The pandemic has shut down several businesses. But that also means that many business opportunities are open. Thus, starting a business in the middle of the pandemic isn’t such a bad idea. Still, it’s a huge endeavor. And with or without a pandemic, starting a business has many risks. Ninety percent of startups fail for many reasons. These can include costs, failed product development, and management.
When starting a business, owners often choose to be the jack of all trades. But this doesn’t work. A startup has several facets that a single person or a team of five or less cannot handle independently.
If you’re thinking of establishing a startup and want to be part of the 10% who succeed, you need to outsource some of your business tasks.
Why Outsource
You might not welcome the idea of outsourcing tasks for your startup business. After all, outsourcing companies are basically selling their services to you, and you’ll have to put money upfront.
But outsourcing is cost-effective. You can save money by hiring outsourcing companies who specialize in certain tasks, as compared to having your own teams within your business. This is because errors are lessened, and outsourcing companies work more efficiently. And as the old saying emphasizes: time is money.
Outsourcing frees you of tasks that are difficult for you to accomplish. As a result, you’ll have more time to focus on managing your business.
But you have to be very careful when picking which outsourcing companies or professionals to hire. Make sure that you check their credentials and online portfolio. Check reviews from other businesses that hired them, if any.
What to Outsource
Finance and Accounting
Not every person who starts a business is adept at financial management. There are several processes involved in this, including bookkeeping, budgeting, payroll, etc. And in a startup, it’s crucial to manage and monitor the ins and outs of your money to avoid financial problems that can drive your startup to failure.
Thus, outsourcing processes that involve finance and accounting is your best bet. This way, you can get industry experts to handle your financial concerns. They can also help you analyze your finances to determine where you can cut costs. As a result, you will save you more money in the long run.
Human Resources
A business is only as good as the people in it. In a startup, you need to hire people whose values align with yours. These people must also have the dedication and patience to be part of a startup. But hiring the “perfect” candidate is difficult, especially if your startup has no in-house HR team.
Getting the right people will be much easier if you outsource the task to human resource professionals. And they don’t just help with recruitment. They also fulfill other human resource processes such as compensation and benefits and employee records management.
Digital Marketing
More businesses are now going online due to the pandemic. And the competition is very tight. Thus, digital marketing is a very critical component of any business, including startups.
But digital marketing can be quite tricky. It has several components, such as email marketing, SEO, pay-per-click advertising, web design, and most importantly, social media marketing. Through digital marketing, your business will become more visible to your target market. You’ll also learn more about your business’s numbers so that you can make the needed changes to convert more leads and increase sales.
If you’re not updated with digital marketing trends or don’t know much about it, you might be left behind by your competitors. To avoid this, you should outsource digital marketing-related tasks instead. This way, you have industry experts to back your business and drive it towards your business goals.
Data Entry
Any business comes with a big amount of data. Thus, data entry can be very time-consuming and take you away from the more important responsibilities you need to fulfill in your startup. In this case, you will save time and money if you outsource data entry tasks.
Sure, several software applications do a great job of transcribing, mining, and analyzing data. But sometimes, these applications produce files with many inaccuracies. Meanwhile, outsourcing companies that offer data entry services have trained data entry professionals and can produce more accurate outputs.
Outsourcing tasks is your best option to save costs and focus on your business’s growth, especially when you’re just starting. Don’t hesitate to get the help you need from outsourcing companies to achieve your business goals and be part of the 10% of startups that succeed.
