“I love the idea of outsourcing, but I’m scared to spend the money.”
“What if I hire the wrong person?”
“Argh, it’s so overwhelming! I just don’t know where to start.”
These are just a few of the oh-so-common blocks to outsourcing I hear from talented entrepreneurs like you all.the.time.
And yet, so many entrepreneurs actually (desperately) need more eyes and hands in their business.
Whether you’re overwhelmed (and barely able to catch your breath–let alone squeeze in your actual breathwork practice!) because you’re “doing it all,” you’re over trying to keep up with the ever-changing techy demands of an online biz or you just want to carve out more time to work on the “big picture” vision of your biz, one thing’s for sure: outsourcing is the way, my friend.
Trust me: When you outsource the right tasks, at the right time, to the right people, it can completely change the game for you. Everything from your efficiency to your profitability can blow up (in the good way). It’s utterly expansive for everyone involved, including the talented contractors and/or dreamy team members you hire.
But outsourcing–and seeing a positive return on your investment–does require an actual strategy.
That said, I know determining what tasks to delegate for the biggest ROI can be challenging. So, I’ve developed a mini-guide to help you (finally) decide exactly what to outsource. Let’s dive in!
Step 1. List All Your Tasks
I know, I know. You’re going to want to skip this part. But it’s imperative you get to know exactly what you’re spending your time right on right now.
Try this exercise: for one week, write down every single task you’re personally responsible for in your business and how long it takes you. Anything you put any personal touch on–from crafting landing pages or replying to client emails–should go on this list. (You don’t have to “do” the entire task, either – if you enter proposal information into a CRM but the CRM automatically sends the proposal and follows up, you still have to enter the info.–so write it down!) Use an iPhone timer or app like Clockify.io to make time-tracking a breeze.
Step 2. Decide Which Tasks You Want to “Keep”
Now we know what tasks you already personally tackle (and how much of your time they gobble up), it’s time to get ruthless about what stays on your list–and what goes.
What tasks do you personally need to touch? (Examples include private coaching calls, or signing client contracts)
Which tasks do you want to touch? (Maybe you actually love crafting social media posts, so you definitely don’t want to outsource content creation)
Which tasks do you want to touch, but don’t actually need to touch? (Pro tip: If something is taking you way longer than it’d take a contractor, but you enjoy it and/or it fuels you, then it’s your call about whether you hang onto it!)
What tasks do you want to outsource? In a perfect would, what would you love to get off your plate–even if right now it feels out of reach?
What tasks are repetitive, outside your zone-of-genius or just plain tedious?
Answering these questions should help you get to the heart of both what you want to outsource and what needs outsourced in order to free up your time & energy. Once you know what you definitely want or need to continue to tackle yourself, it’s time to consider outsourcing some (or all) the other pieces.
Most online business owners start by outsourcing their more general admin tasks to a virtual assistant. This might include tedious tasks like managing your calendar, email management, basic bookkeeping, social media scheduling, etc.
That said, if you find lots of tasks on your “don’t want to do” list fall into one specific category–like they’re all related to tech, like updating your website plug-ins or setting up landing pages or funnels–you might want to search for a more specialized contractor right off the bat (like a tech VA).
Step 3. Get Clear on All the Benefits
We’re talking ROI in this post, but there are truly many payoffs to outsourcing besides bigger paydays–no matter what you choose to outsource. Here are just a few:
– You’ll have more time to focus on core business activities. This is the “big picture” stuff that often gets pushed to the side, like strategic planning, product development or even more time for showing up on IG Live to engage potential new clients or customers. While you might not see an instant ROI on these activities, they’re essential to a thriving, sustainable business
– You’ll get better work, done faster. Specialists (and even generalists!) are often highly-skilled individuals with high standards for their work. Translation? They know what they’re doing–and they get it done fast. Just think about it: Instead of wasting 3 hours watching YouTube tutorials on Kajabi (and still not being able to figure out what the heck you’re doing wrong), you could just hire a Kajabi-knowledgable VA or Kajabi tech expert to do it for you in half the time. This not only leads to more free time, but it could also lead to a better customer experience and ultimately attract more clients (and money). (It also ensures the task actually gets crossed off your To Do List!)
– The “right” team members will bring their own innovative ideas to your business. As much as we’d like to think we know everything, once we let someone “inside the hood” of our business, they can often spot issues (and potential solutions) in ways we can’t see because we’re too close to the problem. This “second pair of eyes” can lead to innovative solutions for your business’ processes, products and so much more.
With all that in mid, go through every single task you’re thinking about outsourcing and note the benefits. If there is an actual cost benefit associated with the task – for example, you know you spend 1 hour a week scheduling social media posts and you charge $500 for a 1-hour coaching or strategy session – write that down, too.
Step 4. Price Out Contractors
Now you should have a good grasp on the benefits of outsourcing various tasks in your business. The next step? Figure out how much it would potentially cost you to outsource the specific task (or group of tasks).
You can do this by scoping out various contractors’ websites, listing a job on a marketplace like Upwork or simply asking around. Get at least a few different quotes or price listings.
Step 5. Do a Simple Cost/Benefit Analysis
Once you have a general idea how much outsourcing every task would cost, you should do a simple cost/benefit analysis. Not sure what that looks like? Here’s an example scenario:
Let’s consider an online business owner deciding whether to outsource their monthly content creation (four SEO-optimized blog posts).
Outsourcing benefits:
Access to professional writers’ specialized expertise (which in this case, could mean that the content converts better, or the SEO piece effortlessly drives more traffic to your website)
10+ hour time savings (This is where knowing how much time it takes you to do the task is key!)
Outsourcing costs:
Contractor price for specific task
“In-house” benefits:
Direct control over the content creation process
In-depth knowledge of brand voice (which means less back-and-forth requesting edits or revisions. You know what you like–and sound like!)
“In-house” costs:
10+ hours time to write blog posts (which means ten less hours to focus on clients, creating a new digital product, or anything else that’s currently important to your business growth)
Step 6. Choose What’s Most Beneficial (Now)
You don’t have to outsource everything at once and to be honest, I don’t recommend it. I started by outsourcing to a general VA first for just a few hours a month before going all in hiring other dreamy team members. It takes time to find the right people (not to mention at the right price) and figure out exactly what you need them to do for you. And your needs will change over time as your business evolves anyway.
All that said, the simple cost-benefit analysis exercise should show you where you’d get the most benefit – in terms of time, money and effectiveness – at least right now.
You can always decide to outsource more (or less) later. But if there’s something that would both potentially make you money and save you time, it should probably top your list of outsourcing priorities.
Step 7. Crunch the Numbers
Of course, if you could potentially make $5000 by booking 10 more coaching sessions a month at $500 a pop and the contractor costs $1500–it’s pretty much a no-brainer.
Again, though, it’s crucial to remember the decision isn’t always (just) about cost. Consider factors such as the general importance of the task, whether the task(s) need (or would benefit from) specialized skills, and any positive impact outsourcing would have on overall business efficiency–as well as your own time, flexibility and mental/physical health.
Step 8. Go with Your Gut!
Don’t get me wrong: Outsourcing–especially for the first time–can be intimidating. This is your hard-earned money you’re shelling out to someone you probably don’t know very well – and unfortunately, you can’t always predict the outcome.
However, if reading over the cost-benefit analysis for a specific task/group of tasks makes you let out a little sigh of relief, that’s a very good sign that outsourcing that task would benefit you and your business. (You won’t even miss it. I promise!)
Here’s to more freedom, flexibility and lots more revenue in your future!
