Originally published on world.edu
There used to be a negative connotation associated with outsourcing. But, as Ferrari Energy explains, outsourcing today can provide many benefits to your small business.
In addition to reducing costs, it can save you time and headaches while increasing productivity on the things you handle on your own. Outsourcing specific tasks will allow you to focus your energy on what your small business does well without being distracted by what it doesn’t do well.
Here are five things that your small business should outsource to keep things running smoothly.
1. Social Media Management
Social media can be a potent marketing tool, but it can also damage your business if it’s not handled properly. Building a robust online presence on social media platforms takes in-depth knowledge of the platforms themselves and a lot of time.
These are often skills that many small business owners don’t have. While some of their employees might have these skills, it’s better not to distract them from their primary duties with this added pressure.
Today, you can easily outsource your social media management to an outside company or experienced freelancer. By doing so, you’ll be harnessing the power of social media with minimal investment compared to what it would take for you to do it well on your own.
2. Accounting
Accounting is one of those necessary evils of running a small business. It’s also typically a department that doesn’t tie in directly to the products or services your company provides. Nevertheless, it’s something you have to do, even if you don’t want to.
By outsourcing your accounting rather than hiring someone to handle it in-house, you’ll get peace of mind knowing your books are being handled properly. In addition to staying compliant with all federal and state laws, you’ll improve your efficiency, achieve cost savings, and even get better reporting tools.
3. IT
IT is another one of those “necessary evil” tasks that every small business needs to deal with. But unfortunately, it’s also another that doesn’t typically fit into the day-to-day operations of the company.
That being said, without proper IT, a small business not only can’t run efficiently, but it’ll also be open to various cyber threats. There are many companies you can outsource your IT services to, and they’ll ensure your vital systems run effectively and with the highest security possible.
And if something breaks or isn’t working correctly, you’ll have an expert you can reach out to at any time of the day.
4. Human Resources
Tasks such as payroll, benefits management, and recruiting are all essential to the success of your small business. However, if you hire someone to handle this in-house, it can get quite expensive — especially if you want someone with solid experience.
Outsourcing your human resources tasks can seem daunting, but there are many benefits. In addition to saving time and money, you also can position your small business in a better light for current and prospective employees.
Your outsourced HR company can search for better benefits packages, connect you with more advanced payroll technology and help you attract top talent to your company.
5. Shipping
If you sell your products online, logistics and shipping will be a big part of your business. And with e-commerce becoming a more significant part of small businesses by the day, these tasks are becoming a bigger and bigger drain.
Logistics and shipping are best to be handled by outside firms. You can outsource everything from manufacturing to inventory management and storage to shipping and receiving.
As Ferrari Energy’s CEO Adam Ferrari explains, outsourcing these tasks can save you time, money, and headaches, all while making you look more professional to your customers who purchase your products.