Outsourcing one or more of your company’s day-to-day operations may prove to be a practical and growth-oriented strategy. You’re probably used to wearing a lot of hats in your capacity as a business owner, but wearing too many at once is going to make it hard to hold your head up as you work towards development. Outsourcing can make ongoing administrative functions, general operations, and growth initiatives more manageable. Here are some key considerations about outsourcing that should factor into your decision to contract out one or more facets of your company’s activities.

Marketing

Marketing tasks are an excellent area of your operations to outsource to a professional service provider. Effective marketing campaigns don’t necessarily need to originate from within your company. In fact, drawing from the insights of seasoned marketers and utilizing the same advanced resources that they use to capture prospective customers’ interest could dramatically enhance the efficacy of your outreach activities. 

Using outsourced lead generation can increase sales volume without dramatically increasing staff members’ workloads. A third-party service provider could give your company access to a steady stream of leads that it compiles on your company’s behalf. This resource enables you to direct your marketing activities in a manner that has previously produced formidable results.

IT Management

Network and data administration is another vital task that small business owners commonly opt to outsource. IT management requires professional know-how, and trying to take care of all of your technological needs yourself could result in costly mistakes and oversights. At the same time, hiring full-time, in-house IT staff might not be practical or affordable. Without a high level of technological fluency, you may have difficulty identifying whether an individual has the requisite qualifications for this type of responsibility. Likewise, it could be difficult to meaningfully supervise work and assess performance

Working with a third-party company may be a more tenable route. The right service provider will work closely with you to understand your company’s individual IT needs and customize a service contract that fits them perfectly. You don’t want to pay for more service than you actually need or settle for a plan which addresses some but all of the functions that you want help with. Ideally, you should seek out service providers who are able to handle the bulk of their duties remotely but will still be available to administer help onsite.

One of the best benefits of outsourcing IT is that it can spare you from headaches over technical problems. You and your staff don’t want to lose a lot of your valuable time trying to troubleshoot computer issues. Having professional help at-the-ready will equip you to tackle problems with minimal inconvenience and frustration. 

Human Resources

As your business grows, you’ll have to be prepared to bring more personnel on board. Overseeing just a few staff members involves a lot of attention to human resources tasks. You need to make sure that people will get their paychecks on time, their compensation is calculated correctly, and your tracking time in accordance with applicable wage and hour law. Likewise, you must be highly organized about your recruitment and onboarding.

Keeping current with the best practices in human resources management is challenging because they are constantly evolving. Employment law that protects workers is complicated, and a small business may be at high risk for compliance issues. Outsourcing human resources facilitates compliance because companies that specialize in employer-employee relationship management are well-versed in applicable federal and state law. 

Working with a third-party is a good option for small businesses because it helps to ensure that everyone is treated consistently. It can deter the perception of unfair or disparate treatment that can hurt relationships with employees and even give rise to liability claims. 

Lastly, small business owners have to be practical about the expectations for outsourcing. While it may help you save time and money in the long run, you can expect that you’ll have to invest a considerable amount of time and attention into cultivating positive and productive relationships with service provider