Top 8 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Outsource

Many entrepreneurs start out in the business world to map out a plan and go for it. They have an intense enthusiasm for success and a longing to shape their own future with the freedom and creativity not available in the average 9-5 working world.

Yet the reality is that a little fewer than 60 percent of new businesses may not survive up to or more than four years and the entrepreneurs that do survive end up working 60+ hours and are unable to take much time off.

Successful entrepreneurs use outsourcing to grow their business and thrive. Here are 8 top reasons to outsource:

1. Perform ONLY those tasks you are experienced and proficient at and like doing.

2. Focus on making money. Don’t waste your valuable time and energy on tasks that you’d prefer not doing or that you’re not able to do. Instead employ the services of a virtual support team to give you the freedom to focus on income generating activities.

3. Save time and money. Instead of thinking of contractors as an expense, leverage them as a profit center. Firstly, you lose money when you do tasks you are inexperienced at, where as a skilled person will cost comparatively less. Secondly you gain back that time and can invest it in activities that bring in more income.

4. Reduce expenses and increase profits. Why tie up funds in payroll, benefits, recruiting and training costs, equipment and office space when you could be using that money to grow your business? Outsourced virtual professionals, work from their own home offices and charge you only for active productive time (i.e. Virtual Personal Assistants).

5. Freedom to generate and seek opportunities. When you are caught up in the particulars of running your business, your creativity gets suffocated and does not flow as easily. Outsourcing gives you the freedom and time to be innovative and work on growing your business.

6. Achieve a superior balance between work and personal life. With proper planning you will finally have the time to spend with your family or to pursue personal interests.

7. Access to new skills and trained professionals. A virtual support team will give you access to a wide variety of skills and many virtual professionals can also provide you with referrals to other service providers.

8. Peace of mind. With regular communication and feedback, you will gain priceless peace of mind knowing that the day-to-day details, customer and business lead follow-up, maintenance and marketing of your business are skillfully handled by your virtual support team.

Outsourcing will help remind you why you created your own business it in the first place. Your success and freedom as an entrepreneur may depend upon your ability to focus on what you love and do best and eliminate or outsource everything else.

Outsourcing Your Life to a Personal Assistant

Prompted by an article by A.J Jacobs called My Outsourced Life I had previously blogged about this very topic in May, but, Ok, so it’s still a strange concept to think about, but it’s actually happening more and more these days . I just found another wordpress blog that actually documents his experiences with outsourcing his life since August 2007.

MyOutsourcedLife is an easy to read an very relatable blog that will give you great ideas and help you with some of the concerns you may have. It will also answer some of the questions you yourself may have about outsourcing even some of the most ordinary of tasks. Take a read, it’s well worth it.

100 Tasks You Can Outsource

Initially I thought that you could only outsource a handful of tasks and projects, turns out after a bit a brainstorming we came up with 100 great tasks but the list can be endless. Here we’ve focused on, Website Design & Programming, Software Programming, Sales & Marketing Design, Sales & Marketing, Sales & Advertising, Business & Financial Planning, Human Resources, Administrative Support, Legal, and Customer Interactions.

 

 Website Design & Programming

1. Website Design

2. Programming

3. E-commerce Website

4. Simple Website

5. HTML Emails

6. Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing

7. Blogs

8. Online Forms & Applications

9. Widgets

10. Usability Design

11. Flash

 

Software Programming

12. Social Networking Applications

13. Software Design

14. Enterprise Information Systems

15. Database Development

16. Technical Support

17. Auto Email Responders

18. Podcasts

19. Network Administration

20. Help Desk

21. Project Management

 

Sales & Marketing Design

22. 3D Graphics

23. Photography/Image Editing

24. Product Catalogs

25. Package Design

26. Document/Book Design

27. Product Design

28. Audio

29. Video

30. Cartoons/Illustrations

31. Animation

32. Engineering

33. Drafting/Drawings

34. Architecture

35. Lead Generation

 

Sales & Marketing

36. Email

37. Telemarketing

38. Ad Campaigns

39. Promotions

40. Signs, Displays & Marketing Media

41. Blogs

42. Web Content

43. Bulk Mailings

44. Sales Brochure Design

45. Corporate Identity, Logo

46. Web Banner Ads

47. Print Ads

48. Voice Talent

 

Sales & Advertising

49. Articles

50. Press Releases

51. Copywriting

52. Editing

53. Grant Writing

54. Newsletters

55. Sales Materials

56. Books & E-books

57. Resumes

58. Speeches

59. Translation

60. Manuals & Guides

61. Public Relations

 

Business & Financial Planning

62. Business Plans

63. Competitive Analysis

64. Market Research

65. Bookkeeping

66. Debt Collection

67. Financial Reporting

68. Tax Returns

69. Budgets & Forecasts

70. Financial Analysis

71. Tax Consulting

 

Human Resources

72. Human Resources

73. Recruiting

74. Benefits Administration

75. Reference & Background Checks 

 

Administrative Support

76. Research

77. Transcription

78. Office Management

79. Data Management

80. Virtual Assistant

81. Document Formatting

82. Data Entry

83. Word Processing

84. Surveys & Research

85. Reports & Presentations

86. Travel Planning

87. Event Planning

88. Appointment Scheduling

 

Legal

89. Copyrights & Trademarks

90. Contracts

91. Incorporation

92. Agreements

93. General Business Advice & Legal Guidance

94. Copyright Infringement

95. Wills, Trusts, Estates

96. Policies

97. Non-Disclosure Agreements 

 

Customer Interactions

98. Customer Responses

99. Call Center

100. Answering Service 

 

 

Microsoft Bids for a Piece of the Online Outsourcing Pie

Joining the online outsourcing trend, Microsoft is making a grab for a piece or perhaps all of the outsourcing pie. Together, Microsoft Research Asia and Microsoft Office Labs have launched Taskmarket.com. Taskmarket.com is an online marketplace for jobs where freelancers make themselves available for specific jobs within their area of expertise. And buyers looking for a little extra help on a project post their job descriptions and await bids.

It is interesting to notice that the development team of Taskmarket.com is based in Beijing, China. The popularity of outsourcing in China is obvious, as companies strategically leverage off the vast cost disparity between China and their home countries in order to enjoy sizeable economies of scale. Taskmarket.com aims to achieve the same success and capitalize on the technical expertise and competency of English-speaking Chinese workers.

Chinese fans of Microsoft will instantly recognize the design and concept of the “technical preview” site featuring colors, style and sections for ‘Buyers’ (Business) and ‘Providers’ (Freelancers) similar to that of the user interface established by a Chinese company called myTino (usa.mytino.com). This successful online outsourcing site that provides services to small and medium sized businesses has already created a niche for freelance individuals. myTino.com has been in business for over a year now, and will face stiff competition from its “Big Brother” competitor who seeks to dominate the same target market.

In the rapidly developing technology economy of China, IT professionals accustomed to the traditional outsourcing model now prefer to utilize the online outsourcing platform because it saves time, effort and improve efficiency. Both web sites feature a structured ratings and feedback system to assess member credibility and help businesses and freelancers choose the most suitable working relationships—both also feature a secure escrow payment service via PayPal.

The launch of Taskmarket.com signals that Microsoft believes there is a significant business opportunity within the online outsourcing market. As Taskmarket.com has only recently been launched, there are only a handful of posted jobs on it, and as with any new site it will take some time to build a market base. As practiced in other Microsoft product launches, we can expect Taskmarket.com to co-operate with the highly popular MSN and MSN messenger communities to increase its market presence. The question for watchers of this space is: will Taskmarket.com continue to follow and learn from the past experience of other online outsourcing sites and emulate their business direction, enlarge their business scope and evolve their web structure? And will major players like Yahoo and Google soon follow?

Outsourcing Web Design

Are you a Web Design or Logo Design business owner looking to expand your business? Have you considered hiring more creative staff, but just can’t afford it? Outsourcing to professionals overseas could be the solution. Some customers frown upon outsourcing and this is understandable. But what about web site design?

 

The article called Outsourcing Web Design discusses using overseas wed designers to complete projects, but managing them locally and building customer relationships. I think it’s another smart business move.

Outsourcing Is Lazy

Are we all experts in all aspects of owning, running and managing all the workings of a business? Could it be that those in a home business feel that they must wear many hats because they feel that they cannot afford to pay for outside expert help, or do they in fact feel that they would be lazy to hire help?It may be that you feel that only big businesses can afford to outsource. With freelancing available in all aspects of marketing and development, outsourcing is now affordable and available to the masses. Is Outsourcing Smart or just Plain Lazy? Takes a look at how small and medium sized businesses view the tasks that they need to complete and why some avoid outsourcing. For me I think outsourcing is very smart.

 

 

Outsourcing in a Slow Growth Economy

With rumors of an economic downturn on the horizon, is it possible for companies the world over to remain profitable? With more and more companies outsourcing and using freelance services to complete their projects, this practice has rapidly become the best way for companies to reduce expenses and the focus now also encompasses how to do things quicker, more efficiently and get to the market quicker than your competitors

 

This article called Outsourcing in a Slow Growth Economy talks about the beauty of outsourcing and the simplicity of it all. Have a look at how good business decisions, have more companies outsourcing their projects in an effort to streamline their business with a focus on future growth.

Hire a Telecommuter Today

How would you like to hire an employee who is very motivated and qualified to do work and also costs you less than the average worker? This sounds illegal and bordering on slave labor but you can actually accomplish this by hiring a telecommuter. Here are five excellent reasons, why it makes sense.

 
1) Reduced Overheads

2) Less Benefits to Pay

3) Hire Professionals
4) Flexibility on Demand

5) More Motivation

In this article called Hire a Telecommuter, 5 Great Reasons, it outlines the above benefits and shows how Telecommuters and freelancers offer you a great alternative and give back maximum benefits.

Do Less and Earn More, Really?

It’s a dream to be able to really do less work and earn more money, but can you really achieve it? For Internet Business Entrepreneurs you need to be able to proactively change with the market and if you are trying to do this by yourself, you may not be acting quickly enough to market needs. Have a look at some of these examples of work that can be outsourced and how it will benefit you to begin outsourcing.

Outsourcing for Small Business Owners

It’s the usual story for many small business owners. You do everything yourself because you can do it better and faster, but then what happens if you don’t have the skills or you are always spending your valuable time doing the basic tasks that prevent you from focusing on the big picture and looking to the future growth of your business? This article about Outsourcing for Small Business Owners covers the benefits when you do it right.