I have a confession. I am a control freak.
I don’t like relinquishing control of things to other people because I’m convinced that they won’t do the job correctly. And when we started growing our marketing and consulting businesses a few years ago, delegating tasks to someone else was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Seriously.
But I was reminded of just how powerful outsourcing can be this past weekend when our entrepreneurial minds were at work and a new way to enhance our consulting businesses presence developed. We were able to take an idea to a working idea with results already starting to be shown in just a few days time. Without the help of our employees, this process could have taken weeks.
When you start the process of thinking about outsourcing some of your daily tasks, you might question whether you even have enough work to employ someone full time. But I’ll bet that as you start to write down all the menial tasks you do daily which could actually be handed over to someone else, you’ll soon have more tasks than just one person can handle. It has been an extremely liberating experience to not have so much on my plate to worry about. Because let’s face it; when you’re playing mom, wife, friend and entertainer, most people wouldn’t think you have any time to spare on your own personal business. But when you find the right people for your own team, the can help you and your business excel in ways that you may have never even dreamed could be true.
Where to look
There are many places to turn if you are looking to outsource work. You can look locally (which can be really helpful if you need someone to run errands for you) or you can look overseas (which is generally the most cost effective solution). In most cases a virtual assistant or remote employee will be the solution to your overworked self. The Internet has truly allowed businesses to flourish via teams of employees across the globe. And many times, you won’t meet those employees face-to-face until after they have been working for you for a while.
Sites like Elance and Freelancer.com have been around for a long while, and you can find some very good people based on the reviews and experiences of others. You can even use sites like Fiverr, where you can get just about anything done from website banners to finding new Facebook fans for just 5 bucks. But in most cases, these will just be freelance individuals who will work on one project and then return back to the marketplace, working for whoever has a job for them next. Few of them will actually want to become your employees.
We have tried using freelance employees in the US and UK, contract workers in India and various people in a few locations in-between. But ultimately, we decided to use workers in The Philippines to build our team. The reasons for this were multi-fold, but some of the major ones are that they have great work ethics, are extremely reasonably priced and will remain devoted employees for years if you treat them well. But remember, the cheapest workers are often the most inexperienced and may need a lot more training than someone who earns just $100/month more.
Outsourcing more than the daily workload
What if you don’t just need to outsource a few work projects? Is your home constantly a mess? Are you not able to get your yard work done? Is the time to go grocery shopping missing from your day? All of these tasks are things that you can get someone to take care of for you locally, whether they are part of your family or someone who does the job professionally. In fact, you could even just use an online grocery shopping service which will deliver your weekly groceries to your door. I do a lot of that for staples in our house and pet food. Because honestly, traveling to the store, shopping with a 3-year-old and then coming back home takes a few hours of my day. Time that I could be spending by creating content, working on client projects and otherwise making money.
There are so many options out there available if you need extra help at work or at home. You just need to figure out what it is you no longer need to keep control of and can manage from the sidelines…because I assure you that you are going to feel happier and more relaxed, if not also more productive, knowing that the work is still getting done but you’re no longer carrying all the weight on your own shoulders.
