Outsourcing is one of the best ways to create time there is as it allows you – both at home and in your business – the ability to focus on your own core competencies while delegating non-core tasks to specialized and in most cases more efficient external providers. It also saves even more time from having to train in-house staff and can give you greater access to a wider pool of expertise and for your business, remain competitive by time leveraging. Online services such as Fiverr and Upwork have revolutionized the way we can now hire externally for a fraction of the price you would pay to hire in-house staff by the use of Freelancers. A true win-win. It is definitely one of my fave ways to free up time both at home and in my business. Today I thought I would share a few of my pros and cons.
Pro: The time you save in being able to delegate a task that perhaps you may not necessarily be good at or enjoy doing. For instance, cleaning, ironing, gardening, social media posting.
Con: Loss of creative control of your social media accounts and even the way you like your house to be cleaned. Let’s be honest, with cleaners, there isn’t a lot of money in it and very few will take pride in their work in the same way you are homeproud. We’ve been through 8 cleaners in 8 years’. Most we have found just don’t make any money out of it and end up quitting to go do something else. And very rarely will anyone post anything on your social media precisely the way you want it. Sometimes you have to just trust the process with these things.
Pro: Improved access to more efficient and the newest technological advances.
Con: You may actually need to pay a little more than what you had initially intended and I guess it’s up to you as to whether or not you feel it’s worth it. Same old story – time versus money.
Pro: Able to expand your business by spreading the workload.
Con: Again, this costs money and you need to very carefully assess whether or not your business is generating at the level required to move to this next step. Don’t make this decision alone. I made the mistake of hiring additional staff way too early and what ended up happening was that I discovered I didn’t really need them and spent way more money than I needed or wanted to and had to let them go. And that’s never a good feeling.
It’s challenging I realize when you’re super stressed to think clearly about practically anything. I get it! But what you can do is re-focus to lighten your load. These days’ more than ever before, we are taking on way more and we need not. Lighten the load! Look for opportunities to delegate – because they are there. And one of the most important words in the English language is “no”. Never be afraid to say no to something if you feel it’s not a priority for you or your family. Clearing clutter is an absolutely amazing strategy in alleviating stress – and this means clutter in our schedules too. It’s important to recognize when we have taken on too much and allow ourselves the space to let go of an obligation or two.
I encourage you to sit down and make a list of all of the things you don’t like doing – both at home and in your business – and things you know you could utilize the services of a Freelancer to free up more of your time to work on your creative genius. This is your most important work and if you are focussing the great majority of your time on admin, marketing, social media, IT, SEO just as examples, then maybe it’s time to consider heading over to Upwork or Fiverr or a simple Google search to see who may best assist you. I’ve been working with the same VA from the Philippines for nearly 8 years’ now and we have a beautiful and synergistic relationship. I feel good knowing that the money I pay her makes a massive difference in her life and it works fantastically well for me as I pay her a fraction of what I would pay if I hired a local PA/Secretary to come to my office every day. I set clear boundaries and she now knows very well how I work and it works really well for me. I did spend a considerable amount of time and interviewed many in order to find her, but it was worth the initial time spent as it has saved me a huge amount of time and money over the longer term. And that is precisely how you need to look at it. If you love cleaning your own toilets, great. For me, no thank you and I am more than happy to pay someone else to do that. Someone who is probably way better at it than me too. I would rather spend that time with my family. And that is how you need to look at it. Sometimes just a simple post in your local FB Group can uncover all sorts of hidden talents local people have who can assist you with all manner of tasks. Be willing to let some stuff go in order to create more time to spend doing what you love with who you love. What could be more important than that?