Feb
2
2010
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You may probably ask yourself, “How can I outsource if I’m still starting up?” Well, there’s already the answer to that. The reason is when you are running a small business, you are the jack-of-all-trades where you play as the worker, manager and even the administrator all by yourself. Additionally, the more tasks you do on your own, the lesser it is to maintain the productivity of the work done and in effect, less efficient results to maintain greater profits in the near future.
Do Smart Business Owners Ask For Help?
Yes, they do and everyone should realize there would always reasons to seek help to expand expertise and opportunities. For me, I admit I’ve been through all the hassles of handling things by myself but since I have started outsourcing say, my Dragonboat business, I’ve had the best relief of having the chance to communicate with the suppliers and plan ahead of time to develop my Dragonboat service while my customer support staff stays responsible in answering queries, processing orders and payments as well.
If you’re thinking I’ve been spending too much as a start, no! Generally I’ve decided to outsource since it’s just a cheaper part of investment overseas while receiving a high quality of work in less time and effort. Now, let me show you how I’ve been able to realize that outsourcing while starting up really works:
What to Outsource?
Get to this mindset: Think of the things that you’ve done during the day and what actually gets done in the long run when you outsource it. I’ll draw an example to make this easy – emails for instance has always been part of your daily routines in the business and if you thought you have always checked on the new ones, then try to realize how your virtual staff can even filter, organize and respond to them in less time in daily basis. See? That’s a big break. Start to outsource anything that goes around a routine which cuts off at least 2 hours of your day administering to friends, customers and the likes.
When to Outsource?
There are just two things: when you know everything that has to be outsourced and when you know nothing about the tasks that you are currently outsourcing. As I said earlier, outsourcing can help you maximize the expertise in the business through the expanded efforts of your virtual staff all done at the same time. When you’re not good at graphic design for example, let an expert do that for you then it’s up for you to decide on a good, better and best outputs. Secondly, you can outsource the things in which you already are good at to give your virtual staff the right information and get things done the way you wanted. Also, checking on minimal errors on your part can be a lot easier than to implement the whole project yourself.
Why to Outsource?
It’s simply because you can do other things outside of your business but can think of more ways on how to increase profits as well. Outsourcing gives you enough time to plan, draw more targets and set better strategies for your earnings. Thus, the less work you do, the more it frees up your mind to activate your plans, grow profits easier and also enjoy the rest of your weekends.
Where to Outsource?
Since I hired my virtual staff in the Philippines, I can say I’ve never had any issue with their work yet because if there are problems coming in, they’ll be able to honestly inform me beforehand about it to prevent wasting time. Also, there are no culture barriers so they can easily cope up to my approach, understand my instructions, and be more productive of their time effectively. Not only that they’re really are the most cost-effective, but also they are the ones that you should be working with full time through their best efforts. If you want to hire staff from the Philippines, take a look at these two websites: Bestjobs.ph and Onlinejobs.ph which I highly recommend for quality resumes.
How to Outsource?
Definitely, you cannot automate the work if you don’t have someone who can do it for you. Hire your first virtual staff by starting to target on small yet repetitive and essential roots of the business to be completed throughout the day – someone to handle your administrative tasks from customer service, checking your email, and all the data entry which free up enough time for you to prepare their training videos useful for their other routine tasks in the future.
Another thing is to train them in a direct, easy and efficient way through the use of tutorial videos. Visually, it’s a way better for them to follow when they see how the instructions are applied “live” and that way, they can always view and review it if there’s something that they’re missing. Some of your time will be spent creating these videos at first but once they’ve learned through all your systems, you can just sit back and see how they’re applying your concepts.
I use both Jing and Screenflow for easy recording. Jing Project is a way easier tool that allows you to capture what you want to say with a picture or a video instantly and you can download it free. Although if you like it much advanced, you can also download Screenflow to do screen captures and share multimedia presentations in HD quality training.
The Better Small Business Mindset
Indeed, every business starts small but not all small businesses do endure better results and grow even more profits if they are managed alone. Outsourcing your team is a whole new way to advance from these basic steps with your business to possibly do “everything” that gets to be done than only finishing those you can do for the rest of the days. Save those free days to plan ahead, enjoy personal time and just let the great results onto your doorsteps.
Tyrone Shum
Small Business Owner
Real Glass cookware
Feb 2nd, 2010
Arent small businesses what drive the economy in the end? Im not big enough to outsource production or sell internationally, so im keeping the money in the us, helping the economy, yet it seems like the IRS is just waiting to get a piece of me and my business. From what i understand big corporations get way more exemptions. What is the logic behind this?
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Briefcases
Feb 4th, 2010
Outsourcing in the starting up phase of a business can be challenging. When you think you can do everything yourself, it is tough to justify investing money. I’ve been gradually getting into outsourcing, but I simply do not have the budget to do this on the scale that I would prefer. I think I really need to analyze my business with the 80/20 rule in mind and see what profit related tasks I can outsource to build up a better budget.
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Craig Dewe
Feb 4th, 2010
I used to be a person who thought I have to do everything myself. I heard all about this outsourcing thing and wondered whether I should make the investment in staff or the risk of having people rely on me.
Starting Tyrone’s Mass Outsource course showed me how important it was to outsource and I quickly had 2 staff working for me. And I must say the results are incredible. Now instead of being bogged down by the day-to-day grind (which is quite unmotivating) I get to focus on the fun stuff to grow my business.
And I’ve been amazed at the results my staff produce… I actually had a problem when I started because one of my outsourcers was literally too efficient. I’d set tasks I think would take a few days and she’d be back in a few hours asking for more work. Obviously this works out great now I’m better organised and have released even more work into her hands.
If you’re thinking about outsourcing just bite the bullet and do it… the investment (especially in the Philippines) is tiny compared to the results.
Thanks Tyrone for showing me how a real business should run!
Craig
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Tyrone Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 8:54 am
Hi Craig,
Thanks for the great testimonial and I am very honored to have helped you achieve the results you are getting. It’s amazing when you can find excellent staff who just gets the work done much faster!
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Jeric
Feb 4th, 2010
@Briefcases:
Have you checked Tyrone’s “Secrets of Outsourcing Experts Revealed” report? I found a lot of gems inside. Plus some insights on how the experts think of their businesses with regards to outsourcing.
@Real Glass cookware:
I think that outsourcing is an inevitable trend for business both online and offline. It’s a way of making businesses more efficient and benefits the consumers in the long run. I do believe also that running a business helps the economy of a country.
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Briefcases
Feb 5th, 2010
No unfortunately I have not got around to reading Tyrone’s outsourcing secrets report. Tyrone provides so much great information on his blog that I often forget that he also has a full report all about outsourcing. He has at least helped open my eyes to see that outsourcing is the key to effectively managing a small business. So now it’s just a matter of implementing it more.
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Tweets that mention How To Outsource Your Small Business In 5 Ways : Internet Business Podcasts | Internet Business Profit Resources | Weekly Business Expert Podcasts -- Topsy.com
Feb 6th, 2010
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Tyrone Shum 【ツ】 and Tyrone Shum 【ツ】, Lance Nelson. Lance Nelson said: RT @tyroneshum: How To Outsource Your Small Business In 5 Ways http://bit.ly/bpY8DC [...]
boxing bags
Feb 10th, 2010
Great article as always – I am nervous on outsourcing most of my business except for article creation
Any tips on how I can put trust in others for day to day operations of my business – processing orders, handling money etc
thanks
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organize
Feb 16th, 2010
its good article thank you
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infoproservice
Feb 18th, 2010
Some ideas come to my mind like start some Internet or ebay business and trust on the wholesalers or dropshippers.
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Revizyon ile Organize
Feb 19th, 2010
A interesting idea outsource project to small business firm. Good article and i like it my friend. Thank you.
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Tom
Feb 19th, 2010
When I started my business I did everything and I thought it will cost me more if I outsource. Then came the time when I had no idea about taxes and accounting, so I hired an on-call accountant. Next thing I knew was that he saved me more money than what he cost. So, I started outsourcing more and more. Every time I hired somebody, it turned out that my business had more money for something else. Today, I’m at a point where I either do the consulting itself, the project management, or anything else I truly enjoy doing. I can only recommend to anybody when they start a business to start working with other people.
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how to start a blog
Feb 20th, 2010
Bestjobs.ph does not allow US based employers – do you have an alternative?
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Tyrone Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 am
Hi How to start a Blog,
When you subscribe to my massoutsource.com/report/ you will get access to bestjobs.ph.
Give that a go first and let me know how you go?
Thanks.
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matbaacilik
Feb 23rd, 2010
Read the article. Very well written. Was very useful article. Thanks
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First Search Consultancy
Feb 23rd, 2010
Nice article….keep on posting such useful things…
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used tires
Mar 9th, 2010
What and when to outsource are the two biggest quandries I always keep facing. Experience is definitely a key factor but keeping up with the market is just as important.
Till then,
Jean
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