For small businesses, money and time can sometimes feel like the most precarious resources, often stretched thinly – for this reason it is important that they are utilized in the best way possible. Unfortunately, many small businesses are also not utilizing their budget and their time in the best ways – for example, a small business can save a lot of money by outsourcing different areas of their business; which can in turn free up their employees time, allowing them to focus on other things, such as business development. Many businesses, big and small, feel as though hiring in-house staff for all their different departments is better than outsourcing – however, in most cases one can stand to save money on outsourcing, and also tap into a much wider and deeper pool of expertise around certain services.
Below are 3 key services that small businesses should consider outsourcing.
Accounting
This is arguably the most important aspect of any business, not least because failure to submit accurate accounts can land a business in a lot of trouble with the government. A business’ financial records are complex and intricate, and so you definitely want someone experienced and knowledgeable handling them – for this reason, it can be daunting for a business when hiring an account. Luckily, they needn’t worry, because outsourced accounting is a better solution 9 times out of 10.
Some business may have a preconceived idea that accounting and bookkeeping ought to be performed by an internal member of staff, owing to the fact that financial records are a highly sensitive aspect of the business. Once again, this is nothing to worry about, because outsourced accounting is very safe and secure – in fact, one might argue that an outsourced accounting firm will have much better security and compliance than some small businesses. A reliable outsourced accounting provider will be both knowledgeable on your business’ compliance obligations, and equipped to meet them easily.
The benefits of outsourced accounting are fairly straightforward. To start with, an outsourced accounting firm will have much better infrastructure, and many more experts at their disposal. The pool of experience you are tapping into when you outsource your accounting outstrips what you could hope to get as a small business hiring internally. What is more, so long as you provide your outsourced accountant with all the necessary data and resources they need, they will handle it all for you, giving you more time to focus on what you do best.
Additionally, an experience accounting firm will be much better at detecting anything that could be seen as fraudulent in the eyes of the authorities – they will know how to make your accounts line up in accordance with the law, so you don’t have to worry about any financial pressures.
IT Support
Another highly valuable and important area of a business – and one which requires highly specialized knowledge and experience that a small business might not necessarily possess – is IT support. With business becoming more and more reliant on IT, it makes perfect sense to ensure your organization has the best IT expertise at its disposal – in 9 cases out of 10, this can be guaranteed by partnering with an outsourced IT support provider.
As a small business, you might have already invested a fair amount of money and time into your IT infrastructure; or else you might be such a small business – perhaps even a startup – that your IT infrastructure is limited to a few computers and other office appliances, and you are only just reaching a period of growth that is making you consider how to expand your IT infrastructure. Whatever the case, it is a well-known fact that information technology advanced at a rate of knots – so much so that it can even be overwhelming to keep abreast of the options available to your business. This is one of the ways in which outsourced IT support can come in handy. Many IT support companies include proactive technology recommendations in their services, because they know how important it is for business to at least know what technology solutions is available to them – the best outsourced IT providers can even provide project services and solutions architecture to help a business establish a tech implementation roadmap that is both efficient affordable for them.
Marketing
Outsourcing your marketing simply means working with a third party – who might be an individual freelancer, or a firm – to handover the responsibility for your marketing to them. Marketing is a very diverse field and there are many different components to a good marketing strategy that vary with every business. For example, some companies, such as fashion brands and retailers, may rely heavily on social media presence, and therefore a highly integrated social media strategy will be important to their marketing. On the other hand, some other businesses, such as ones specializing in B2B services, may rely less on social media, but more on generating leads through search engine rankings.
These are just a few examples of marketing disciplines, both of which are highly specialized and require unique expertise. What is more, your business may need to utilize a number of different marketing disciplines. Hiring a specialist for each area of your marketing strategy can add up quickly. On the other hand, if you partner with a marketing firm, you can get access to all this expertise at a fraction of the cost it would take to have it in-house.