So much goes into running a business, and for those who are just starting or have a medium-sized enterprise, you might not have the budget to hire enough in-house employees to take on all of these tasks. Even for larger corporations, outsourcing certain things for projects or the daily management of your teams can be very beneficial and cost-effective. If you are a business owner who is wondering how you can utilize outsourcing in your company, big or small, here are a few examples of external services you should consider using:
1) IT Services
In the modern age, all businesses rely on computers in some way or another, which is why it’s essential to make sure that your networks are always running smoothly and that they are secure. You might have one or two employees who work in your IT department in the office, but even they will need assistance to maintain your business networks. By using an external IT service, your in-house team can focus on bigger IT projects to help your company grow. External services can also recommend software that might be useful and relevant to your business, as well as providing 24/7 assistance so you can get help if you need to work over the weekend or late in the evenings. They will also remotely update your computer networks to keep all applications running smoothly and to ensure that your cyber-security is operating at the highest standard. You won’t have a clue about topics like zero trust security but they definitely will. And that’s a good thing since this will help keep your organization secure.
2) Transcription Services
If your business is planning to move into the international market, or you work with international suppliers or clients, then you will need to have professional translators to help you with this. You can outsource this service to freelance translators or use expert transcription services if you prefer. The latter may also be able to help you if your business is in the healthcare sector through transcribing medical records or legal transcriptions for law firms and businesses that work in media to improve their content, and so on.
3) Marketing
If you want your business to be successful, you will need to come up with clever marketing campaigns that speak to your target demographics and attract them to your brand. This is easier said than done, however, and a lot of time and energy goes into research for your campaigns, as well as taking the steps to develop and launch them. You might want to do some of this work in-house with a dedicated team, but outsourcing part or all of this process to a professional marketing agency might work in your favor. This is because they will already have experts in this field with access to numerous marketing resources that can be utilized for your specific campaigns and strategies. They might also be able to help you with brand development, as a lot of agencies also offer this service.
4) Recruitment
Having the right team of employees working alongside you to make your business a success is yet another vital aspect of business management. When a job vacancy opens up, you want to see the best possible candidates sitting opposite you at the interview, but finding them isn’t always easy, particularly if you’re the business owner of a small company who is trying to juggle a variety of HR, management, and other tasks. This is where a recruitment agency could prove useful to you. They will listen to your specific requirements for candidates and source the best for you. It will save you a lot of time reading through countless CVs and cover letters and means that you’ll only be sitting down with the right candidates for the job, making your decision process quicker so you can get that vacancy filled sooner rather than later.
5) Customer Service
If your customer service is considered to be poor, this can be very damaging to your brand. The majority of people will speak about their negative experiences rather than their positive ones when it comes to dealing with retailers and other companies, so getting your customer service right is key. For smaller businesses, this can be tricky as they are unlikely to have the budget to hire a lot of staff to manage customer queries and complaints in-house. Luckily, you can outsource this part of your customer service process so that your in-house team can focus on other projects and daily tasks that need their attention. These services can either speak to your customers on the phone or online, whichever method you prefer, or you can choose to do both.
6) Human Resources
Even as a small business, you need to have some form of HR department in place, and as the business owner, this responsibility will likely come down to you or your business partner if you have one. Managing things like employee payroll, annual leave, sickness and absences, and training are things you might be able to keep on top of, but often these tasks can be time-consuming, and it’s easy to fall behind. You can purchase specialist HR software to help you automate these tasks if you’d like to, or you can choose to use an external HR service that can assist you with some of the more complex administrative tasks that you don’t have time to do yourself.
7) Staff Training
While using an external HR service can help you with this, you might want to use a more specific service for this where the courses have been curated by experts in your industry. These might be classroom-led training sessions where your employees attend off-site, or a trainer will come and teach at your office in a meeting room. There are also opportunities to have your employees follow e-learning courses, which may be more cost-effective and flexible.
8) Accounting
Finally, you need to make sure that your business accounts are all up-to-date and correct, especially before filing them to the relevant authorities at the end of each year. Again, this is something that even small businesses can do in-house and is made easier through the use of accounting software, but if you’re not familiar with this process, hiring an accountancy firm to manage your books for you might be the better option.
If you’re a business owner who is feeling overwhelmed or simply wants to explore ways to improve your business operations, consider these eight external services and how outsourcing to them could be the best option for you.
