Outsourcing As a Way of Systemizing Your Business
Unless you have unlimited funds, chances are you cannot hire a number of full-time employees to handle many of your essential functions. One great way for a small Internet business to have all the efficiency of a larger corporation is to outsource functions when and as necessary. There are several important advantages to this approach, especially when money is tight:
- There is a good chance you will pay only a fraction of what it would cost to keep someone on the payroll, plus you don't have to worry about benefits.
- One flat fee per month is much easier to budget and is likely to provide you with all the services you need for any given area, such as Tech Support or Accounting.
- You don't have to buy software, computers, or other office equipment; your outsourcing partners will already have those in place.
Finding services that you can outsource various functions to is not as hard as you may think. Here are some examples of where to look for professionals who will do the work at excellent rates:
- Check with your local business association. Freelancers who keep accounting books or handle computer maintenance for small businesses often belong to associations of this type.
- Peruse the local telephone directory and other locally printed matter. Freelancers often advertise in these venues, making it easy to find local support.
- Spend time checking out freelancing boards online. There are a number of sites that are set up to allow freelancers with expertise in a given area to connect with clients who need their services. Some of the boards have a broad structure that will allow you to look for several different types of services at one site. Check out both the specialized boards as well as those with a wider range of freelancing professionals posting in different categories.
You may be surprised at the range of functions you can effectively outsource. For example, you can outsource:
- Composition of ad copy and sales collateral. There are a number of freelance writers with a business background that can easily come up with text for ads and electronic brochures, introductory emails, and even create letter templates that you can use in your business.
- Accounting. Freelancers can take on the task of managing your books, including calculating the amount of taxes you owe on monthly revenues and making sure your vendors are paid on time.
- Customer Support - There are freelance services that will conduct customer satisfaction surveys, handle inbound customer concerns, and also provide basic information about your product line to interested parties. Some of these services even offer support 24/7, which may be important if you are going for an international clientele.
- Marketing campaigns. Freelancers who specialize in marketing can get to know what you do, where you want to take the company, and help you determine what markets to target and create a marketing campaign that is sure to get you the right kind of attention.
- Systems Support and Troubleshooting. When your autoresponder quits working or your online credit card payment program is not functioning properly, you need help now rather than later. A local service that manages computer systems for small businesses may be just what you need. Most will charge a flat fee per month that will cover most routine problems, as well as provide a schedule for any issue that is not covered under the agreement.
Outsourcing will help you make the best of limited resources as you position the company to become profitable. However, there is no rule that says you have to pull those functions in house once the online business is doing well. If you are happy with the way your freelancers work and