When is it Time to Outsource?
Running a small business means you wear a lot of hats. You wear the marketing hat, you wear the accounting hat, you wear the customer service hat, you wear the admin hat, and so many more. As your business grows it can be easy to find yourself spending more time doing all the “support” work and less of the creative work – the reason you started the business in the first place. As a business owner one of the most difficult decisions to make is deciding when it’s time to outsource all the other work so that you can really focus on what you love. Here are some ways to help you figure it out.
What are you saying SORRY about?
Jenna Kutcher recently hosted a podcast all about deciding when to outsource and what to outsource. One tip that she shared and we LOVED was to take note of what you’re saying “sorry” for in your life. Are you saying sorry that the laundry is not done? Sorry my emails are piling up? Sorry I haven’t grocery shopped. This can be both in your personal life and your business life. Take note of the sorry moments and outsource those. Find someone to fold your laundry, deliver your groceries, or to answer your emails. Find someone who loves doing the thing you keep saying sorry about so that you can focus on what you’re good at.
If you find that you’re saying sorry most in your personal life, that’s okay. Hire the help you need and take on an extra project each month to cover the cost. If you find that you’re saying sorry most in your business perhaps that means it’s time to hire help.
Virtual Assistants
There are lots of options for hiring in your business but one option is to hire a Virtual Assistant (or VA). A virtual assistant is someone that you pay, typically on a month basis, to be your personal assistant. They do a wide range of things like answering emails, sending invoices, blogging, social media marketing, and so on. They are a great option because you can control the number of hours they work (so you can control the cost) and you don’t have to have them on payroll. You can find VA through Instagram or Google.
Hiring a Contractor
If you’re nervous about hiring someone as a full employee but don’t want a VA one option is to hire someone as a contractor. Legally, being a contractor means they work on “projects.” So, you can’t necessarily assign daily tasks to a contractor, but you can have them work on a project with a due date. For example you could hire a contract blogger to create two blog posts a month for you. They would be able to work on those whenever they wanted but would would have them to you each month – this is a perfect contract employee example.
Rest to Keep Hustling
Growing a business is exciting and exhausting, but it’s important to remember that in order to keep hustling and growing you need rests and breaks and HELP. You’ll get to a point where you just can’t do it alone and having help is a giant blessing. And if you need help building your branding or website, we’d love to help you! Please contact us to book your project. To view more of our portfolio, follow us on Instagram.