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Over the last several years, small businesses have been increasingly choosing to hire independent contractors to help them complete non-strategic, but necessary, tasks for their companies. This increase in outsourced work is primarily driven by how easy it is to find talented individuals with specialized skills. Along with the ease of sharing materials, outsourcing has become a viable option for many businesses.
If, as a small business owner, you have yet to dive into the world of outsourcing, here are four ways to determine if you should hire independent contractors to help you complete business tasks so you can focus on the crucial aspects of your business.
Cost
The most important factor that you need to consider before outsourcing a particular task is the cost involved. You need to figure out if outsourcing will be less expensive than if you were to keep the activity in-house. If the answer is no, then don’t outsource the tasks.
Relative Advantage
When you outsource business tasks to another business or independent contractor, you can free up your valuable time and resources. However, you need to ask yourself if the time and resources that will be freed up by outsourcing can be put to a more profitable use somewhere else. If the answer is no, then it may not be worth outsourcing.
Quality and Convenience
Almost any task, from copywriting to programming, can be outsourced. The question that should be asked, however, is whether or not a job can be outsourced to a quality service provider for a reasonable price. While you may find businesses that will handle your tasks for an extremely low price, they most likely will deliver low-quality service. If you are spending just as much time dealing with problems, you’re not gaining anything.
Importance of Your Core Strategies
Outsourcing is a great way to allow you to grow your business while keeping employee costs low. However, it is possible to outsource too much. You should never outsource tasks that are core to your overall business strategy. This reduces your ability to control the quality of the end product. To keep your customers satisfied and ensure future growth, strategic, or core, tasks that should be kept in-house.
Outsourcing can be a precarious balancing act, but with enough thought and foresight, you can determine which elements of your business you can outsource and which should remain in-house.
