These days, it’s easier and more affordable than ever for entrepreneurs to outsource business tasks. While outsourcing can save you a great deal of time and may even help you save money on personnel costs, outsourcing certain tasks isn’t without risk. Wondering if you should outsource tasks for your repair business? Here are the pros and cons of outsourcing small business tasks.
Benefits of Outsourcing:
➤ Outsourcing can make it easier for you and your team to spend more time focusing on the most important tasks.
➤ Freedom from menial tasks can help you and your employees achieve a better life/work balance.
➤ Reduction in personnel costs can translate into a greater ability to spend on growth.
➤ Working with freelancers can help you control business expenses and risk associated with hiring personnel.
Cons of Outsourcing:
➤ Potentially slow turnaround of projects.
➤ Communication issues between contractors and your team.
➤ Contractors may not be aware of the nuances of your business.
➤ Managing contractors can be time-consuming.
Outsourcing Accounting
Bookkeeping, accounting and payroll are tasks that a huge percentage of small businesses outsource. Many small companies simply don’t have a need for a staff accountant, and managing your own taxes can present risks. While tax experts will always be a necessity, there are a few groundbreaking small business apps that help with billing by enabling anyone from field employees to business owners to seamlessly invoice customers, send payment reminders and collect payment directly from a smartphone or tablet.
Outsourcing Marketing and Advertising
While the rise of social media and web-based marketing tools has made it easier than ever for entrepreneurs to tackle marketing themselves, many people simply don’t have the time (or aptitude) to do so. While it may be tempting to look overseas for a low-cost alternative to U.S. based marketing consultants, this isn’t without risks – particularly when it comes to things like cultural nuances. Case in point? You don’t want to be the company that distributes a branded image claiming that the founder of Zara is a “shart shop helper”.
Outsourcing Customer Service
Everyone from large, multi-truck businesses to one man operations are now outsourcing their customer interaction and dispatch to English speaking countries overseas or call centers. While outsourcing your customer interaction has its benefits – namely, it can save you a great deal of money and time, it doesn’t come without risks. Unless you have the time and resources to ensure that your outsourced customer support team are well-informed on the nuances of your business and well-trained on your policies, your customers may not receive the level of service they’re used to and it may actually harm your relationship with your customers.
As an alternative to outsourcing customer service, try using affordable smart scheduling tools. Tools like Breezeworks are enabling small business owners to dramatically cut down on the amount of time they waste on menial administrative tasks through smart automation. These affordable automation tools are an excellent alternative to outsourcing customer service, as they automate the menial administrative tasks that tie up your day, such as dispatching employees, sending appointment updates to customers, and all aspects of your customer follow up system — even scheduling appointments! Such tools will save you hours of wasted time, allowing you and your team the ability to focus more time and energy on the tasks that really matter while actually improving your customer service.
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