3 business processes you can outsource
When you are running a business, you will often be doing more than one job at a time, especially when you first start out. Although you can employ people to help you, this takes time and resources, plus you will have to think about all of the additional work hiring someone can take.
This is why some companies decide that the best course of action is to outsource some of their job roles to outside companies. Which ones can you select? Here are three processes you can outsource easily.
1. Finances
One of the jobs that can be the most difficult is the company’s financial side. There are many requirements that companies must meet both with their tax revenue and payroll. These can be hard to understand if you are not used to dealing with them.
Thankfully, there are companies that can help with this side of your business. Outsourcing your financial director services can help keep your finances in check and take some of the pressure from you. As a new company, it will also ensure that you get off to the right start with all the requirements being met.
Together with outsourcing your financial director, you should also think about engaging an accountant to work with your team. They can help you with questions you have and steer your company in the right direction.
2. Marketing
Marketing will be an important part of your company’s strategy to help it grow. Although there will be areas you want to explore, knowing what your customers want to see and understanding their shopping habits might be beyond your current skills.
Outsourcing your marketing can be a good idea if you are unsure how to handle online ads or social media. Once you tell the marketing company what you want, they will go away and create a strategy and then show it to you for approval. Although you may not have a lot of marketing experience, you should make sure that the campaign they suggest meets your company’s values and mission.
3. Shipping and logistics
Shipping and logistics are one of the most outsourced parts of a company. When you start, you might use the national mail service or couriers, but as you grow, you may want to hire a logistics company to move your goods around the country or internationally.
There are many advantages to outsourcing your logistics. You won’t have to lease or maintain any vehicles, you won’t need to employ drivers or additional staff, and you can offer a wider range of shipping options than if you did it yourself.
It is important to regularly review the logistics, including deliveries and the goods themselves. This can be done through quick surveys or feedback from customers. If they are finding issues with the delivery of their items, then this should be addressed to the logistics company.
It is important to think of the logistics company from your customers’ eyes. They will be the delivery company as part of your company. If something goes wrong, it will tarnish the reputation of your company as much as theirs.
Bonus ideas
Here are some other processes that you can outsource to help run your company. However, you can seek to outsource any area that will help you become more efficient.
- Customer service is one of the most important parts of your company. Customer service staff are the face of your brand and what the customer interacts with most. Some companies outsource this aspect of their business because they don’t have the resources to do it themselves.
- IT is another popular outsourcing area for companies. Acquiring the knowledge to run the IT for your company can be hard and time-consuming to do. This is why many companies use external agents to come in and resolve IT problems and keep their systems running. Many agencies can run your IT services remotely to help save time and money.
- HR or Human Resources is what keeps the workforce running on a daily basis. This department deals with pay, holidays, staffing, and any issues that may arise with employees. This can be a complicated area, so some companies rely on outside agencies to run the HR for them. It is a good idea to get regular feedback from your employees to ensure the HR company is doing a good job.
Conclusion
Knowing what you can outsource and what you want to keep in-house can be tricky. You might greatly wish to control everything, but this might not always be possible. Outsourcing the most important areas of your company will help you concentrate on the rest.