3 Top Outsourcing Trends For Small Businesses
If your business is stagnating because you’re stretching yourself too thin, you are not alone. Most small business owners think their time could be spent on more productive activities. While you might feel like you’re saving money and increasing profits by doing everything yourself, this approach could be holding you back. Now may be a good time to offload some of that time-sapping work and spend more of your time growing your business.
But where do you start? Here are some of the most reliable outsourcing options to help you give your business the edge.
Embrace Freelancers
Three out of four small businesses that hire freelancers claim that it gives them an edge over competitors. Tapping the freelance market when you have a project that really matters to your business means you get the benefit of top-notch skills and talent that might not be in your price range if you were to hire full time people for the work. Hiring freelancers also lets you expand your staff at crunch time, with extra hands to cover frantic growth periods, but you won’t be stuck with too many employees when things plateau.
Get Your IT Sorted
According to a recent study by Deloitte, IT is one of the most regularly outsourced facets of small business in the world. Outsourced IT for SMBs is so common that over half of emerging companies report that they at least outsource part of their IT needs. Another third say that they plan to follow suit as soon as they can afford to.
Cost savings can ready forty percent compared with the expense of a full time IT team, but savings are hardly the only benefit that you can expect outsourced IT to bring your business. Managed IT will also make your company more flexible and agile, so you can scale as your business as demand for your product or service increases. One of the top challenges for growing companies is scaling technical capabilities at short notice, so if your business is gaining momentum, outsourcing your IT is a no-brainer.
Payroll
Many SMEs are outsourcing payroll rather than attempting to manage such a complicated process in-house. Handing over this work to skilled pros or (modern software) has been shown to significantly reduce operating costs and results in improved compliance across the board. Businesses that opt to outsource payroll stand to save around twenty per cent more than similar-sized companies that hire a full team to handle their payroll requirements. Outsourcing payroll has another key benefit besides the potential. Reduced accounting errors means your team won’t have to suffer for payroll mistakes when payday comes, increasing trust in your company, and therefore employee retention.
Outsourcing can help your business thrive if you use it right. If you’re unsure which outsourcing opportunities could benefit your business, these options should give you some food for thought. A good rule of thumb is to outsource your worst pain-points first, allowing you the headspace and time you need to work on the aspects of your business that matter most to you.