Outsourcing can be intimidating to start and there are quite a few pitfalls along the way for beginners. Some people try hiring someone on Elance a few times, have a horrible experience, and, unfortunately, go back to doing everything themselves.
Drawing on my knowledge as the owner of an outsourcing company, I am starting a three part series of posts that will help you avoid many of the common mistakes, lay out a strategy that will give you the greatest chance of success, and help you get the most value out of outsourcing.
Part 1: Deciding what to outsource
Deciding what you will outsource is what determines the value you get out of outsourcing. All the leverage resides right here, before anything is even delegated. Many people forget this and don’t put enough thought into this all important planning phase and find that, though they are outsourcing quite a few projects, they aren’t getting any value out of it — they are just as busy and stressed as ever and their business is not moving forward any faster.
Investing a little thought and time into picking the right projects and tasks to outsource ensures that you get the most out of your outsourcing. This is the plan I generally propose:
Step 1: List off ALL tasks and projects within your business
Don’t just list off the projects you think are good candidates for outsourcing. Don’t just list off the ones you don’t feel like doing yourself. Just dump everything your business does into a list. Here are some prompts to help you get everything onto paper:
- Recurring tasks
- One off tasks
- Tasks required for new customers
- Marketing tasks
- Administrative tasks
- Bookkeeping tasks
- Advertising tasks
- Neglected tasks
- Procrastinated tasks
- Favorite tasks
- Tasks you hate doing
- Time-consuming tasks
- Fun tasks
- Tasks you’ve planned but haven’t executed
- Large tasks
- Small tasks
- Things you should do but don’t
Step 2: Can it be outsourced?
Go through your list and cross off those tasks that cannot be outsourced. Be careful that you are not crossing off tasks that could actually be outsourced – there are typically very few activities that need to be done by the business owner.
STEP 3: Determine your value criteria
What is valuable to you at this point? What matters most? Do you need more time? More money? Do you need to feel less stress? Do you need to move your business forward?
Pick your top two or three most important value criteria and rate each item on your list of projects on a scale of 1 to 10.
For instance:
Find new advertising opportunities
Time savings: 7
Make money: 9
Average: 8
Taking the average of those ratings should give you a good idea of which items you should begin outsourcing.
In Part 2 of this “Beginner’s Guide to Outsourcing” I will be discussing how to pick the best outsourcing provider and the preparation work necessary to making sure things go smoothly.
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