6 Steps to Save Money in Your Online Business by Outsourcing

Far too often solopreneurs try to do everything themselves in their business. There is a misguided train of thought that if you do all the work yourself you are saving money. The fact is you may be costing yourself and your business if you try to be a "Jack/Jill of all trades".

Granted, when we first start out, it may be necessary to do many tasks that at some point we will be able to afford to outsource.

A primary reason not to do everything yourself is there are some things you are really not qualified to do. For example, I do no design work in my company. None! The reason is, I am not a designer, and I know the importance of presenting a professional image.

Those of us who make our living by way of the Internet do outsource. The best part of all is the number of outsourcing resources available. Your choices of who to work with are plentiful.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the average small business owner spends up to 40% of his or her time on routine administrative tasks. Constantly working on non revenue-producing tasks that could be more productively and cost-effectively performed by a highly skilled, knowledgeable assistant is losing your business significant income.

As you grow your business, it will be necessary to consider outside help also known as outsourcing.

Outsourcing is where you hire someone, usually in a contracted position, to perform specific tasks for you, your company and/or your clients.

Steps in determining what to outsource

Step 1: Determine what tasks are taking up a considerable amount of your time or you are simply not qualified to do, such as article distribution, transcribing, bookkeeping, social marketing, etc.

Step 2: Determine how much time you use for each task.

Step 3: Determine what you will do with the time that has been freed up from outsourcing.

Step 4: Determine the tasks which cannot be outsourced. For example, highly confidential information may not be something you can outsource. Or things that you are most qualified to do, such as host a teleseminar. Not everything can be outsourced.

Step 5: Prioritize the tasks. When you first outsource, avoid giving too much responsibility the first time you outsource to someone unless they come very, very highly recommended.

Step 6: Assuming you have someone you outsource to, write either a daily or weekly task list if appropriate.

Take the steps to outsource and you will find your business able to grow.