For a small business, outsourcing can seem like a big expense. But can you afford to ignore it? Knowing what to outsource and when will put you on the fast track to success.

Here are the main benefits of outsourcing the right business functions at the right time.

• Save time: Outsourcing will free you up to focus on core business areas where your personal input matters.

• Cut complexity: The more tasks you outsource to other qualified professionals, the less complex your organisation will be. You’ll spend less time on hiring, payroll, strategy, training, and other chores of in-house management.
  
• Access excellence: with outsourcing, you can access expertise in any business are, so you don’t have to become an expert in everything

• Cut costs: Outsourcing can easily pay for itself, as you’ll save time and costly mistakes and free up your in-house staff to focus on what they do best.

Signs that it’s time to outsource an activity

Don’t waste money outsourcing activities that are better kept in-house. Look for these signs to recognise when you’ll benefit from outside help:

1. No time to strategise

If you’re too busy fighting fires and pushing paperwork to focus on the big picture, your creativity and innovation will suffer–and you’re not even likely to do a good job on the admin tasks that are eating so much of your time.

Ask yourself honestly if you have time to work on business strategy. If not, that’s a major sign that you need to outsource some activities.

2. Your company is growing

Times of rapid growth can be overwhelming. If you’re scaling up so fast that you feel overstretched, and things that used to be manageable now feel too big to handle, you need to outsource those areas sooner rather than later.

3. It’s not your area

One of the easiest ways to spot outsource-able business functions is to ask yourself which functions are essential to your business but have nothing to do with your area of expertise. Examples might be marketing, accounting or IT. If you don’t specialise in it, someone out there does–and it may be time to let them handle it.

There are many reasons to outsource a business function–the important thing is to be willing to look honestly at your business and work out which areas would be best handled by other professionals. When you can do that, you’ll be ready to reap the rewards of outsourcing.