Outsourcing Ideas: Which Areas Of Your Business Can Be Managed Elsewhere?
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Business is so incredibly complex. Even relatively simple ideas require so many different departments doing different things, all working together in sync. When people dream of setting up a business, it’s easy to be put off thinking of all of these different tasks, the need for a huge company with hundreds of employees. However this doesn't have to be the case, you can keep your in-house team fairly small by outsourcing a number of your tasks. By paying other companies to tackle these jobs you don't have to hire more people and have peace of mind that everything is being done to the highest standard. Here are a few different areas that can be outsourced in business.
Fulfilment
If your business sells physical items (as opposed to digital items or services) you have the issue of picking, packing and shipping to consider. There’s a lot of health and safety to think about when it comes to warehouses, there are forklifts moving around, large items being transported, people lifting heavy loads. If you need to accommodate tall loads, you will need to ensure employees are kept safe in elevated areas with a mezzanine gate. If you sell expensive goods, you have to ensure proper security and theft detection methods are used. This can all be complicated and expensive if something goes wrong and it’s within your company you will be liable. Instead, outsourcing to a professional company means there’s no added pressure on you, they are responsible for keeping up with things like health and safety, and they can successfully manage this area of your business with no hassle to you.
Even this day in age, businesses receive so much paper mail. While some of it will be very important, some will just be useless junk. Chances are you will have already signed up to as many online services as possible to avoid this, but if you want to create a truly paperless office, a mailing service is the way to go. Instead of paying an extra receptionist to trawl through this all day, a mailing company will receive, sort and upload everything for you to view. They can even pay your bills for you!
Blog Writing
We all know how beneficial blogging is for business. Not only does it help to boost your website’s ranking in search engines but it also gets your name out there, helps you to build a following and shows potential customers that you really know your stuff. However, instead of tacking ‘blog writing’ onto another employee's job role or hiring someone else, it’s easy to outsource this. You could work with freelance writers, letting them know the topic and what kind of information you include. There are many websites online with talented writers waiting and ready to go, you could have original and interesting content produced in just twenty-four hours. It’s inexpensive and allows you to update your company blog regularly.
Video Editing
Along with blog writing, videos are an excellent addition to your website or social media. They can be used to promote your content, welcome visitors to your site, display customer reviews or show how-to guides on how to use your products. They can be used in a multitude of different ways, and done well can make your company look very professional. You could hire a company to edit a video you have made yourself, or even have something made specially. Since this is quite specialist work, outsourcing is a good way to go.
Payroll
Your employees work hard for you so they will expect to be paid on time and the correct amount every time. However, there’s more to payroll than just paying and calculating employees wages. It’s a huge responsibility since even small errors can end up throwing your books out by a lot, and lead to tax issues, fines or even a jail sentence. When it comes to money it’s no laughing matter, everything has to be handled perfectly. Take this weight off your shoulders but outsourcing to a company that has years of experience in this area.
HR
There are a lot of legal considerations when it comes to human resources. If you’re going to be keeping this in-house, it’s so important that you’re up to date with the law and everything is by the book. Otherwise, you could land yourself in serious trouble. Since HR deals with things like bullying in the workplace, employee theft, hiring, firing and various other very important issues it’s not something that can simply be left as an afterthought. If someone believes they have been mistreated or something hasn’t been handled correctly you could land yourself a huge lawsuit. Going with a company specializing in HR means everything will be handled fairly, they will be well versed in the ever changing law and know how to deal with everything accordingly.
Managing your outsourcing contractors
Finally for maximum success when working with outsourcers, it's vital to grasp how to manage the process effectively. After all, it's not only about finding someone that can do the job for you, but also making sure they come with great reviews and meet your budget.
The problem is that comparing all of these factors and making sure that you get the best value for money in your choice can become a time-consuming process in and of itself! The good news is that by choosing tools like sourcing management software you can use AI to compare factors like quality, performance, and cost in an instant. Thereby ensuring you make the right outsourcing decision every time with the minimum of fuss.