What does it take to build a great company with the lowest possible risk?

Building, managing, and maintaining the ideal team around your business is a must if you want to succeed in what most people fail. That is to build a successful business. Outsourcing is a low-risk option to build a highly scalable business.

There are many advantages of outsourcing, here are some of the most important ones:

  • You can hire experts to complete specific tasks.
  • Frees you up to perform the tasks you can do the best.
  • You can quickly scale up or down if you need to.
  • It is easier to find a new outsource partner than to hire a new employee.
  • Outsourcing is normally less expensive.
  • Become more competitive. Outsourcing enables you to provide best of breed services with increased productivity. Your business will surpass competitors who fail to see the advantages of outsourcing.

Entrepreneurs outsource projects for several reasons:

  • They understand that they are not experts and everything.
  • Outsourcing offers a cheaper labor option.
  • It enables the entrepreneur to concentrate on crucial parts of the business.

The most commonly outsourced tasks are in the following areas:

  • Coding – programming, database development
  • Design – graphic design, branding, logo design, web design
  • Marketing – social media, PR
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  • Content development – copywriting, ghost writing, blog posting, technical writing, video and audio production and editing
  • Assistant – Virtual assistant, data entry, research
  • IT – server install and maintenance, network support
  • Manufacturing
  • Accounting – bookkeeping, tax filing
  • Legal – contracts
  • Customer support
  • Lead generation
  • Recruitment
  • Logistics
  • Fulfillment – order processing, shipping

When done for the right reasons and the right way, outsourcing will help your company grow faster while reducing risks.

Create a minimum viable product.

To attract investors and pre-sell your first few customers, you need to build a minimum viable product. Hire a team of coders to do the job.

Scale up fast.

Your company might land a large client, and you quickly need to increase the number of support staff. Outsource customer support.

Fake it till you make it.

It is important to have a real human being to answer your phone, but you can’t afford to hire a full-time receptionist. Hire a phone answering service.

Take on more clients.

You might have more clients than internal staff. This is especially helpful if your business is seasonal. Hire an outside team to help with the sudden surge in business.

Outsource entire departments.

Human resource is an important part of business, but it is less expensive to hire an outside vendor especially for small startups.

Use outsourcing as a training tool.

For example, your team might lack the necessary experience in a certain technology. Hire an outsourced professional to train your internal staff.

Run a 24/7 operation.

Your internal team might be too small to provide 24/7 support. Outsource to cover the hours your internal team is unavailable.

Run a less expensive operation.

You could hire a VA for a fraction of the cost.

Build a global team.

This is especially important if you are building a business with an international clientele. For example, if you have clients in Asia, it makes sense to hire support staff in the same region. They will be in the same time zone; they might speak the same language, etc.

Create a more affordable team.

Your small business might not be able to afford a top-notch talent, but you could hire one by the hour.

The following list is 257 business tasks that can be outsourced 257 tasks you can outsource now:

  1. 3D design.
  2. 3D modeling.
  3. 3D printing.
  4. Accounting.
  5. Accounts payable.
  6. Accounts receivable.
  7. Ad writing.
  8. Administrative assistance.
  9. Advertising placements.
  10. Affiliate banner design.
  11. Affiliate product research.
  12. Affiliate partner recruitment.
  13. Affiliate partner management.
  14. Affiliate program set up.
  15. Amazon web services management.
  16. Animation.
  17. Antitrust documents.
  18. Appointment setting/scheduling.
  19. Architecture.
  20. Article directory submissions.
  21. Article writing.
  22. Audio editing.
  23. Audio file distribution.
  24. Audio file promotion.
  25. Audio production.
  26. Autoresponder series writing.
  27. Brand reputation management.
  28. Branding design.
  29. Book layout.
  30. Book cover design.
  31. Brochure design.
  32. Book editing.
  33. Book ghostwriting.
  34. Book promotion.
  35. Bookkeeping.
  36. Budgeting & forecasting.
  37. Business analysis.
  38. Business planning.
  39. Business strategy.
  40. Benefits law.
  41. Benefits administration.
  42. Blog design.
  43. Blog installation.
  44. Blog maintenance.
  45. Blog promotion.
  46. Blog setup.
  47. Blog writing.
  48. CAD
  49. Classified ad submissions.
  50. Complaints management.
  51. Compliance management.
  52. Consumer protection.
  53. Content marketing.
  54. Content promotion.
  55. Contract law.
  56. Contracts.
  57. Conversion improvement.
  58. Copyright.
  59. Craigslist ad submissions.
  60. CRM implementation.
  61. Custom website design.
  62. Custom website programming.
  63. Customer satisfaction monitoring.
  64. Database administration.
  65. Data entry.
  66. Data mining.
  67. Demographic profiling.
  68. Desktop software development.
  69. Digg submissions.
  70. Direct marketing.
  71. Document formatting.
  72. Drupal installation, management, upgrades.
  73. DVD/CD duplication.
  74. eBay listing management.
  75. Editing.
  76. ERP implementation.
  77. Event planning.
  78. eZine article submission.
  79. Email filtering.
  80. Email marketing campaigns.
  81. Email marketing setup.
  82. Email whitelisting.
  83. Engineering.
  84. eBook writing, editing, design, and marketing.
  85. E-commerce setup.
  86. Employment law.
  87. Environmental law.
  88. Facebook page setup.
  89. Facebook marketing management.
  90. Facebook advertising management.
  91. FAQ writing.
  92. Financial forecasting.
  93. Financial management.
  94. Financial reporting.
  95. Financial services.
  96. Financial statements.
  97. Forensic accounting.
  98. Forum posting.
  99. Forum setup.
  100. Game development.
  101. General office help.
  102. Ghostwriting.
  103. Google Adsense setup.
  104. Google Adwords setup.
  105. Google Adwords management.
  106. Google Analytics setup.
  107. Google Places setup.
  108. Grants and proposals.
  109. Graphic design.
  110. HTML coding.
  111. Human resources.
  112. Illustrator.
  113. Image conversion.
  114. Immigration law.
  115. Insurance law.
  116. Intellectual property.
  117. International law.
  118. Internet research.
  119. Inventory management.
  120. Investment management.
  121. iPhone app development.
  122. iPhone app marketing.
  123. IT support.
  124. Job costing.
  125. Joint venture set up.
  126. Joomla setup, management, updating.
  127. Keyword optimization.
  128. Keyword research.
  129. Knowledgebase setup.
  130. Landing page design.
  131. Landing page copywriting.
  132. Landing page testing.
  133. Lead generation.
  134. Legal research.
  135. Legal transcription.
  136. Licensing.
  137. Litigation.
  138. Logo design.
  139. Live chat setup.
  140. Live chat management.
  141. Management consulting.
  142. Marketing.
  143. Marketing planning.
  144. Marketing strategy.
  145. Market research.
  146. Medical billing.
  147. Medical law.
  148. Microsoft Excel programming.
  149. Mobile application development.
  150. Mobile website setup.
  151. Multimedia development.
  152. Network support.
  153. Newsletter writing.
  154. Newsletter design.
  155. Non-Fiction writing.
  156. Office support.
  157. Offline marketing.
  158. Online marketing.
  159. Open source programming.
  160. Order fulfillment.
  161. Paralegal.
  162. Patent law.
  163. Pay Per Click (PPC) setup and management.
  164. PBX phone installation.
  165. Personal assistant.
  166. PHP programming.
  167. Phone support.
  168. Photography.
  169. Photo editing.
  170. Photoshop design.
  171. Pinterest setup and management.
  172. Plugin (WordPress) installation.
  173. Plugin (WordPress) programming.
  174. PowerPoint presentation design.
  175. Presentations.
  176. Press release writing.
  177. Press release submissions.
  178. Privacy policy writing.
  179. Product design.
  180. Product liability.
  181. Product review.
  182. Programming.
  183. Project management.
  184. Proofreading.
  185. PSD to HTML conversion.
  186. Public relations.
  187. Publicity.
  188. QA testing.
  189. Quickbook management.
  190. Records management.
  191. Refund processing.
  192. Repurposing content.
  193. Research.
  194. Sales.
  195. Sales letter writing.
  196. Sales management.
  197. Sales training.
  198. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
  199. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
  200. Scheduling.
  201. Script programming.
  202. Script installation and testing.
  203. Shopping cart installation and setup.
  204. Shopping cart management.
  205. Site security setup and management.
  206. Social bookmarking.
  207. Social Media Marketing (SMM).
  208. Social media account setup.
  209. Software development/programming.
  210. Software testing.
  211. Software upgrades.
  212. Sourcing suppliers.
  213. Speechwriting.
  214. Split testing.
  215. Spreadsheet setup and management.
  216. Squidoo setup and management.
  217. Subject matter experts.
  218. Survey setup and management.
  219. Tax law.
  220. Tax planning.
  221. Tax preparation.
  222. Technical support.
  223. Technical writing.
  224. Telemarketing.
  225. Telephone support.
  226. Trade law.
  227. Training.
  228. Transcription.
  229. Translation.
  230. Travel planning.
  231. Trust Estates Wills law.
  232. Twitter setup and management.
  233. Twitter marketing.
  234. User management.
  235. User training.
  236. Videography.
  237. Video editing.
  238. Video optimization.
  239. Video production.
  240. Video promotion/distribution.
  241. Virtual assistant.
  242. Virtual assistant hiring.
  243. Virtual assistant management.
  244. Voice talent.
  245. Voicemail greeting recording.
  246. Voicemail management.
  247. Web content writing.
  248. Website design.
  249. Web development.
  250. Website hosting.
  251. Website optimization.
  252. Web programming.
  253. Whitepaper writing.
  254. Whitepaper formatting and design.
  255. Word processing.
  256. Word document formatting.
  257. Word document template design.

 

A key requirement to build your business through outsourcing is systems. If you run your business by the seat of your pants, outsourcing is not the right solution for you. Your business is not yet ready. Your business is too chaotic.

photo credit: “Cualquiera puede diseñar” HCD Workshop via photopin (license)[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]