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Turn Disadvatage to Advantage With Outsourcing & Save Hours
by Angela Wills
You’ve likely heard all about outsourcing to build your business and save time and money. What you probably don’t hear too much about is outsourcing can turn into a huge nightmare if you are not properly prepared and go into it with the right mentality.
Disadvantages of Outsourcing
- It’s hard to find qualified people.
- It’s time consuming to train new virtual assistants to run my business.
- I’m just too busy to send work over, it’s like catch-22.
- I need to watch over to make sure they’re doing it right which takes up too much time.
- I never know if they’re overcharging me since I’m outsourcing work I don’t understand.
Turning Disadvantage Into Advantage
Let’s go over all the points discussed above and turn what looks like a potential disadvantage into a sure fire advantage that can possibly save you tons of hours and many, many dollars.
Finding Qualified People
There are a number of ways you can find qualified people to outsource your work to. Before you go on the hunt, think carefully about what you need. Some people prefer to hire a specialist for each section of their business. For example, a writer, a wordpress blog assistant, an email marketing assistant, graphic designer, etc. Others choose to see out just one person with many talents. Just remember the old saying, though, “Jack of all trades, master of none”
You can find assistants through referrals, elance, virtual assistant associations, virtual assistant forums, asking on social media sites such as twitter and linked in. Of course Google is also a good place to go. Seek out the virtual assistant you need through keyword search and pay close attention to how she’s designed her website and what she’s chosen to tell you about her business and skills.
Training Virtual Assistants
While it’s true that bringing someone new into your business is going to require a learning curve you need to think long term here. Just imagine how easy it will be once your assistant knows your business so well you can quickly send over a job with little to no direction. Thinking long term will help you hire the best people.
If you just look for people who can do a ‘quick and dirty’, short term job you are going to usually be outsourcing to the people most desperate for work. You want to outsource to those who are not desperate for work, those who choose you as a client just as much as you choose them as an assistant. This is the best way to build a real win/win situation and gain a loyal assistant you can outsource to for years to come.
Too Busy to Outsource
One of the biggest mistakes I see small business owners doing that creates a huge disadvantage for them is to send work piecemeal, bit by bit, as they get time. Yes, you’re busy but sending a little here and a little here costs you time AND money.
A great example is that recently a client sent over a list of 10 items she needed me to do. It did take her a little over a month to get these items together but the savings to her way big time. You see, if she had of sent those items one at a time my minimum project charge is for one hour (very typical for any virtual assistant) and she could have easily paid me for 10 hours worth of work doing it that way. As a freelancer, it takes so much more time to work on a project in 10 pieces than it does all at once. It typically takes 15 minutes just for setup each time – that’s an extra 2 1/2 hours for my client saved right there! By sending me everything I needed in one large and very organized group she saved herself time and money – now that’s quite advantageous!
Watching Over Your Outsourced Work
You have a problem if you have to double check and watch over your assistants. I don’t work with anyone who doesn’t trust my work. If I have a client double-checking and second-guessing me at every move I know it’s time to move on.
As the person doing the outsourcing you need to be willing to let go of control and give trust. If you don’t trust the person you’re hiring then don’t hire them. If they let you down after you’ve given them trust then fire them. But don’t micro-manage or you’ll be saving yourself nothing and creating a whole lot more stress in your business than you need.
Not Sure If You’re Being Overcharged
Again, this issue comes down to trust. Micro-managing and nit picking over every charge is going to cost you time and stress. Think big picture here. Step back and ask yourself if you are being charged fairly based on the results achieved – that’s what’s important.
Finally, not everything that you perceive as a disadvantage to outsourcing really is. Just a little tweak in thinking and you can turn most issues into an advantage that can work for you.
Now, if you’re ready to find out more about how to outsource your own work and start moving closer to true business freedom I suggest you sign up for my free mini-course called ‘Outsourcing Explained‘ <--click that link to sign up now.
p.s. My friend Nicole Dean is amazing at outsourcing and she’s partnered with her mentor and friend Jimmy D.Brown to create Outsource Weekly. It’s a weekly program designed to move you step by step through the process of outsourcing. Check it out.
