Do you use Uber or Lyft, order takeout, subscribe to Plated, buy from FreshDirect or use MollyMaids?
If so, you are outsourcing.
If you ever had someone else mow your lawn, paint your home or design/build a website you outsourced.
Outsourcing simply means having someone else do the work.
You can outsource everything — even your life.
image credit: here
In terms of business, outsourcing means hiring outsiders to perform tasks that would be done internally if the time and/or talent were available.
What it’s called — outsourcing or contracting — is more often a function of location — the workers location, not yours.
Plus, it doesn’t matter if the workers are local, domestic or in another country, the reasons for outsourcing are the same.
Time and/or money.
What do businesses outsource?
Recruiting, benefits management, payroll, software development, design, writing, marketing, even sales, the list goes on and on.
For startups, outsourcing saves not only time and money, but also equity.
But deciding what/when to outsource requires objective thinking and total honesty.
Ask yourself,
- “Can I/one of the team do this work with our current level of knowledge?
- Can I/we do it in the available time?”
- Are the skills needed going to be used frequently enough to be worth hiring someone; if yes, can that person be hired quickly enough?
If any answers are ‘no’ then you probably need to outsource the work.
There are skills to outsourcing successfully, whether local or global, and that’s what we are going to address in June. (And while we are focused on business outsourcing, the skills you’ll learn can be applied across any part of your life.)
The most critical skill to successful outsourcing, no matter where the contractor is located, is excellent communications.
If you aren’t absolutely clear about what you want and when you want it, then don’t complain when the results aren’t what you had in mind.
Join me next week for a detailed understanding of exactly the kind of communications necessary.