Here are the short versions of why you should aim to outsource as much as possible:
- Leverage
- Flexibility
- 24/7 support and assistance
- Access to people who can do it cheaper
- Enable you to grow faster.
But there is more to it than this. It about the value you place on your time. I believe that most people do not place a high value on their time and do not communicate high value on their time to others. I’m sure you are familiar with the time management seminars where they ask how much you want to make per year, and divide that by the number of working hours there are in the year. The final number is supposed to be the what your time has to be worth.
They do have a fatal flaw, in that they assume every one of those working hours is productive.
However, whether they are productive is up to you and your own discipline. Let’s assume they are reasonably productive. If so, it pretty obvious that more ‘hands-on-deck’ will make you more productive, particularly if you drop all the low-leverage stuff.
So, what is low leverage and what should you outsource?
- Accounts / secretarial / calls
- Tech support
- Copywriting, even blog content or article writing!
- Customer service staff
- PPC and even social media
Of course, it all depends on the individual business. But the question still remains when a task crosses your desk: is this the most valuable use of my time right now?
Eight steps to outsource the right way
1. Identify your needs and what you can outsource.
2. Look for existing similar projects, in order to find similar projects for price comparison
3. Write a CLEAR tast requirements description. E.G. Midnight on Friday….And, whoever you are choosing must adhere to first deadline.
4. Create a project on outsource site
5. Evaluate the bids carefully
6. Award project and upload funds always in escrow
7. Check and check again before releasing funds. Don’t be shy to ask for revisions.
8. If the work is good, stay in touch and use again.
Sites to find outsource resource:
- elance.com
- vworker.com (previously known as scriptlance.com – more for technical stuff)
- getafreelancer.com
- guru.com
- craiglist.org
- peopleperhour.com (UK based)
- gumtree.
Keep it generic in the bidding stage, and get it more specific after that. Look at other people’s specifications and use this to find out what people are doing.
