Outsource! If Not, Which Hat Would You Like To You Wear Today?
Say the word outsource and many people new to internet marketing run for the hills. It’s really because it’s not understood the importance of what it can do for you.
Running your online business does require wearing different hats
…and a lot of times you will have to wear these hats at the same time. Often people are swayed into believing that they can sit at their desk behind their cute little computer, punch a few buttons and money will mysteriously come flying out of their PC. I know it’s not portrayed quite that simple, but you know what I mean.
That portrayal or fantasy is what leads people in a straight line to failure. They walk into the arena with these visions of grandeur dancing in their heads of money falling from the sky. They don’t see reality again until their pockets are empty. Sad but true. Speaking of the truth, let’s run through a quick list of titles, or hats, you might have to wear in your online business:
- Sole Decision Maker
- Bookkeeper
- Legal Clerk
- IT Specialist
- Sales and Marketing Representative
- Customer Service Representative
- Graphics Designer
- Web Master
- Researcher
Whew! Those are really a lot of hats, and they are all mine? Yep they are, and these or many more may be required for your business.
Any one of those roles, if not done by you, would harm your business by NOT doing it.
When you start becoming more successful, you will find that these roles and tasks are becoming cumbersome (not that they won’t be before then) and you won’t have enough time to do them all. But, right now if you just learn the roles, and what’s required of them, it will help you in the future.
That’s because you will have to learn to outsource some of your tasks and projects. Once you know and understand the requirements of the role, you will be in a better position to state exactly what you need and evaluate whomever you will hire.
You are only one person, probably working full time like me, and working as hard as you can to get your business to achieve your financial goals.
If you continue to perform all of these roles, you will become a “Jack of all trades and Master of none“.
You will not have developed the expertise in the area that is destined for you. You will also waste a lot of time and incur the same expenses or more than if you would have simply outsourced the task.
Let me give you an example of what I mean. I was trying to create some graphics for one of my products. I teetered around with these graphics for almost a month. I just couldn’t get them to look like I wanted them to.
I searched for answers, researched forums, and tried to gather as much information as possible about these graphics. Well one day I was talking to some friends about this dilemma I was having, and they asked me “Why don’t you just outsource it, I know a really good graphics designer?”
Hmmm, I thought well I don’t have the money to pay for a graphics designer. My friends said well just go ahead and spend another month trying to figure out what to do on your own. Then I started thinking, I’ve already wasted a month and have gotten nowhere. What can I lose by getting a quote.
So I bit the bullet and contacted the graphic designer. I was quoted $100 and a turnaround of two days because he was working on another project. Well I jumped on that immediately. I wound up getting the graphics back the next day instead of two days.
Think about the money I lost for not doing this sooner. How much money could I have made if I would have just outsourced this earlier and focused my attention on the making money part of my business?
You need to understand how and when outsourcing will benefit you. It doesn’t have to be a scary or nail biting situation. You just need to embrace it and learn about it just as you’ve learned about everything else.
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5 Responses to “Outsource! If Not, Which Hat Would You Like To You Wear Today?”
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Many times I have felt so overwhelmed by web design projects that I would have loved to outsource some of the work. But…I always end up doing stuff myself (even if I have to learn how to do it). You make a good point about losing more money by wasting time and not outsourcing. I think I’ll take a serious look at that. Great Article!
Freddy Rodriguez’s last blog post..High Quality Wood Textures for Your Web Design
You are right on the money with this article. I wouldn’t outsource anything for a very long time. This started out being because I really didn’t have the funds as I was building my new business but then it became more of a control issue. I couldn’t let go of things and let others do their jobs. I ended up stressed out and not accomplishing nearly as much as I could have for a long time. Now that I have learned to let go on some of the tasks, I actually make more money than ever and am much more relaxed about it.
Hey Freddy, I think that we also have a tendency to think that only “we” can do a certain job the best…especially when it is our baby so to say. That’s the emotional side of us and not the business side. The business would say get it done fast and as cheap as possible (considering quality a factor). I guess that’s why I’ve heard so many times that emotions should be put on hold in business
But that is certainly easier said than done!
Yep, we have to learn to let go…that’s one of the interesting facts about this whole situation. If you let go, you can concentrate on the real activities that produce money. After all, isn’t that the final goal?
I think you are right. How the word effects people depends on who is reading the word. I know that there are many people that have a problem with companies outsourcing to foreign countries, because they feel they are losing business.
But since this is not what is being talked about it I will leave that as it is. I understand that a company needs to determine which is most cost effective, to have an internal team that do the work or have an outside company do the work. I think for the business aspect of many people online, that having someone else do the work while you reap the benefits is the way to go.