Your business is an extension of you. It has your ethos and values embedded in its very core. Every transaction, every customer interaction and every element of your branding reflect who you are and what you stand for. Thus, it’s likely that you’re a strong advocate of the personal touch. You want your customers to be dealt with exactly as if you were to deal with them yourself. That’s why you take such care to recruit the right employees and train them to such exacting standards. That said… You’re only human! As your business grows it becomes increasingly difficult to exert the personal level of control that you’d like over every aspect of your business.
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Thus, the entrepreneur is faced with a specific dilemma. Do they carry on stretching themselves incrementally thinner and thinner as their business grows, or do they outsource certain facets to a trustworthy service provider? While outsourcing may (on paper) be anathema for you and your business style, but it may be a lifeline for your business. Any of these areas are useful places to consider outsourcing without compromising the idiosyncratic nature of your business.
Call answering
Many entrepreneurs may be touchy about outsourcing their call answering. After all, it’s the first point of contact for many customers and clients. However, outsourcing the receiving of incoming calls enables your employees to use their time optimally while capturing more leads even outside of your regular office hours. Look at Answering Legal, for example, a dedicated 24/7 live answering service exclusive to the legal trade. They have a fully bilingual team who can customize their service to suit the needs of any law firm. Imagine how your business could benefit from an equivalent service!
Digital Marketing
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We live in the age of social media, thus it’s no surprise that many digitally savvy entrepreneurs feel that they can manage their own digital marketing. Just because you can, however, doesn’t mean you should. Most entrepreneurs have so many plates to spin that they find they have far less time than they may have anticipated to develop a cohesive marketing strategy.
The simple fact is that there’s always going to be something more deserving of your time and attention and even with the best of intentions your marketing strategy will suffer if you spread yourself too thin even if you have made a landing page that’s worthy of a top tier marketing agency. Outsourcing your digital marketing to an external agency will enable you to establish a strategy over 3, 6 and 12 month increments, while adapting to industry trends and consumer demand. While the inherent costs may be off-putting for entrepreneurs who like to keep a close eye on their overheads, it’s worth remembering that digital marketing costs yield an average return:investment ratio of 5:1.
IT Service
Hiring a cohort of technically literate employees is all well and good, but it’s no substitute for dedicated IT support. While you may have used managed IT services to build your digital infrastructure, keeping them on to maintain your digital network allows you to go about your operational business with the peace of mind of knowing that your IT is in the care of knowledgeable and experienced professionals, insulating you from potential risks to your cyber security.
