5 Things You Should Outsource As Small Business Owner

As a business coach, some of the things I see are business owners not getting things done that they know are necessary to grow their business, feeling overwhelmed and guilty that this is happening, and eventually burning out.  If this is you, it’s time to take your time back.  Here are five things you can outsource, starting today, so you can spend more time focusing on what’s important to grow your business and less time on everything else.

Unless you are an IT expert, you do not have the skills or the time to continue watching internet videos about how to fix your computer, master new software, or admin your website. How many hours a month do you spend on IT activities? Do the math and put a price on the hours you spend fixing your technology and installing new plugins. You could have used those valuable hours on something more important: growing your business!

Do you need to send follow-up emails to your clients, but you haven’t done it because you are very busy? Or you forgot to send last week’s newsletter. Do yourself a favor; contract the services of a Virtual Assistant. You might think that you can catch up on all these tasks after dinner, but it’s not worth burning yourself out to complete them.  And take into consideration that simple admin tasks are one of the least expensive activities you can outsource. If you have time to think about your business after dinner, think about how to grow your business.

If you are not an accountant or bookkeeper, it will take you many hours to learn how to keep your business finances in order.  And it will be necessary to keep your business finances in order if you want to understand what is happening with your business profitability and to comply with the ever-changing regulations your business should meet. The last things you want are to have an unanticipated cash crisis or to get a letter from the IRS because they noticed irregularities in your business tax return. Having a good bookkeeper and accountant will save you money and give you peace of mind. Free yourself from any potential fiscal problems and focus on growing your business.

If you don’t know labor law and tax regulations, your payroll activities need to be handled by an expert. Payroll activities are complex and time-consuming and expose you to penalties if not handled correctly.  It’s not the best use of your time to handle new hire reporting or any discrepancies in your employees’ pay.  Imagine how liberating would be if someone else handles Payroll and notifies you per pay period that they successfully processed your checks and met labor regulatory and tax requirements.  Free yourself from Payroll and use the time to grow your business.

Maybe you are a strong writer and an expert at creating graphics.  All well and good!  But if writing your blog is taking you more than half a day, you should outsource this task.  Why spend time writing a marketing piece that also needs outbound and inbound links, keywords, headings, graphics, and images?  Delete your blog and newsletter writing from your to-do list and focus on the activities that will help you grow your business.

Think about the tasks I just outlined here.  They are tasks that need to be done, but are they your tasks to do?  You have high value activities that need your attention.  Eliminate, delegate, or outsource anything in your business that isn’t high value.  The above five items are not high value. Take back those hours and use them on profitable work that ultimately will grow your business.