How To Tell When Its Time To Start Outsourcing

Let’s face it, you can’t do everything by yourself. It may it may seem like common sense, but it’s not always easy for new speakers or entrepreneurs to admit. You tell yourself that you can save a lot of money, if you just do it all by yourself.

Perhaps it’s the control freak in us that wants to stay in charge of every aspect in our business, or the frugal shopper who wants to save money by just working on projects ourselves? You need to consider getting help by outsourcing some of your tasks.

So what’s the problem with that? Regardless of how hard we may try to convince ourselves, not to outsource, the bottom line is that delegating important tasks to qualified professionals is simply the fastest way to grow our business and skyrocket your income. There’s another reason why outsourcing is important. When you try to do it all, you’re taking 2 big risks.

What are those risks:

1. The first risk is that some tasks and projects won’t be done as well as they could be if you had more time, or the necessary training. This could lead to distributing inferior products or low quality content that won’t help you move the needle in your business.
2. The second risk is a BIG one and is that you’ll simply burn out and you’re not able to stay on top of your market. Sigh, I know hard to hear huh. No matter how many skills you might have in your tool bag or purse, there are always tasks that should and could be done by seasoned professionals. As the old saying goes, just because you can do it yourself, doesn’t mean you should.

With an outsourced team you can get the help you need to grow your business faster than ever before, and without worrying about having to pay insurance and employment taxes. Better yet. If you stick with hiring professionals who are an expert in their field, there will be minimum training you’ll have to perform to complete the tasks you assigned to them to because they’ll already be experienced to take on that you have to offer. That’s a win win!

Outsourcing is the smart way of doing business, building an established presence in your industry quickly and developing a life long brand that stands out and apart in your niche. Connecting to seasoned professionals gives you the leg up, allowing you to compete, head on with some of the biggest names in your niche. In other words, it levels out the playing field.

Are you curious about some ways to know when it’s time to outsource. I’m going to give you five ways to do it.

1. You can do the task but hate it
   Just because you can do the task doesn’t mean you should be doing it. If you find yourself putting a task off because you hate it, you need to outsource it. Bottom line. There is somebody else who can do that the job and the task faster than you and in less time.

If a task is sapping all your energy and productivity, then you need to outsource it. You need to know the value of your time. That’ harsh to hear I know but so important. As a business owner, you need to have systems in place before delegating them to a Virtual Assistant. Make sure that you follow up with your VA in the beginning to make sure that things are going right and if he or she has any questions. Make sure that your Virtual Assistant has the right tools to do the job properly. If you show your VA how to do the task properly, you will never have to do that task again, and it will free you up to do other things in your business you should be doing.

2. You can’t do it all by yourself

So let’s let go of the superwoman/superman complex. You can retire that cape and let it rest. Some people have a hard time delegating their tasks to someone else. I get it. I have been guilty of the same thing myself in the past. You think that nobody can do the tasks like you can, but you have to let go and trust that things will work out. If you try to do everything in your business, you’ll be working every day, just trying to keep up with everything. Once you let go and trust someone else to do it, you’ll find that the process is easier the next time you need to outsource a task.

And whatever you do, please, please, PLEASE do not micromanage your Virtual Assistant. You have to find a balance once you have outsourced that task. What I mean by that is, you don’t want to entirely forget about the task and let the Virtual Assistant do whatever they want to do. You both need to set up boundaries and goals. Decide on how often you will be checking in which with each other. Have monthly meetings and also a tool for daily communication, like Slack, or whatever communication tool you decide to use

3.  You have repetitive tasks

This is something that you definitely want to outsource repetitive tasks. Now when you think of a repetitive task, think of a task like data entry or bookkeeping, website maintenance, following up on leads, writing blog post updating plugins, any leads to your CRM, and more.

These are all considered repetitive tasks that you need to outsource to someone else to handle for you. As a business owner, why would you be doing these things that a Virtual Assistant could and should be doing for you? You have more time to do the things that only you can and should be doing, such as speaking on stage, negotiating contracts, networking, and discovery calls, for instance. Only you can do those tasks. That way you can concentrate on the more interesting and money making aspects of your business.

4.  You are stressed out

Can you relate? Having some stress in our life is normal. As a new and aspiring business owner, starting a business is stressful all by itself. Just like repetitive tasks, there is so much to do. You need to identify your strengths and outsource your other tasks to professionals in your industry. Your goal is to get your stress to go down, not up. Being stressed out, can shorten your life expectancy. Not to mention, it can also make you sick. Your most valuable asset in your business is time management and outsourcing increases your success potential.

Stress is the leading cause of burnout and exhaustion. It can lead to a back load of work and eventually lose clients. Outsourcing your work to a Virtual Assistant will reduce your stress so that you can concentrate on being a leader in your industry and have more time to spend with family and friends. And have a life.

5. You don’t have time to develop new programs

If you’re doing everything in your business, where are you going to find the time to think about launching a new program?You’ve had this program in your brain that you know people really need, but you just can’t find the time to work on it. By hiring a Virtual Assistant in your business that will allow you to focus on your strengths and develop new programs.  You’ll find that you’re more creative to free your mind and add more value to your business. Also, you’ll also be able to scale your business and build your brand. And isn’t that what you want?