No matter the size of your business, you could probably use a helping hand. However, some tedious and time-consuming tasks that are part of your responsibility are not always big enough to warrant their own full-time position. This is particularly relevant for small and medium enterprises, as the on-boarding of a new employee is much more relatively costly for the business. So, why not consider outsourcing some of those tasks?

In this day and age, outsourcing has never been easier thanks to the internet. There is always someone, somewhere, who is willing to pick up a part-time assignment of tasks for some extra cash on the side. With services like Upwork and Microsourcing International, businesses of all sizes can afford to outsource. So, for more ease of mind, as well as a smoother, more efficient operation of your enterprise, here’s some tasks you could comfortably outsource:

1. Email Management

 Appointments, networking, calendar organization… These are all tedious tasks that take a significant amount of discipline. But keeping up with your network is crucial to your success. Now, you could be the most organized, most disciplined person in the world when it comes to this, but you can’t deny that it gets out of hand sometimes. The amount of information that is passed around in today’s world can sometimes just be too much for the regular business owner/manager to handle. So, outsourcing these tasks to a virtual assistant might be right for you. After all, you want to focus on developing and growing your business itself (especially if it’s a creative field), rather than worrying about missed emails or lost contacts.

2. Content Creation

Content creation for your blog or website is essential to your search engine optimization, regardless of the kind of company you’re running. However, writing is not everyone’s best forte. Also, content creation largely requires staying up-to-date with industry news from various viewpoints to product relevant content in turn. Many businesses see that outsourcing this task significantly raises their stature on the market over time, because it reflects their liveliness and ongoing progress. How many times have you been bummed when visiting an abandoned blog? That’s exactly the kind of feeling you don’t want to give to your potential leads.

3. Publicity and Social Media

For a long time, online publicity and social media managements were lodged under marketing. And while that might still be feasible for certain businesses, social media platforms are not getting any smaller. They are only growing in quantity and in size. Marketing employees should be concerned with holding down the fort when it comes to traditional marketing and upholding the company’s brand. However, running a social media account requires an understanding of the unique culture of every social media platform and intelligently placing the company’s brand in an integrated manner. It’s so easy to overdo it with social media marketing, potentially risking irreversible damage to your brand. This is where it might be wise to outsource this task, especially if your client type is the individual buyer.

4. Customer Service

The rise of the on-demand economy leaves it difficult for smaller businesses to manage customer service whilst also managing their services at large. Consider how easy it is for you to contact Uber’s personal customer service around the clock, or at least a trained bot from a smaller company. The traditional “our lines are open from 9AM to 5PM Monday through Friday” approach to customer service is becoming harder and harder to uphold – at least while remaining competitive. That’s why outsourcing customer service is essential not only to problem solving and attracting potential leads, but also for quality assurance given the expectations of the modern client.

5. Everyday Tasks

Things like cooking, laundry/dry-cleaning, or cleaning. I’ve seen this suggested on multiple blogs, and it might be a bit controversial. Personally, I think these tasks give you an embedded and needed break, and they give you the mental space to think creatively in other times. However, I know that several people simply do not have the time, particularly if they have families on top of their other responsibilities. Some end up pursuing unhealthy habits in place of cooking, for example. That’s more detrimental in the long term. So, if these tasks are taking a real toll on your life, or taking out of your quality time, then outsourcing them might be the right decision for you.

 

There are certainly many more tasks out there that you can outsource. This is meant to get you to consider potentially loosening your grip over a growing amount of responsibility, or to increase the efficiency of your business. Consider sharing your outsourcing opinions or experiences with us in the comments, we’d love to have a discussion.