What You Need To Know About Professional Outsourcing

If you’re anything like most proactive entrepreneurs with booming businesses, you’re probably battling the hard truth that you cannot do everything yourself. However, the benefits of working with a trained and experienced specialist generally outweigh the downsides of sacrificing direct control by contracting out various jobs.

How Can Outsourcing Help My Business?

As your company grows, your daily workload increases, and you will eventually need help to free time to concentrate on the critical aspects of your business. Furthermore, certain departments that are crucial to a successful business model — accounting, marketing and IT management, for example — are highly specialized and often require college degrees or years of experience that you don’t have.

Creating new departments to handle specific operations translates to more overhead: salaries, furniture, equipment and even facility expansions, to name a few. Hiring a firm or a freelancer to handle these jobs may cost a little more in direct compensation; however, more often than not, you’ll still spend less than you would by taking on more employees.

What Questions Should I Ask?

The most important qualities to look for when outsourcing are compatibility and communication, and you’ll typically get a good indication of both through the vetting process. When you’ve found a few potential candidates through recommendations or online resources, conduct a thorough interview of each.

Ask them which industries they have experience in and if they specialize in any one or two. Availability for your tasks is essential; inquire about their typical job volume and how their current workload compares. Take a look at portfolios or samples whenever possible to see if their work is a good match for your brand. Finally, verify their reputation by asking for and checking professional references.

Who Should I Hire?

Depending on the size of the job and the period it will last, you may choose to outsource it to one of several types of operations. Agencies or firms usually cost more and have substantial resources at their disposal, making them great permanent solutions for elements such as data and technology management, insurance, or bookkeeping. An established firm’s experience can also make it ideal for handling temporary but specialized endeavors like marketing or digital content creation.

On the other hand, if you have a small, one-time job to complete, such as website design, you could be better off finding a freelancer to handle the work at a better price. If you’re outsourcing work to an independent contractor, take great care to research the IRS’s employee and contractor classification rules. A slip up here could make you liable for taxes and penalties.

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