Many small business owners like to have full control and oversight over their day-to-day operations. This is one of the reasons why so many of them are reluctant to hand some of the work over to a third party. But outsourcing could be the hack that allows you to be more productive, efficient, and profitable. It could also help you scale your operation and even save you from legal trouble. Let’s take a look at some core functions all small companies should consider outsourcing.
Human Resources
HR is one of those things many business owners assume they have to handle in-house even though they don’t. Even if this is a very personal function of your business, a third party could do just as good a job as anyone close to your business, if not more.
A good, outsourced HR team will understand and truly get immersed in your company’s culture. They will then recruit floor employees and managers that will be in line with that culture. Not only that, but they can help with onboarding and training too, and do it in a highly professional way, which will help project a strong employer image and ultimately increase retention numbers.
IT
Handling IT in-house is usually a big mistake for most businesses. One of the reasons for this is that no network actually needs to be actively monitored 24/7. This means that you will be hiring someone to twiddle their thumbs during their shifts.
There are also other issues like a lack of expertise that you may have not considered. Even if you hire a well-rounded expert to run your systems, they are still just one person and there will be gaps in their skillset that you’ll eventually have to plug with outside help.
If you have a substantial network to manage but not enough to hire an IT person full-time, then it’s a much better idea to work with an outsourced IT team. They will look after your networks and notice problems or stop any suspicious activity. And don’t assume that they will only be able to assist you from a distance. If you live in Bristol, for instance, then you could hire a Bristol IT company like EvolvIT that will send people to your premises to personally attend to urgent issues if needs be.
Hiring an outsourced IT team is also a great idea if you were thinking of making the shift to a remote workplace but were afraid of the security implications. An IT team will help you to secure communications and set up applications so you can make the transition smoothly and safely.
Web Administration and Online Marketing
There is also no reason for you to hire someone to look after your website or do online marketing. Website maintenance demands even less attention than your network, so there’s no point in hiring someone to make some small modifications from time to time.
Online marketing also doesn’t require round-the-clock attention. Things like SEO and PPC to a certain extent are largely passive, and no one should have an employee on their books that handles online marketing only.
The same goes for social media. Only major companies can benefit from having a dedicated social media manager, so don’t assume that you have to hire one to gain traction on these platforms. There are plenty of companies who will do it for a fraction of the price and will even teach you how to handle some of it on your own, so look at this option instead.
Payroll
Payroll is a thing we believe no small business owner should handle on their own unless they’re savvy about it. If you don’t have an accounting background, then there’s a strong chance that you’ll make mistakes on the payroll, and these mistakes could end up getting you in trouble.
You have to constantly be on top of the latest rules and regulations in your industry. Some of these could creep up on you, like different reporting rules after you reach a certain number of employees, for instance.
It’s a payroll company’s job to know all of these things for the sake of their reputation. So, if you want to stay out of tax and legal trouble, then you should definitely consider deferring payroll to a third party.
If you’re handling any of the functions in-house currently, then you should look into outsourcing. You’ll be able to save money and time that you can redirect towards more important tasks.
