Growing Your Business on a Small Budget: Outsourcing

In the current climate, there is a lot of buzz around the best ways start-ups can save both time and money. While you can follow the latest advice, there is one surefire way your business can be cost-effective and timesaving: outsourcing. Outsource all non-essential tasks and tasks that you would rather avoid to talented freelancers, so you can focus on what you’re best at, win-win!

The Key to Outsourcing

Outsourcing can often get a bad rep but the key to successful outsourcing is to make the process seamless. Your customers shouldn’t be able to identify the difference between a freelancer’s work and your own.

But what can, or should, you outsource?

Marketing and Copywriting

Hiring a freelance writer may seem daunting, but the internet makes it all incredibly easy! You can find amazing writers on freelance job boards and even in Facebook Groups. Reach out to the writers who you think would be a great fit for your business and ask them for writing samples and their rate. Then, hire them to write a test article to see for yourself!

Top Tip: Provide your new potential writer with a style guide. Include the company’s name, mission statement, branded copy, examples of preferred style, and any phrases/keywords that you like to avoid.

Graphic Design

Your business is going to need a knock-out website, branding, and marketing materials. You can always learn Photoshop skills, but this will take your time away from devoting to other crucial tasks. Why not check places such as Fiverr or Upwork? Find an expert and let them turn your vision into reality!

Top Tip: Before creating any branding for your business, check out your competitors. Get an idea of the online visual landscape and decide on the direction of your brand. If every business in your field looks similar, figure out why and decide if you want to follow suit or be unique.

Virtual Receptionists

Hiring a virtual receptionist, or call answering service, is a smart business move for small and large businesses alike. A virtual receptionist can do everything that a traditional in-house receptionist can do, but for a fraction of the cost. A phone line is crucial to the day-to-day running of your business and it’s imperative that your customers can reach a live person. However, it’s just not realistic for you to try and answer every call, without it impacting your productivity.

Bookkeeping

Bookkeeping must be one of the most unpopular administrative tasks for small business owners. It can be quite a stressful task and a nightmare if any step is done incorrectly. While you need to be at point with the figures, let someone else crunch the numbers! Keep ahead of the competition by utilising freelancers and using a call answering service, so you can focus on making your business the best it can be. Here at Pocket Receptionist, we understand small business. Helping our customer’s businesses thrive while we handle their inbound calls is our top priority. This means we can: