As a business owner, you have a long list of responsibilities and tasks you need to be on top of. But there are some things that you simply don’t have the time, expertise or money for.
An important lesson successful business owners learn sooner or later is that turning to a helping hand at the right time can make a big difference. Most businesses outsource certain business tasks to reduce the chances of making a critical mistake, save time and refocus their attention on their core business.
If you’re not doing the following small business outsourcing, it might be time to consider it.
Building a website for your business
Every business needs a website, regardless of industry. Your online presence is likely the first impression potential customers will have of your company. Make sure it’s a good first impression by having a website that is informative, easy to navigate and attractive. If you’re unsure of where to begin on that front, it’s best to turn to a web development pro.
Web design isn’t a skill you can master in a day. Learning the basics of HTML, JavaScript and CSS, the three programming languages essential in building a functional website, isn’t easy. As such, this is a task that’s better handed off to a developer adept in these languages, Business News Daily wrote.
“A new business owner should never invest all of their time ensuring the HTML, JavaScript and CSS are integrated correctly,” explained Lisa Chu, owner of Black N Bianco, a kids’ formal wear retailer. “It’s very time-consuming, and your morale will be dead by the time you have a working website. Outsourcing your website design and development is the best option because it will cost you a lot less than hiring from your local website design firm.”
Maintaining your website
Once your website is built, the work on it still isn’t done. Systems are constantly being updated, and if your website’s structure goes untouched for years, it’ll fall behind the times. It’s crucial to keep your site updated on the latest trends and systems updates to keep it working efficiently. Outsourcing this task to someone who is always up to date on the latest web design changes will help keep your site current.
Payroll and taxes
Getting payroll right is critical. Your employees and any contractors anticipate their paychecks to come on schedule and with no errors. Further, the IRS expects small business owners to take every measure possible to correctly pay taxes to the right government entities.
But the truth of the matter is, payroll is hard and tax codes are complicated. It’s not unheard of for a small business owner to make a mistake. In fact, more than $2 billion in fines were issued among small business owners, the IRS reported.
Payroll and tax mistakes can be detrimental to your business. Don’t take chances. Leave your payroll tasks to someone who has dedicated their career to learning payroll best practices and tax code.
Cybersecurity
Underestimating the danger of hackers is a mistake no business owner should make. Size of an organization isn’t a big concern to criminals. In 2015, 65 percent of spear-phishing attacks were aimed at small- and mid-sized businesses, according to data from Symantec.
Like website systems and best practices, cybersecurity is something that is constantly in flux. Coders work hard to improve online security, while hackers are close on their heels, trying to pick every lock they encounter. Letting yourself fall behind means having outdated locks that can easily be picked by an up-to-date hacker.
Even if your IT service provider says your data is safely tucked away, get a second opinion from a cybersecurity professional. Any time your business’s data or customers’ information is at risk, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Many entrepreneurs know how to tackle tough projects and learn all they can to accomplish a task. But it’s important to distinguish between the tasks that you should do yourself and those that are best handed off to someone with a bit more experience. Not only will you save yourself the time and frustration of learning complicated processes, but you’ll also make your business stronger in the long run.
