Outsourcing services remotely is a much cheaper option for small businesses. Rather than paying a permanent member of staff, you can keep your financial reserves for developing your company. Outsourcing services such as virtual receptionists, assistants, and data entry service save you on paying an admin team. You can also outsource key departments such as payroll and marketing. Here are some examples of ten departments to outsource and how it can benefit your small business.
Accounting
Accounting is one of the most common departments to outsource for small businesses. Without formal training, it might be too difficult to understand the complexities of your company’s finances. You’d also need to fluent in compliance standards and official requirements your business needs to meet.
By outsourcing accounting, you can have these things taken care of for you. This will save you money as you won’t have to hire a permanent accountant or department and it’ll be more efficient as well. Check out some of the best virtual and outsourced accounting services in 2020.
Administration
If you need assistance in recording and managing your data why not consider a data entry service? This will save you money as you’ll only pay a rate per hour for the service when you need it, rather than hiring a new member of staff. You won’t need to give them any training and you’ll receive an efficient service with expertise and professionalism.
With this type of service, you’ll only need to send off the documents and they’ll handle the rest. It’s a much more economical option as you’ll only have to pay for the services you need, and seen as they’re already experienced, the work is done quickly and efficiently.
A virtual receptionist can provide you with the support and assistance you need, without the extra costs of hiring an in-house secretary. It’s essentially a live telephone answering service where a qualified and friendly receptionist handles your calls with the same professionalism as an in-house receptionist. The experience for clients is in fact no different from speaking to an operator in your office.
Customer support
For small businesses that deal with a large influx of calls or complaints, you can outsource your customer support team. They will be experienced in dealing with customers and you can set up a strategy and have a protocol in place. Hire a remote team that is always available 24/7.
With outsourcing services, there’s no long term commitment, and you’ll be guaranteed quality. You can read reviews online from other businesses that have used their customer service in the past. Here are some reviews of the leading firms in 2020.
IT
Many businesses are deciding to make the switch to a virtual office. Employees are working from home, and the address of your office is merely for correspondence. This won’t make complications for your IT department. In fact, by outsourcing IT, experienced professionals will be able to service individual computers and devices remotely.
IT manage is one of largest outsourced industries and is continuing to grow. Many small businesses don’t have adequate resources to deal with cybersecurity issues, big data, and cloud hosting. By outsourcing your IT you’ll be able to protect any sensitive data, and ensure your network and systems are up and running.
Manufacturing
If you choose to set up your own manufacturing facility this can be quite costly. For this reason, many small businesses prefer to outsource manufacturing. A common misconception is that in order to save money, you need to send your manufacturing abroad. This isn’t the case. Manufacturing in the US provides 12% of GDP, and you can source this locally.
You can also decide to outsource your manufacturing overseas. This would save you on operating costs and permanent staff wages. Here are some more of the pros and cons of outsourcing production, to help you decide what is best for your company.
Marketing
When it’s time to scale your business, and external marketing department will have the expertise to help you. They will have more knowledge and experience in branding and marketing strategies. You can outsource your ad or website design, social media consultancy, and marketing analytics.
Nearly two thirds of B2B companies outsource their marketing. One of the reasons for this is flexibility. If your priorities change, it’s much easier to outsource marketing. You’ll be able to tap into the expertise of skilled specialists who can get started straight away without being on the learning curve. With advances in social media and SEO, nowadays marketing is constantly evolving, and you’ll need to keep on top of this.
Payroll
Your human resources and payroll department take care of a lot of issues with hiring, contracts, wages, and benefits. The most common type of set up is to work with a recruiting service to bring in suitable candidates. Many HR services also provide training, benefits administration, payroll, and management of time and attendance issues.
If payroll and employee administration is taking up too much of your time, you can benefit by outsourcing this. Due to the many legal and tax requirements, taking care of your own payroll can be complex and time-consuming. For more information about outsourcing your payroll, click here.
Research
If you want to learn more about your target demographic or the industry you work in, proper research is key. If you’re considering expanding into a new market or launching a new product, then you’ll need to be prepared as well. This is where outsourcing a research department comes in.
An outsourced research department will be more equipped to do an accurate survey of your customers and the market. They will have the resources and skills to bring you valuable insights. There are many market research companies that can carry out the surveying and analytics you need.
Sales
As your company grows, you might not have the resources to reach out to your building client base. An outsourced sales team can help you do this. They’re made up of trained professionals with the skills and processes they need to close a deal. You can hand over sales tasks to these individuals who will bring in more business.
Sales outsourcing companies also have a wide range of state-of-the-art software and technical resources at their fingertips. This means they can do their job more efficiently. Here are some examples of the best sales outsourcing companies this year.
Shipping
You can use a separate drop shipping company to handle the shipping and delivery of all your products. This is perfect for growing eCommerce companies that don’t have the resources to deal with increasing demand. If you want to spend more time focusing on optimizing your online shop and marketing, then it’s easier to outsource shipping.
By outsourcing shipping, you’ll be able to handle more orders, deliver better customer service, save costs, and create time. When your business starts to grow, it’s the right moment to shift from in-house to outsource the entire fulfillment process.
It’s pretty simple to find these services with a quick Google search but there are websites that can do the work for you. Check out the six best online outsourcing websites in 2020. These work as platforms allowing you to interact with previously vetted candidates for the job. You can choose the department and the specifications.
One of the main reasons for outsourcing these roles that it’s a cost-cutting solution. Hiring a virtual service saves you time and money on overheads, training, and employee benefits. There are numerous financial advantages to outsourcing in this way.