Four reasons why you should outsource before you need to
As a busy mum, there’s one thing you have very little of – and that’s time. So find out why you should consider outsourcing some of your work before you need to, to help your business or career grow.
How often have you wished you could duplicate yourself, or add more hours into your day? While neither of these options may be scientifically viable, it IS possible to work smarter and get more done by outsourcing some of your tasks to other people.
If your first reaction to that thought is a panicked intake of breath, that’s quite normal. It’s easy to convince ourselves that only we know how to do the things we do for our work or business, or can do them well enough.
But by releasing our steely grip of the reins we can not just save time, but sanity and money too – and even help our business or career to grow faster as a result. And, as blog coach Jo Gifford explains, the best time to consider outsourcing is actually before you feel ready to.
Outsourcing has helped my business to grow
Without a doubt, one of the key factors in my business growth over the last year or so has been outsourcing and leveraging the time and expertise of other people.
As small business owners, we often walk that tricky path between wanting to save money and DIY it all ourselves, versus taking steps to grow.
Four reasons why you should outsource before you need to
In my experience, outsourcing before you really need to makes growth easier, and much faster. Heres’s why.
1) You let go of stuff you aren’t an expert in
It’s ok to not be good at everything (I promise). Letting go of stuff that makes you procrastinate/cry/drink in the day frees you up to work on what you do best. Working in your zone of genius will reap far more rewards than spending your time on tasks you just aren’t great at.
2) You get used to investing back in your business
Making the decision to start outsourcing is a big shift in mindset. It’s putting on the big girl boss lady pants and strutting your stuff. It’s making a stand for your next level, and it’s getting used to putting aside some money to reap rewards in your business.
3) You get more hours in the day
Time is a gift. By letting go of tasks that use up a lot of it, you gain more hours in the day to work on stuff that you love. Inevitably these will reap more financial success, as you are working at what you do best.
4) You’ll be ready for the next level of success
By putting your team in place you are ready for the next level of success, whatever that may look like to you.
Start with a few hours of help from a VA, perhaps. As you earn more and grow, add in more hours. Get help with your accounts and bookkeeping. Look around and see what other tasks you aren’t great at, and begin to let them go.
As Tim Ferriss of The Four Hour Work Week says, “It is not just about working smarter. It’s about building a system to replace yourself.”
Where to find the help you need
If you’re looking for a VA, a great way to find one is by recommendation. Ask other people in your networks who they use and recommend, and begin to connect with some potential candidates. You can also look on Odesk and Elance for assistants with skills in most areas of business.
FancyHands is an affordable, genius app that is like an army of VA’s in your smartphone. It has a desktop version, an iOS version, and links with Asana and your Gcal.
And Fiverr is a brilliant resource for Getting Stuff Done. I outsourced my video intros and podcast intro programme transcription to Fiverr, and have been amazed each time.
Start letting go – and gaining more time
As a small business owner it’s about weighing up when it’s cost effective to outsource, and my advice here is to let some tasks go before you feel truly ready, to get a taste for having more time while things get done for you.
Investing in your business also means you can leverage the expertise of people who are great at the stuff you aren’t.
As soon as you begin doing that, you add value to your business and will absolutely reap the rewards. I have a wishlist of expert help and mentor training and I am slowly working through it. And guess what – my business booms more each time I make that step!
Over to you – have you started to outsource in your business yet? What results have you seen so far?
Jo Gifford is a designer, writer, blogger and blog coach.
