Outsourcing has been around for ages, but it hasn’t always been so easy to delegate and outsource tasks.

Technology has made outsourcing easy and realistic. In fact, it’s so easy to outsource with the plethora of digital options available, that a growing number of companies are outsourcing multiple tasks.

The question in the 21st century isn’t necessarily how to outsource, but is now the time to outsource?

Outsourcing Statistics

Deloitte conducted a survey in 2014 that had representation from 22 industry sectors and geographical diversity of respondents from 30 countries. Their study found the following to be true about outsourcing:

  • 69% of respondents said they were likely to outsource because of the ease of Cloud Computing.
  • 79% of respondents think their service providers charge a reasonable amount.
  • 54% currently outsource IT functions.
  • 26% of people who don’t outsource IT, plan to.

Is Outsourcing a Solution for You?

While outsourcing works for businesses of all types, if you’re running an online business, outsourcing can be especially effective. Outsourcing is your secret weapon—allowing you to get more done with your scarce time.

If you’re running any of the following kinds of online businesses, look at outsourcing as a way to scale up vital parts of your business:

  • Made For AdSense
  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Dropshipping
  • eCommerce
  • Fulfillment By Amazon
  • Consulting / Freelance
  • Productized Service
  • SaaS (Software as a Service)

Outsourcing is an effective force multiplier for web-based businesses and startups. Tasks such as customer research, marketing collateral creation (logos, business cards, etc), advertising graphics, website creation, content creation, content promotion, lead magnet production, or automated outreach are easily outsourced.

Outsourcing is also a good idea for repetitive, mundane, day-to-day business tasks including IT, marketing, payroll, accounting and employee benefits.

So, just exactly how do you know if it’s time to delegate and outsource tasks? Glad you asked…

What Do You Need to Know?

There are a few things to take into consideration before outsourcing tasks and duties:

Ask yourself these questions when deciding whether or not to outsource:

  • Is the task one that directly generates profits? If so, it’s probably not a good idea to outsource.
  • Is the duty integral to your business? If not, don’t waste your time – outsource it.
  • Is the task so routine that it wastes in-office resources? Outsourcing is a good idea here.
  • Is the task temporary or one that is cyclical? Again, outsourcing is an option.
  • Is it less expensive to have someone out of the office complete the task? If so, delegate away. Think IT services. Most small business can’t afford a full-time, in-house computer person.
  • Would it cost less to do it in-house? If so, don’t outsource it.
  • Do you need someone with a specialized skill set? This is a good place to outsource.
  • Would someone else do it better? Think accounting and payroll. It’s easy to outsource these jobs.
  • Do your current employees dislike the task? If it creates an in-office issue, you might look into outsourcing.

In Conclusion

According to Forbes, when deciding whether or not to outsource, it’s important to remember that it’s critical to do what you’re good at. They say “sticking with your core competency is an absolute must.”

In a perfect world, you’d spend your whole day doing what motivates you and what you’re best at. You’d then be free to outsource everything else to someone else.

If it’s not realistic or cost-effective to hire a full-time staff person to delegate tasks to, outsourcing is usually the best option.

As a business owner, the time has never been better to outsource jobs. Technology makes it easy, and the economic downturn of the last few years produced an overabundance of skilled and specialized workers who are willing and able to work outside of the regular business model.

Making the decision to outsource can increase your business’ bottom line long term. You’ll end up saving money and increasing the effectiveness of your business.

We don’t think the outsourcing trend will end anytime soon. If you’re unsure what to outsource, start small, with one task. See how it goes, and then move forward into other areas.

Here are more ideas of where to look for outsourced help for your business, how to get the relationship started, and how to manage the process.

With MastermindJam, you connect with the right people to help you start and/or take your business to the next level. You meet people who’ve learned how and when to outsource the right business tasks for maximum profitability. You’ll learn how they conquered their fear of outsourcing. Interested?

Visit our website to get matched with a mastermind group of your own.