Helping Hands: 5 Processes Small Businesses Should Outsource

As a small business, time is your greatest asset. Every employee at your company needs to smartly manage their time so they can instead focus on growing the business and generating more revenue. To preserve your time and let your employees focus on their own jobs, consider outsourcing tasks. It is usually in the best interest of a small business to outsource these five processes rather than trying to do them in-house.

Graphic Design

Professional graphics and effective visuals are a must for your small business. For example, at bare minimum, your company might need a logo, business cards, promotional materials, storefront signs and more. Graphic designers can create content for both print and web that will draw the eyes of customers. A freelance graphic design artist or a firm can provide you with the graphic materials you need without needing to hire someone in-house for a service you will only need occasionally.

Marketing

Hiring an outside marketing firm is usually much cheaper than hiring an in-house marketing employee, much less an entire staff. There are different types of marketing, and outside help can specialize in just one kind or offer a more comprehensive marketing plan. A professional marketer will work with your company, as well as within your budget, to create a marketing plan that will be ideal for your business. This is a business necessity—no one will buy your products or services if they don’t know they exist. Fortunately, it is also easy and often cheaper to outsource your marketing.

Web Design and Maintenance

The importance of your online presence cannot be overstated in this digital age. With a professional website, your company stands to not only attract new customers but impress them enough to inquire about your services. Good business websites need to be easy to navigate and extremely user-friendly. They also have to be visually attractive and contain information your customers need and want to know. Hiring an in-house web designer is rarely the best move, which is why outsourcing this process is usually the best option.

Recruiting and HR

Hiring an outside recruiting firm to find new talent is the right move for most small businesses. A professional outside recruiter knows not only where to look for talent, but also how to ask the right questions to find the best people for your organization. It is unlikely anyone currently in your organization can perform that role as effectively, and poor recruiting will ensure your company can never attract the right talent.

HR goes beyond just finding new talent. Payroll can also go in outsourcing. Many experts recommend you to do so because mistakes can be costly. Other HR processes that can be outsourced include employee benefit administration, 401(k) administration, vacation time tracker and training and development.

It Support

There is little reason for most small businesses to have in-house IT support. However, with the increasing reliance on technology, having a quality IT service is more a necessity than ever. Problems with your hardware, software or services can lead to hours of lost productivity and significant losses of revenue.

A good IT service at your disposal can cut down on those issues dramatically by providing troubleshooting as well as maintaining your systems. They can help get new employees in your system and recommend the best software and hardware updates. A quality IT support service is more than worth it for any small business.

While there are some positions you should never outsource, or at least think carefully before doing so, these five processes are excellent choices for outsourcing. In fact, it usually makes the most sense for small businesses to look for outside help with these tasks. You will be glad you left these processes to the pros and focused your time on growing your business.