There are a good number of tasks we outsource from our personal lives on a regular basis. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who routinely cuts their own hair, or does their own legal work. Even hairdressers will put down their tools and allow another hairdresser to undertake the duty!
For a business owner, outsourcing administrative tasks that you can’t complete competently, or don’t have time for, is a sure fire way to free-up much needed time to focus on your core business deliverables, and improve both the running – and enjoyment of running – your business.
Stick to your strengths and passions; outsource the rest
Most business owners and sole traders go into business because they are either exceptionally good at, or are exceptionally passionate about, their chosen business service. The expectation is that the large majority of time will be spent undertaking that core activity that drove the desire to go into business in the first place. And for most, in the early days, that is how it works…
It’s when a business begins to grow that the demands of time and skills across other areas such as bookkeeping, payroll, marketing, contracts management, and monthly accounts grows, commensurate with the growth in the core business.
Believe it or not, there are people in this world who make it their business to undertake outsourced administrative support – and they love it!
Trading services and outsourcing tasks makes good sense both in terms of utilising the available hours to do what we each do best, but also to get the best enjoyment out of running your business.
Why outsource when I can bring bookkeeping and admin in-house?
It’s true, you could hire in-house, and there may be a set of circumstances where this is the right decision. But, there are a lot of benefits of outsourcing your administrative support through an agency…
Firstly, you don’t need to provide a desk, computer, phone, or any of the other technology required to run your admin. This may not seem like a big deal, but if your business is currently run from home, or is suddenly required to operate remotely (pandemic, anyone?!), then having your admin setup to continue operations remotely from the get-go is a huge bonus.
Secondly, you don’t need to train your virtual administrator, and you don’t need to re-hire and re-train should your employee decide to move on. In many cases, our virtual assistants become the experts very quickly, and will be able to feed back to business owners about what is going on in their business. If your assigned virtual assistant isn’t available for whatever reason, it’s up to us to replace them.
Thirdly, you’ll get a better overview of business performance. Living elbow-deep in the detail of running your business does not provide the opportunity to gain a high-level understanding of progress towards goals. You’ll be able to ask questions, understand the level of progress, and make better decisions with key information in hand.
Fourth, you can expand the tasks assigned to your virtual assistant as your needs change. While many of our clients arrive needing one form of support – for example, bookkeeping, they quickly realise they can access other skills and expertise through our network, including social media posting, accounts receivable, website maintenance, data entry and database management, emails and e-newsletters, GST and PAYE, and more.
Finally, if things change, getting out of an outsourced administrative support contract is easier than getting out of an employment contract. Yep, you heard it here first…
What is the cost of getting it wrong?
There is a high expectation on business owners to get the details of running their enterprises correctly, and high penalties for not doing so. While it’s sometimes difficult to quantify the cost of getting administrative tasks right, it’s easier to understand the true cost when it goes wrong…
Day to day, inaccurate bookkeeping and accounts management can be extremely costly, especially if your understanding of cash flow on your records is different from the reality of your spending. Matters only get worse when it comes time to hand over accounts at tax time if the correct reconciliations haven’t been undertaken.
The cost of inaccurate payroll can end in disputes and – at worst – legal proceedings, which are costly in terms of expense, as well as time taken away from conducting business.
Measuring the cost in dollars is easy, but understanding the true total cost in terms of headaches, stress, and more can see the price skyrocket.
Outsourcing administrative support to a professional is a far more cost-effective way to ensure the continuity of your business operations, without the stress.
If you’re thinking about outsourcing any of your business operations, then request a callback at the link below today. We’d love to discuss how this could work for you, and help your business to thrive.