When it comes to scaling your business, we are sure that you are looking for as many solutions as possible to help the process. From cutting costs and growing your customer base to increasing your conversion rates, there are tons of options to grow. But, another option, which is often overlooked is outsourcing some of your functions to a third party. This may sound more expensive, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be.
Outsourcing comes with several benefits. These include freeing up time and resources, increasing productivity, and knowing that the task is being completed effectively by the outsourcing company. In many cases, you might not have the right expertise on hand to do the tasks, and outsourcing can help you with that. So, what tasks can you actually outsource? We took a look at some of the most common functions that are outsourced in a company and whether you should consider it for yours.
Financial Operations
This is a big role to fulfill, and if you do not have a qualified and accredited finance manager or accountant, don’t try to do it yourself. Bookkeeping and accounting firms are not only easy to come by, but they are usually reasonable, depending on your needs. Not only can they take over incomes and expenditure, suppliers, salaries and income management, but they can also help with your taxes.
Tax is a huge element of concern for business owners, and it is important to get well-versed and knowledgeable tax services to ensure you stay above board at all times. Accountants can also ensure that there is no fraud happening in your business. Internal and external fraud is a huge risk for companies globally, but with someone watching the books, this can be reduced. At the end of the day, a finance expert can ensure that enough money is coming in to sustain the company and turn a profit in the long run.
IT Management
If you are not technologically inclined, outsource this. Immediately! Don’t even go near your IT department if you do not know what a server is and if you think that the cloud belongs outdoors. Your company data is a crucial part of your company and data protection should be top of mind at all times. Hacking, phishing, and malware are at an all-time high and you are at risk of losing your business should you not have the right measures in place.
It is highly worth your while to find good data center services to help you protect your data and information. Not only can they conduct regular audits and stress tests of your security and firewalls, but they can also ensure you have the latest technology to protect your business. They might also recommend and assist you in moving to the cloud where your information will be stored in a non-physical safe environment.
Supply Chain and Shipping
Many brand new eCommerce companies start off without any supply chain, shipping, or warehousing facilities. The way that they can do this is by outsourcing these functions or partaking in dropshipping. This is a function that allows brands to act as the middleman between suppliers and customers. So, they will take over the marketing and sales functions and ship the products straight from the supplier to the customer.
In some cases, especially with white label brands, they might spend some time branding the products first. But, dropshipping usually dodges the warehousing stage, which saves a lot of the associated costs.
Shipping and delivery is also highly outsourced function. Not only does it cost less for companies to ship with external solutions, but it also highly reduces their risks. In most cases, the delivery company will take on liability and responsibility for anything happening on the route. So, if there is an incident in the delivery space, costs can be recovered by the shipping company.
Content Management and Social Media
Content is a key element of your marketing and marketing operations should not be overlooked in your business. Content is essential for two reasons. First, it heightens your SEO, making sure that you can be found online by your potential customers. Secondly, it helps solidify you as an authority in your industry. Content is used across various platforms, such as your emails, social media, blogs, and for all marketing material going out to partners.
The fact of the matter is that content and social media are highly resource-intensive. Thorough research needs to go into the content. It also needs to be constantly published for you to stay relevant at all times. Social posts need to go out several times a week. So, these need to be planned, created, scheduled, posted, and engaged with at all times.
Digital marketing, as a whole, is certainly not a task that a business owner should undertake independently. There are vast amounts of elements that go with digital marketing that you need to be aligned with to succeed.
The Bottom Line
Many startups are concerned about the costs that come with outsourcing. The fact of the matter is that in most cases, not outsourcing will most likely cost you more in the long run. When you don’t have the expertise in running certain functions, human error can lead to expensive mistakes being made. You will also find that it is usually cheaper to outsource functions than hire in-house.
