If you are an entrepreneur or a small business owner, you understand how valuable time is. One way to deal with a shortage of time is to outsource your everyday tasks so you can focus on more important parts of your business. As the saying goes — do what you do best and outsource the rest!

A common question faced by small business owners and entrepreneurs in this situation is ‘what kind of tasks can be outsourced?’ This article looks at the top ten tasks to outsource for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

1 — Bookkeeping
When small businesses fail, it’s often because of poor financial management – nothing deliberate, just lack of time and experience. Remote bookkeeping services are one of the best jobs to outsource because bookkeeping is so time-consuming – and because it needs to be done properly. By using virtual bookkeeping and invoicing services, business owners can save hours every week and feel confident that their financial affairs are being handled by a trained professional. You can also take advantage of other virtual services, like expenses management, and credit control outsourcing. All these financial task support offerings help you to focus on the bits of the business where you can have most impact.

2 — General admin tasks
Starting up your own business is both exciting and challenging. And one of the most common things we hear from new business owners is just how surprised they are by the vast amount of admin that they need to keep on top of. These tasks can take precious hours away from developing sales and delivering your product or service. So why not outsource your general admin tasks to free up your time? From using virtual secretary services to managing meeting preparation, you can get these tasks done efficiently and cost-effectively. This gives you the time to develop your business without getting distracted.

3 — Social media
Social media has become a critical marketing resource for businesses in the past 10-years.  It is an important way for businesses to engage with their customers, provide customer support and promote their products. Running a social media campaign can be very time-consuming – particularly when you’d rather be talking to customers, heading to networking meetings or planning key changes to your product or service.

That is why many businesses outsource to social media and marketing services.  It is easy to find a skilled social media marketing assistant who can run your entire campaign — ensuring it is a success.  When you do this, you’re getting the benefit of a team that understands the best social media platforms to use and the right ways to engage users. That helps to maintain your profile, while you get on with growing your business.

4 — Email and diary management
You would be surprised at how much time the average business person spends organising their diary and email inbox each day. When your business is growing, you need to be as efficient as possible, so you can focus on the most important tasks. Managing lots of emails dramatically eats into your time, and trying to keep track of your diary is equally time-limiting. That’s why diary and email management are some of the best jobs to outsource.

For example, an email virtual assistant can categorise emails by importance, reply to emails on your behalf, remove redundant emails and much more. They can save you hours each day and improve the outcomes for your business. And by having someone in charge of booking appointments, you can have an efficient, manageable diary that helps you get things done. Clients tell us that these are two of the best outsourcing services they’ve used.

5 — Marketing admin
Good marketing is essential to bringing customers to your door. But the admin involved in getting your campaign planned, off the ground and measured for results can take up a lot of your time. If you want to run an efficient marketing operation, why not think about outsourcing your marketing admin? Tasks like lead generation, content writing, market research, email marketing management and CRM management can all be handled by a dedicated resource, helping you plan and execute your marketing plan with all the support you need.

6 — Call handling
We know that not everyone loves being on the phone, and business owners often end up either putting off important calls or follow ups, or making calls but not getting the best results. If you want to outsource your everyday tasks effectively, finding someone to manage your call handling gives you a professional approach every time. It allows you to have a single number for all your calls, and gives you the confidence that calls will be handled wherever you are and whatever you’re doing.

You could also outsource telemarketing and appointment setting, giving you a professional presence in all your customer contacts – particularly useful for business owners who aren’t confident on the phone, or who need to make more of their time.

7 — Customer service
Good customer service is critical to encouraging repeat business, referrals and good quality customer relationships. Often, when you’re running your business single-handedly, maintaining expected customer service levels is tricky. That’s when business owners often choose to outsource customer services.

Customer calls, emails and social media messages can be picked up by a trained specialist who can represent your business professionally and responsively, helping you to deliver great customer service every day. Your outsource partner will know your business well enough to answer some questions directly, and refer others to you or your team so they can respond to your customer quickly and accurately.

8 — Sales admin
Businesses rely on sales. And sales increase when there’s a clear process in place to help customers move from enquiring to buying. From pre-sales information to post-sales customer support, you need to make a good impression at every stage, building relationships with your customers and delivering on their expectations.

From telemarketing to generating proposals, outsourcing your sales admin can take away a significant burden, allowing you to concentrate on making those sales count. Think about:

• Outsourced appointment setting
• A virtual assistant for lead generation projects
• Proposal preparation and follow up

9 — Travel Planning
Small business owners and entrepreneurs often spend a lot of time traveling. That means they also spend a lot of time online, finding the best deals on hotel rooms and flights — too much time!

Business travel planning is one of the best jobs to outsource because it can save you time and money.  A travel planning virtual assistant can spend the time necessary to find the best deals and save you thousands on travel costs each year. One less thing for you to worry about.

10 — Event management
Events can be a great way to bring customers and potential customers together, giving you the opportunity to present your business face-to-face and deliver great value. From seminars to networking, live events can be a great way to get your business in front of the right people.

But organising events is time-consuming, particularly if it’s out of your experience or comfort zone. So think about outsourcing event management to and event planning virtual assistant – someone who can get on with calling and booking venues, organizing invitations and replies, and even managing things on the day. It’s the easy way to make sure your events are a success.

We hope that you enjoyed reading “Top ten tasks to outsource for small business and entrepreneurs”!  If you would like more information about our virtual business assistant services, please call us on 0800 994 9016 or click here.

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