As many execs and business owners know, managing and maximizing the use of one’s time is crucial to successfully building and growing a new business. One of the widespread ways that many new business owners waste time (and money) is trying to do multiple jobs themselves. According to the US Small Business Administration, hiring the expertise of subcontractors, independent contractors, or freelancers, your business can quickly scale up without the creating of additional overhead.
Hiring consultants can limit costs such as paying for employee benefits, insurance and training. Most of the time, freelance specialists can do what they do best while your team focuses on their areas of expertise, all of it growing your business. By outsourcing and delegating certain business needs to specialists, you’ll actually have more time to focus on your client’s needs. So while the decision to hire out may seem like an expense now, it can actually end up being a cost and time saver in the future.
Here are four jobs that a small business owner should consider outsourcing.
Accounting and/or Tax Professional
Is your dad the family tax and money man, willing to file an track your business’ taxes and finances for free? While accepting your father’s offer may be tempting, tax preparation should not be taken lightly. If you aren’t an experienced finance professional, you could end up doing a lot of harm to your company’s finances. A recent Huffington Post blog outlines the ways hiring a CPA state that hiring a tax professional is a great way to bring on expert advice, save money, and save time preparing complicated returns. In all, the guidance you receive can save your business run-ins with IRS auditors. Here’s a great Yahoo! Small Business article on why you should think twice before you decide to do your own taxes.
If you do decide to take the route of doing your own taxes, make sure to at least consider taking a class or seminar on tax preparation.
Website Designer/Developer
For many businesses, the company website is the first portal to sales, new customer leads, and overall brand messaging and position. Having a mobile optimized, navigable and user-friendly website has become a business necessity. Though it’s pretty easy to use well-known website platforms to start a site, having an expert work on it can save a lot of your precious time that you could be devoting to another important business task. A professional web designer can help you create a custom browsing experience that can help set your company site apart from other competitors in your industry. Before making any hiring decisions, make sure you understand these seven essentials about website development.
Social Media/Marketing Manager
Social media is such an important part of a business plan nowadays that having someone whose sole job is to focus on increasing follower engagement, acquiring new leads, and sharing company content is key. Hiring a social media or marketing specialist can be a strategic move for a young business. One young entrepreneur, Amina Yamusah, founder of Breaking it Down, a diversity-driven black collegiate network, describes how hiring out somehow whose specific job is to focus on social media and marketing is helping to grow her business.
“With me being so busy on business development, I know I couldn’t try to handle social media and marketing myself anymore. I hired a virtual social media/marketing intern whose responsibilities include running and managing our social media, blog, newsletter and email lists so that we can successfully pitch partnerships to sponsors.”
Virtual Assistant
If you’re finding that you are constantly overwhelmed with the number of speaking engagements, travel requests, and overall administrative tasks for your business, it may be time for you to get a virtual assistant. Virtual assistants are independent contractors who, from a remote location, support multiple clients in a variety of industries by providing administrative, creative, and technical services. Click here for seven reasons why hiring a virtual assistant might be a good choice for your business. If you’re not sure how to use a virtual assistant, here are 101 examples of how you can use one for your business.
The next time you feel burned while trying to grow your business, take the time to step back and reflect on what you could eliminate from your workflow to free up your time so that you can focus on your business strategically.
Rana Campbell is a branding professional who helps brands succeed in the digital and social media spheres. Check out some of her work here. Follow her on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
