Bring in the hired guns - Outsourcing could save your business

Whether you’re just starting out as an entrepreneur, or already a seasoned veteran in your corporate field, your success will depend on how you maximize your own strengths and talents. People who go far often shine in more than one area, drawing on their accumulated business knowledge, education and hands-on experience.

But all that experience can also be a drawback. Buoyed by previous successes or the enjoyment of a business area, executives often have a blind spot when it comes to delegating or outsourcing. After all, who could do it better than you can? Aren’t you closer to a sophisticated understanding of your business than anyone else?

The successful business operators are those who can bury their pride in asking themselves these questions and arriving at honest answers. They know where their time is best spent and when to bring in the hired guns for outsourced support.

They also know that in a competitive business environment, being a time poor multi-tasker is far less effective than assembling and motivating a winning team of specialists and suppliers.

Audit your strengths

So whom should you hire from among the massed ranks of consultants and advisors out there? Start by ‘auditing’ your strengths. What do you know and do best? What role should you be playing in developing your career or your business?

Note down your main strengths and skills, and then be honest in acknowledging where you are not as strong. Be objective in recognizing where a supplier with complementary skills could add value, freeing you up to concentrate on areas that you excel in and enjoy.

Think of team sports, where under the combined leadership of the captain and coach, each player is positioned where their particular abilities make the most valuable contribution. Who do you need on your winning team?

Run an ‘ego-check’

If you’re up to it, do an ‘Ego-Check’ exercise as well! Ask yourself:

· Is there only one way to do things – your way?

· Do you take on board constructive suggestions from others? Are you able to accept help?

· Are you working long hours to get through everything? Evenings and weekends?

· Do you feel anxious if you’re not in control of all the facets of the business?

· You know how hard you’re working – but results are frustratingly elusive?

· Do you have time to spend on growing the business and for strategic thinking?

It takes maturity to admit that you’re not ‘the answer to everything’ - that your energetic input across a range of tasks could be holding you back, rather than catapulting you forward. But by being honest with yourself, you’ll be both on a faster track for business wins and getting more balance in your life – which may rescue your health, sanity or even career.

Hired guns for small businesses

Starting out, the vast majority of new entrepreneurs and business start-ups don’t have an unlimited budget – in fact you might not even have any latitude in budgeting at all. Funding constraints make it hugely tempting not only to cut corners, but to try and be all things to all people until you are up and running successfully.

One warning sign that you need to delegate - or bring in the hired guns – is feeling swamped, overwhelmed with what’s on your plate and feeling you can never get it all done. It’s hugely flattering to believe that you’re the only one who can get it right – but it makes for an exhausting working day to soldier your way through, week after week…after week...

Hired guns that nearly all small businesses need:

· Secretarial support – part-time or full-time, either in-house or by hiring a ‘virtual assistant’ who works with you virtually via telecommunications and web technology.

· IT consultant. There’s no IT department to rescue you from computer crashes in a start-up business! Hunt down a good IT consultant who charges reasonable hourly rates and leaves their cell phone switched on out of hours for client crises.

· Web designer/web hosting company/web copywriter. If you are lucky, this set of skills might be found in one supplier, or your web guru can recommend other suppliers.

· Lawyer/ Tax lawyer. From the outset, you need to know your legal parameters and obligations. Mistakes made can cause havoc, so get it right at the start!

· Bookkeeper / Accountant. Sometimes one supplier can fill both roles; otherwise, find yourself two excellent professionals to handle your administration obligations.

· Other areas where external support can be effectively outsourced include public relations and marketing expertise, raising venture capital, or even office cleaning.

In deciding what to outsource, ask yourself what value you place on your skills and knowledge. For example, if your main skill is selling your marketing consultancy skills at $70 an hour, you will make much more money if you devote most of your time to that. Outsourcing your bookkeeping to a contractor who charges $35 an hour will free you up for profitable marketing.

Outsourcing at the ‘big end of town’

While some larger firms and corporations handle everything from payroll to graphic design in-house, many others choose to focus on their core business and bring in the hired guns for the services that their business needs.

There are U.S. call centres for example using operators from other countries with lower labour rates, as far afield as India.

Closer to home, many large companies are hiring staff who work virtually from rural areas, where lower living costs let them supply business services at competitively priced rates.

The majority of consultants and contractors keep your bills low through contracting out their services on a cost-effective project basis, commissioned and paid for only as required. Ongoing relationships with trusted suppliers benefit the company, which doesn’t have to carry healthcare, insurance and other expenses, or salary costs in quiet work periods.

Hired Guns that larger companies bring in include:

· Accountants to advise on company investments, remuneration, tax, pension fund and all other financial issues.

· Insurance advisers across premises, contents, operating requirements, compensation, directors and officers liability, etc

· Graphic artists who work on company logos, advertising, marketing and promotions, publications and packaging, signage etc

· Business coaches who work with potential leaders, top management, teams, project groups etc, to enhance communication, grow skills and improve company performance.

· Trainers and facilitators, who run seminars and programs on management skills, IT capabilities, conflict resolution, team building and many other areas.

· Marketing and PR consultants, who work with you to promote the company, present a polished and consistent corporate image, position your organisation professionally in your marketplace; and develop strategies for campaigns or managing issues.

· Speechwriters. A handful of top managers have the free time and communications flair to write their own speeches. But the majority bring in experienced writers and speechwriters to ghostwrite their important speeches.

· Management Consultants. Contributing objective analysis and strategic advisory services, consultants are regularly brought into many companies, working with divisions or across the organization.

· Personal organiser – some outsourcers laughingly or seriously call themselves ‘an extra wife’. Time-poor busy professionals, working couples and CEO-types these days are practically (and without drowning in guilt) outsourcing some chunks of their home life – to dog-walkers, virtual assistants, cleaners, lawn-mowers, gardeners. If you have the money, why not?

· Professional image consultants. While giving you dazzling new fashion sense, image consultants can also often offer professional speaking tips or other advice.

· Handyman or Fixer. All big businesses have at least one on call – it’s not just the computers that break down when you can least afford the business interruption.

· Travel agent. Little explanation needed here, although some organised companies and executive assistants now regularly book their business travel online.

· Commercial cleaner. Again, little explanation needed!

Tired of carrying the load yourself? Pick up the phone to the outsourcing experts and start to build your own winning team for long-term success.