When it comes to starting or successfully operating a small business, there are some tricks to help keep your small business not only afloat but awash in black ink. With global and even local competition becoming fiercer and fiercer in this down economy, it helps to have a few tricks up your sleeve that will help you keep a leg up on the competition while keeping over head costs low. Due to the emerging resourcefulness of the internet as well as the global workforce being brought closer and closer together through the internet, it has become easier and more cost effective for small business owners to outsource a significant portion of their daily tasks, tasks they generally have to pay handsomely for if completed within the states. When it comes to effectively outsourcing work for small business owners, here are a few tips, tricks, and pointers to get you going in the right direction.
First off, you need to take a look at the daily tasks that take place within your business no matter how miniscule they are. Quite often, it is the smaller tasks that are actually the most time consuming when the amount of man hours that goes into completing them daily is tallied up. On an average day, head to the office with a simple mindset- “Could someone do this task instead”. As you complete your daily tasks, jot down in a notebook different tasks that you think could be completed off site and sent back to you. At the end of the day, compile this into a list and go through each one and give each some serious thought. Think about how the task would be completed, how much it would cost you to have it outsourced, as well as how long the turn around time for completion is.
Do you employ email marketing? Do you use a website and have an in house webmaster? What about E-Commerce, do you sell anything online through your website? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could easily find someone to efficiently complete outsourced tasks.
Once you have this list narrowed down, take to the net or fellow small business owners and ask around about the different merchants they use for outsourcing. Gather another list, this one of vouched for outsourcing merchants and contact them to see what services they provide and whether or not their services would be conducive with the work you need outsourced. When looking at pricing for merchants, don’t dwell exclusively on price. You need to find a good balance of price, quality, and turn around time so that you don’t end up with either poor quality yet cheap work or good quality yet overly expensive work.
After you have found the perfect merchant for your small business it’s time to get down to business. Draw up a contract that allows for you to test the waters. You don’t want to sign a long term contract without knowing for sure if the tasks you need completed will be needed for a long duration and also you don’t want to end up signing a multi year contract before you are 100% sure the cost effectiveness of this merchant is present. If you follow these steps as well as research others, you will be on the path to more profits for you and your small business.
We want to hear from YOU! Have you ever successfully outsourced tasks? Any outsourcing horror stories? Let us know in the comments!
WHY THEY CAME To celebrate Mr. Call’s new work space at Sunshine Suites at Astor Place, a communal office he shares with people from several different fields. “Overflow workers from GQ, people in finance, marketing, accounting,” he said, beaming. “I like that it’s affordable — you share all the costs: overhead, printers, I.T., all of that.”
Over at the incredible My Path Builder, Sunshine NY’s entrepreneurial/small biz expert Cheni gives some invaluable advice in a quick, energetic interview.
Recently, Sunshine Suites and the Idea Team, an in-house meeting of various entrepreneurs who assemble to discuss ideas and inspire one another, was featured on CNN Money!
The incredible, inspiring video is below.
Check the original story here to find out more on what CNN Money calls “the modern entrepreneur”.
Cheni shows off the excellently named Sunshine Mart, one of his favorite places to get a quick sushi fix around Tribeca. An excellent place to pick up a wide variety of Asian ingredients and cooking tools, not to mention vacuum cleaners, Sunshine Mart is definitely worth a visit.
At Businessweek, Irina Patterson, who is a facet of the 1m/1m program, provided a few startup errors she commonly sees:
A good 25 percent of the entrepreneurs I talk to don’t bother validating their ideas. They build products without talking to prospective customers in their target market. If you engage seriously with your customers, there’s no way a business can fail. And if the business idea is not right, you would realize very early that you should give up.
The rest of the interview with Patterson is infinitely readable, entertaining and worth a glance for the quotes alone:
Here are three things that should go without saying in the business world. As obvious as they are, they can be easily forgotten. Let this serve as a reminder that really small gestures like these will go a very long way in strengthening business relationships.
1) Say “Thank You.” – It is really important to understand that saying “thank you” to people you work with will leave a lasting impact. A lot of times people don’t ignore saying “thank you” out of spite, but more because they forget or believe the person does not need to be thanked for doing their jobs. Again, showing them that you are willing to go out of your way to acknowledge their efforts is always appreciated.
2) Communicate – People often fear explaining a problem to someone they’re working with out of fear of being rejected or put down. Never be afraid to communicate a problem to your clients or a colleague. Open communication with these people will result in a lot more trust than if you ever attempt to cover up a problem.
3) Ask for Clarification – At any point during an interaction with a client or colleague if you believe something was not made clear, be sure to politely ask for clarification. While many people fear that this may indicate that they are not understanding, On the contrary, this shows that you are making a tremendous effort to meet their needs and specifications to the best of your ability.
Let’s face it. Regardless what industry you work in, creating and maintaining relationships are key to a lucrative ongoing business. Keeping these three very simple concepts in mind when you are doing business will help keep your relationships strong from day one.
Cheni takes us to one of his favorite areas of SoHo, West Broadway. It’s a 10 minute walk from from the Tribeca office and is home to numerous shops and restaurants, perfect for lunch or after-work drinks.
Recently Inc. Magazine ran an article on companies of one, aka the “solopreneur”. In addition to a bevvy fantastic advice for those looking to begin the path to entrepreneurship. A few choice quotes from Chris Jordan, owner of Atlanta Insurance Live:
“A lot of people start with a kitchen table idea,“It’s a great idea you come up with your cousin at dinner…then the business booms, and your growth gets out of control. You need a plan.”
“I can be in a great conversation, but when we start creeping up on that 30-minute point, I’m aware of it and ready to go onto the next thing…it’s something I’ve ingrained in my head.”
Cheni shows that the concept of Tribeca West being way off the beaten path is mistaken. Two major subway lines are less than five minutes away, making it extremely convenient to travel to and from.
I am unable to wrap my head around the fact as to why any
entrepreneur in NYC would not be in this building
considering the price and networking opportunities.
Alex van Klaveran
Founder, LifeStageMedia Inc.
We will certainly never find a better price and I would be surprised if we will ever find the same service we get at Sunshine.
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