Small businesses employ a huge percentage of the workforce in the United States. Although the bigger companies have the budgets and the reach to hire thousands of people, the smaller brands that exist in communities across the country also provide important job opportunities.
As the owner of a small business, you are tasked with managing the operations of a company while also thinking about how to grow in the future. Whether you run a small coffee shop, a marketing firm, or an e-commerce brand, the burden of responsibility can be too heavy on your shoulders.
One strategy that can help small businesses succeed is outsourcing certain tasks. It is unlikely that you have the budget to hire staff for every task needed for the business to operate. It is far cheaper to outsource some of these tasks to a third party rather than try to hire a new employee or do everything yourself. Here are some tasks that your small business could outsource.
Table of Contents
Taxes
Taxes are already complex enough for your personal life. Now, you have to manage taxes for a business as well. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake on your company taxes that results in trouble with the IRS. Hiring a tax professional to look at your records and help with filing your taxes could be a huge relief if your finances are stressing you out. Outsourcing this task will potentially save you money on fines due to mistakes made when filing, and you won’t have to hire an employee to do this work. Optimizing your small business tax strategy is an important goal that should not be overlooked.
Marketing
For people to know about your brand, you have to market it. Many small businesses start with the owner managing all the marketing tasks. However, as you grow, more and more responsibilities pile up, and marketing could become a chore that is tough to prioritize. Also, you may not have the budget to hire a full-time marketer or a creative team. Fortunately, many marketing agencies can help you accomplish your business goals through advertising, and some of them may specialize in your industry.
Cybersecurity
We live in the age of the Internet, and few businesses can escape the practicality of online tools. Between a website for customers, social media, and various applications, your team may spend a lot of time on their computers doing work. Cybersecurity is an important consideration, especially if your business model involves customer data like credit card numbers or addresses. Rather than hiring a cybersecurity professional, you could outsource your online safety practices to a virtual Chief Information Security Officer from GSI. Then, you will have access to a valuable resource for improving your cybersecurity to protect business data and customers’ private information.
Customer Service Calls
Perhaps the type of business you run receives a lot of customer service requests. If that is the case, you probably don’t have a ton of time to field all those calls while managing the day-to-day operations of the business. Outsourcing this task to a third-party call center could save you significant time if your phone is always ringing with customers on the other end. This call center can handle intake and then forward any important questions or requests to you once they have been filtered.
Accounting
Bookkeeping, like taxes, is also necessary for every business. You have to keep an accurate record of your expenses and revenue so that you can make an effective budget and use your resources efficiently. Plus, your financials are needed when tax season comes around. Working with an accounting firm, or an individual accountant, rather than hiring one in-house will save you a lot of money while still keeping the business organized.
Tech Support
If you use computers a lot for your business, then you know that things can go wrong very quickly. When this happens, it can slow down company operations. If you hire your own IT personnel, then you have to spend a lot of money on salaries and benefits. However, if you have a reliable IT partner nearby who can respond quickly to your computer issues, then you can save money.
Research Your Outsourcing Options
Small business owners are some of the busiest people out there. They often work sixteen-hour days, using up all the daylight there is, to manage their fledgling brands. It takes a ton of work and dedication to develop the business into a thriving company, and the stress can be overwhelming. If you can outsource some of these tasks to save you some time, it will help your business grow since you can focus on more important tasks. Additionally, outsourcing prevents you from having to hire employees for those tasks, avoiding the costs of new salaries. Consider which tasks are the most burdensome on your list and research to find out if there are opportunities to outsource them to third parties.
