If you’ve come around these parts much, you’ll know I’m a BIG fan of outsourcing! In a nutshell, I outsource anything I’m not good at or don’t have time for. I run a wholesale distribution business and since I’m often asked about exactly WHAT I outsource, I thought I’d share that with you today.
Here are the 7 tasks I outsource on a regular basis:
1. Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping makes me cranky. I can do the basics, but just don’t have the headspace for all those numbers, so I outsource my monthly receipts inputting to the fabulous Mel from Easily Sorted. I also have an accountant who does my quarterly BAS. I know many small businesses do their own bookkeeping, but it just isn’t my thing. So I don’t. It saves me lots of mini meltdowns!
2. Graphic Design
Graphic design is so far outside my zone of genius it’s almost not funny when I try. Almost. So I have the awesome Janelle from Inkee Press Design Studio do most of my design work. I just love knowing that when I send her a design brief that my work is done. She will come back to me with a concept that I usually love the first time and then I move on with my life and business. No permanent emotional scarring because I tried to use Photoshop!
3. Website Admin
Basic admin and updating I can do. The complicated stuff I gladly outsource. There are also lots of niggly little jobs that need to be done but that aren’t necessarily the best use of my time. Product updates, blog comment filtering, data entry, updating broken links, optimising content; all of this is done by a virtual assistant and usually in batches.
4. Technical updates and upgrades
I’m pretty handy with HTML but at the end of the day, pretty handy just doesn’t cut it for some jobs. These are gladly delegated to a technical support person who gets the job done in a tenth of the time with zero stress to me.
5. Blog scheduling
It’s a mildly painful job that takes a bit of fiddling but it’s something that just isn’t the best use of my time.
6. Copywriting
I’m all for doing as much of my own copy work as I can, but sometimes, I just need to outsource it. I might be trying to meet a deadline or I may have bitten off more than I can chew.Either way, any copywriting I can’t manage goes straight to the professional! Sometimes, I don’t actually need something completely rewritten, but need a professional set of eyes on it, and I’ll do that too. There are some fabulous service providers who will offer you a set rate to look over and suggest tweaks to your page or entire site. There are also complete done-for-you packages.
7. Warehouse management
Warehouse management is a task that I just don’t have the capacity for. With 5 children under 10 and a homeschool and house to run, warehouse management is one of the jobs that is very happily outsourced in my business. We have a local lady come two days a week to pack orders, receipt stock, organise dispatch to the post office, keep the shelves stocked and the warehouse tidy. I love knowing that we are able to support a local family and it really takes an immense amount of pressure off me.
Do you outsource some business tasks? Tell us about them in the comments and feel free to give a shoutout to your favourite service provider.
