Do What You Do Best and Outsource the Rest

Posted 05 November 2013 in Leadership

For most of us, our main goal at home is to maintain loving relationships in a warm, comfortable living space. But by spending time and energy working on the living space, we lose precious time to focus on the relationships.

If you calculated how much time you or your partner spent cleaning, or how much stress it cost to let the mess build up, you would probably hire a housekeeper the very next day.

That's why outsourcing makes so much sense -- we get to do what we do best (and love to do the most), and outsource the rest.

And that's also why leaders and coaches recognize the need to spend more time perfecting their area of specialization and building better relationships -- and less time on administrative and business processes that are more generic.

Rationale for Outsourcing

Outsourcing can maximize the efficiency of all of your resources -- people, time, money and energy -- because you can focus on the primary purpose of your business and use your unique skill sets. In the meantime, other people with different primary purposes and skill sets (e.g., admin, accounting, human resources or information technology) can do what THEY do best. It's a win-win situation for everyone.

As well, the resulting ability to be laser-focused on your specialization enhances and increases your credibility, and you become more attractive to people who are looking for the precise solution that you offer.

An Outsourcing Attitude

Outsourcing requires an attitude shift and a willingness to surrender some control. It can feel uncomfortable at first, and that's what leaves some people stuck at the same level year after year.

Examine your hesitation; what are your concerns about outsourcing? Here are some common objections:

Reputation. A worry what their customers, clients, staff and other stakeholders will think about their decision to outsource. You may also be concerned that the outside specialist or colleague will make some error that will harm your reputation or won't do it 'your way'.

Security. You may not be sure how to protect your intellectual property and other key data from fraud, tampering and other damage.

With each of these concerns and any others you may have, spend a moment to answer the question, 'What do I need to check out before I outsource CYZ?' - then, "What's the worst thing that could happen if I outsourced?" and then ask, "If that happened, then what?"

It can help to express catastrophic worries to see if they're valid. Many have outsourced successfully and made mistakes that you can learn from. Do your research and put your concerns to rest.

How to Start Outsourcing

Look at where you are being diverted from the main focus of your business. What's draining you or your staff? Is it administrative tasks, technical support, accounting, human resources, IT or something else?

Start small and grow from there. Test the outsourcing process before launching ahead. Keep in mind that someone still needs to manage the process for the outside specialists. The process may take some time and experimentation to perfect. Initially, it may seem that it's taking more time than you're saving. Learn from these early efforts and use them to craft process maps to follow as you grow your outsourcing strategy.

Understand what your needs are and communicate them clearly to the outside specialist. Double-check that you understand each other, don't make any assumptions, and put everything in writing.

Are you ready to do what you do best and outsource the rest? The move to outsourcing takes an attitude shift, some preparation and a learning curve, but at the end of it all you will emerge with a stronger focus on the primary purpose of your business. And it might just be the answer to growing yourself and your business to the next level.