Outsourcing is one of the most powerful tools in any entrepreneur’s toolbox for increasing their productivity, output and eventual profits.
Most entrepreneurs start out doing everything themselves. This allows them to keep a pulse on everything in the business during the critical start-up process. Unfortunately, this attitude can also become detrimental in the long run.
The “I Can Do It Better” Dilemma
Most entrepreneurs generally feel like they can do a better job if they did it themselves than if they outsourced it. Even if this is true, however, the critical question isn’t whether or not you can do a better job – but whether you should do the job at all.
Your job as the head of the organization is to grow your company. You bring home the bacon. As Michael Gerber, author of “E-Myth” put it, your job is to work “on” your business, not “in” it.
In the beginning, you’ll have to do both, but in the long run, you’ll want to phase out of actual operations and outsource most of the manual work.
In other words, even if you could write better customer service emails, that doesn’t mean you should. Learn to think in processes and what needs to get done by a system as a whole, rather than what you personally need to get done.
What and When to Outsource
The first few things to outsource are:
1. Low-level tasks that take uptime
2. Things that take up excessive amounts of your energy
3. Things that stress you out or you greatly dislike
By lightening the burden on both your time and energy, you’ll free up more time and emotional muscle to take on the real challenges in your business.
When Should You Start Outsourcing?
The real answer is “as soon as possible.” However, in a start-up situation, you’ll often be a bit strapped for cash in the beginning.
Start outsourcing as soon as you have positive cash flow coming into your business that isn’t immediately eaten up by essential business expenses.
Remember – outsourcing should actually make you money, not cost you money. If your output is ultimately worth $50 an hour but you’re spending your time on $10-an-hour tasks, then all the time you’d save by outsourcing for $10 will eventually translate into increased earnings.
Outsource Outside the Box
Don’t just outsource things inside your business. Consider outsourcing other things as well.
If your time is worth $50 an hour, why not pay someone $10 an hour to do your laundry, clean your house, buy your food, etc.?
It might seem like an extraneous expense, but again, every extra hour you can put into your business is more money earned at the end of the day.
Outsourcing is essentially the art of trading money for freeing up your time and the time of your essential people. Identify all the areas you can offload and take it off your plate as soon as you possibly can.