’s work before you decide to hire them. Most freelancers should be happy to share a few samples and some might even have their portfolio already on their website for you to browse.
When you are looking through these examples, it gives you the chance to check the standard that they usually work to. You can then see whether they will be able to produce a quality of work that you would want to see in your company.
You may also even give a freelancer small test tasks and see how they perform before you bring them on. Of course you will need to pay for these test tasks, but it can save you money in the long run.
It would be more than worth it to spend a few hundred dollars vetting out the bad candidates. This could save you thousands in the long run, by finding a quality candidate faster.
Provide Plenty Of Support And Feedback
Some entrepreneurs hand over the work to their freelancer of choice and then leave them to get on with it. They don’t make any contact with the freelancer until they hand in their work on deadline day.
This isn’t a great strategy to have in place. Instead of no contact at all, you should endeavor to touch base with your contractor as often as you can so that you can offer them any help and support that they might need. This also gives you the chance to check their ongoing work and give your feedback on it.
Generally speaking, you will find that your outsourcing relationship is a successful one if you touch base with your freelancers at least once every two weeks.
Set A Contract In Place
Of course, before you do get started with a new freelancer, it is necessary to put a contract in place. This will outline the scope of their work and any responsibilities they are expected to take on. It will also explain how long the project will run for if it is for only a limited time.
As well as all this, you should also detail the amount of compensation that the freelancer should expect to receive for the work.
Hopefully, all of these golden rules can help you make a big success of outsourcing for your company! If you enjoyed this post you may also want to check out this book Clockwork on outsourcing more effectively. See current price on Amazon here!
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