Outsourcing Benefits: Part 2 – Getting The Most From Your Outsourcer
In Part 1 I touched on building a great relationship with your outsourcing contractor. In fact, this is where hiring a regular outsourcing contractor such as a VA becomes more than the sum of her parts! (Gee, that sounded a bit indelicate, but I hope you know what I mean!)
What do I mean? Well, a true VA – while she is an independent businesswoman, with more than one client – will help you feed and nurture your business. She’ll have a strong interest in seeing it thrive, and she’ll take almost as much pride in it as you will. Hiring a VA with this approach will create other benefits:
1. You’ll be able to truly delegate, handing over the reins with relief! Not the reins to your whole business, of course – but to those areas that suck your energy dry, and don’t make you money! You’ll have the confidence of knowing that she’s thinking on her feet and is far more likely to catch errors in the areas she’s responsible for than you are!
2. You won’t have to worry about and spend endless hours dealing with the “weak spot” she’s filling any more. If you’ve hired her knowing exactly what you need her for and why, she will boost your productivity and help your business flow more smoothly. The two of you will create a dynamic team, building confidence in your clients or customers.
3. She’ll generate more income for you. By taking care of tasks you’d spend hours struggling through – hours you really can’t justify billing your clients for – she’s freeing you up to get on with your money-making tasks. In short, you’ll be making double the money, because you’re putting in more hours on billable stuff – with less work!
4. You’ll have someone to bounce ideas off. True brainstorming can open you up to possibilities you may never have even considered! And if she’s in tune with your business values and goals, you’ll soon start noticing that the tiny percentage of “keeper” ideas you both come up with often hit the “brilliant” range. (If you’re trying to think up ideas all by yourself, you’ll be more likely to miss opportunities by falling back on old patterns of thinking.)
5. VA’s and other outsourcing contractors come in all shapes and sizes. That is, their skills, talents and specialties do! There is a vast pool to fish in out there, and you can find one that fits your business needs perfectly. Especially if you take the time to identify your specific problems that need solving, and choose a specialist in that area.
Of course, it’s absolutely crucial to know how to choose properly, so that you don’t end up repeating past hiring mistakes, or even simply getting the wrong fit (and realizing it later!) .