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Home » Business And Finance Articles » Increase Your Success And Reduce Your Stress By Outsourcing

Increase Your Success and Reduce Your Stress by Outsourcing

When you picture a business professional's typical office scenario, what comes to mind?

A classy man or woman, dressed in a high priced business suit, an overflowing briefcase sitting on the corner of the desk, dictating memos and delegating tasks to a very overworked secretary?

How about a home-based business owner, sitting in their basement office, kids pulling at their pant legs while they are spending far too much time dealing with their correspondence and other administrative tasks?

Either of these sound familiar?

Well, these may be true but, with our ever-changing business environments and with the ease of using the Internet, more and more business professionals, especially small business owners, are altering how they conduct their daily activities.

Sure, they still have their offices, sometimes in their homes, but they also have more time to spend on generating revenue or to be with the kids than ever before.

How, you ask? Well....they outsource some or most of their non-core tasks to professional, reliable fellow small business owners who take pride in helping other businesses succeed by providing them with a helping hand.

These days, almost any normal (or even not so normal) task that a small business owner usually does, can be accomplished by an outside source.

Let's take a look at the typical daily (or so) tasks that are usually needed to be done:

1. Read and respond to incoming mail and email
2. Enter account payables and receivables into accounting software program
3. Prepare a quotation for a potential new client
4. Order flowers for the spouse's birthday
5. Reserve a spot in the local industry trade show
6. Update pages on the company website
7. Clean the office
8. Update your contact database
9. Book airline tickets and make hotel reservations for an upcoming seminar
10. Attend a networking breakfast

This list gives you some idea of the many tasks that need to be done each day by most small business owners. And, this is only a portion of what is usually required to be done.

Some of these small business owners run their businesses from their homes, which means there is the added activities of dealing with "around the house" things (that everyone seems to think you have all the time in the world to do), running errands (ditto), tending to the family, and accepting those calls from telephone solicitors who somehow know you are at home to answer the phone.

It's all kind of like a math equation... the tasks ADD up, which SUBTRACTS from running your business smoothly, which EQUALS a less successful business and a more stressed out business owner.

So, let's look at our list above again and see how many of those tasks can be accomplished by someone off-site; and who would be the best person or business to help you out.

Of the 10 items listed above, only two need to be handled, or at least started, by the business owner.

#3 – (Prepare Quote) This task should be developed by the business owner. Now, this doesn't mean they have to do it all. They can put together the specifics of the quotation and then have a Virtual Assistant format and produce the final outcome.

#10 – (Networking) Again, this is something that can't be outsourced, although, if the company is large enough, a representative can attend the meeting in the place of an owner.

#2 – (Accounting) This task is a perfect candidate for outsourcing. There are many companies that provide exceptional bookkeeping services. If you are lucky enough, you can find one that can take care of all of your accounting tasks, right down to your yearly income taxes.

#7 – (Clean office) Once again, this can be handled by a reputable office or house cleaning service, and for relatively cheap.

#6 – (Update website) This is something that can be accomplished by an experienced web designer, and usually by way of a contract or retainer agreement for ongoing maintenance.

#4, 5 & 9 – (Flowers, tradeshow, seminar arrangements) These are all best handled by a professional concierge service. They can take care of everything from booking a limousine to arranging hot air balloon rides to corporate event planning.

#1-10 – Except for #10 (which is best handled in person), and #7 (which is not something that can be done from afar), the remaining tasks can all be handled by a Virtual Assistant (VA). Now, not all VAs provide all of these services but, more than likely, they can either recommend someone who can or get the details from you and ensure that a fellow colleague will do the work according to your needs.

As a fellow small business owner, being able to provide a full-service benefit to a client is something that most VAs take pride in. If they do need to subcontract work to someone else, they make sure that the contractor is aware of their level of professionalism and that it is the VAs reputation that is at stake, something most will go to great lengths to ensure is held in the highest regard.

Outsourcing is a relatively new concept to most business professionals but, as more and more of them begin to realize the benefits that they can take advantage of by utilizing the off-site services of Bookkeepers, Concierge services, Virtual Assistants, and more, the more successful and less stressed out or overworked our business communities will be.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Are You A Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda?

The impetus for this article came from one of the 40 to 50 e-mails we get each week that go like this:

"Dear Chuck & Sue,

Can you recommend a business that will help me earn $10,000 to $20,000 each month. I need to start earning this type of money as quickly as possible.

Sincerely,

I want To Be A Millionaire By Next Tuesday"

We kid you not. We get e-mails like this everyday. They are the types we call shoulda, coulda, and woulda.

If you are a Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, then this article is really going to tick you off. I hope it makes you angry, very angry.

Angry enough to change your ways or at least stop you from wasting your time and everybody else's.

Those that get angry see themselves all too well in this piece. They don't like being challenged. They are the people who will never do anything. They will never change.

You know who you are. You're the person who goes to discussion boards and asks "Does Carleton Sheets work in _____". Go ahead, fill in the blank. Name a city or state. You can, of course, fill in any other name or business in place of Carleton.

You're usually answered by those of us who have been around the block as follows, "No, Sheets doesn't work, you do".

Not liking that answer, you move to another group and ask the same question. Getting a similar response. And so on, and so on, etc.

You're the type of person who is afraid to spend a $100 - $200 to better yourself, your financial situation, your family's situation.

You're afraid to take a risk. You need a iron clad guarantee that whatever you do will make you money. Preferably by next Tuesday.

You're the type of person who gives great lip service to the concept of it takes work. But you're unwilling to put forth any effort.

You're afraid you may fail. IT, whatever your particular IT is, will not work for you.

You'd rather continue to moan and groan about your job, your life, your finances, your ______. Go ahead, fill in the blank again. I can't begin to come up with all the things you find to complain about.

Are you getting a good look at yourself in the mirror. I hope so. I hope by now your spitting nails. If you're not, then you are probably hopeless.

If you're not spitting nails, then you should skip the rest of this article.

Why?

Because I am going to let you in on some secrets that can change you from a shoulda, coulda, woulda to an I should, I could, I would and I did person.

First, let's dispel a myth. There is no legitimate get rich quick method, short of the lottery that I know about.

Getting rich takes hard work, perseverance and guts. It takes education. It takes a willingness to take calculated risks. It takes a willingness to fail before you succeed.

In short, it takes everything up to this point that you're not. But you can change.

Following is how to get started.

1. Embrace the concept that you and only you can make it happen. Why? Because the world really doesn't care about you. The world will go on, regardless of whatever you do or don't do.

So decide to make it happen. This is the most important step.

2. Educate yourself in whatever area your interested in. And no, this is not a plug for our educational material. We know ours is excellent, but that choice is up to you.

But for Pete's sake, buy somebody's. Start somewhere. If you truly can't afford to purchase, look on the web. There is some good free info out there. Go to the library. Read magazines or journals in your area. Do something to educate yourself.

3. Learn to weigh the pros and cons of different types of businesses or investment areas. Be willing to take a calculated risk. If an area looks promising, try it.

Just don't quit your day job.

There are many businesses you can start on a part-time or spare time basis. This is one of the reasons we recommend Lease Purchasing so highly to those we consult with. It is ideal for starting slowly.

4. Understand that it is not going to happen overnight. Make a firm decision to work whatever you try, long enough and hard enough, to give it a fair chance to succeed.

All true, solid, successful, long term businesses take effort and time to develop properly.

Learn to measure your progress toward your end goal.

5. Don't be afraid to fail. Much can be learned from failure. And remember, you never really fail, unless you quit and give up.

Keep trying. You'll eventually succeed.

Those of you who have read our book or spoken with us, know that we are perfect examples of not giving up.

We had four successful businesses, lost them in the economic downturn in California in the early 90's. We went through some hard times, but never lost sight of what we wanted.

We have re-built a successful business and are doing better than we ever did.

Just keep trying.

There you have it. The five secrets to our success.

Is it easy, no. But nothing worthwhile is.

Can you do it. Of course. Now get going and change your life.

Copyright 2004, DeFiore Enterprises