Your Top 5 Virtual Outsourcing Problems – Solved!

This blog post is written for small business owners who are convinced that virtual service outsourcing is the right route to follow as the next step towards their business success.

Although there are significant benefits to outsourcing (see The Top 8 Ways Small Business Owners can Benefit by Outsourcing), some problems may be experienced that you may not be prepared for.

1. Ineffective communication

This is the largest problem when it comes to outsourcing.  The importance of effective communication cannot be overstated.  There may be natural communication barriers such as language barriers or cultural differences which need to be considered.  But even in the same culture and with the same mother tongue misunderstandings can occur.

Steps to avoid communication problems include:

  • State your expectations explicitly in the contract.  You need to spell out your exactly what you envisage and how your virtual service provider will meet them.  This is not a time to provide broad guidelines in an attempt to allow for flexibility.  Be very specific.
  • Schedule a weekly Skype chat, or something similar based on your needs, in which detailed report-backs can be given by your virtual service provider.  You can give immediate feedback and discuss problems experienced and potential solutions.
  • Expect daily contact either via phone, e-mail or web portals from your virtual service provider to keep you up to date on progress, any problems experienced, etc.  A good idea is to have a project management platform on which all information is shared, so that all the relevant parties have access to it.

 2. Outsourcing before you are really ready for it

You need to prepare and plan to outsource before actually doing it.

  • Make a list of what your needs are and how you envisage outsourcing will address these needs
  • Think about your small business’s strengths and weaknesses, and look for someone who will complement these.
  • Decide who will be responsible for managing the virtual service provider.
  • Do you have an outsourcing strategy?  If not, this is a good time to compile one.  It is difficult to succeed without a written plan.

 3. Having unrealistic expectations

Outsourcing will not solve all your business problems overnight.  You are ultimately responsible for your small business’s success.  A few points to remember are:

  • Your virtual service provider does not know everything about your business that you do.  They will function better as they gain more insights into how your business works, and how you like to operate.  Be open about your business and share whatever information is necessary to achieve their optimum performance.
  • Although most virtual service providers are professionals who will hit the ground running, you may have to provide some training or guidelines in certain aspects of the work you expect them to do.

 4. Choosing a virtual service provider for the wrong reasons

Going for the cheapest option can lead to disaster.  Although it makes sense to get a few quotations before choosing someone, keep the following in mind:

  • Ensure that the virtual service provider is able to meet your specific needs.
  • When comparing quotes, make sure that you are comparing apples with apples.
  • Evaluate the potential service providers’ responses to your queries.  Are they enthusiastic?  Do they follow up within a reasonable time?
  • More pointers to find the right service providers for your needs can be found in my article 6 Steps to Find the Best Online Workers.

 5. Providing unclear specifications

Take time at the beginning of your working relationship to ensure that your specifications are thorough and accurate.  This will save trouble later.  For instance, if you realize only after starting a project that you need to change the scope, you will affect both your cost and the time it will take to complete it.

Start a positive outsourcing experience today, and see what a difference it can make to your business success.  Whether you need to outsource administrative tasks or human resource related tasks, feel free to contact Virtual Productivity Solutions to make your outsourcing experience a positive and unforgettable one!

The top 5 reasons why you cannot run your business alone

Sue started her own business 3 years ago.  She is really pursuing her passion, and loves working with her clients.  She considers her business as pretty successful.  She is free to make her own decisions, and her income is reasonably steady.  But over the past few months she has noticed that she is not so eager to start her work day.  Somehow it’s harder to get up in the mornings, and to get things done.  She cannot think why she feels this way.  It’s as though even though she is putting in more hours, something is holding her back.  Something is blocking her creativity and drive.  And eventually the pleasure of running her own business is waning.

Why does Sue feel this way?  The answer is quite simple.

Sue is trying to run her business without any support.  She does everything associated with running the business herself.  She answers phones, does her own bookkeeping, tries to keep up with orders, does her own admin, developed and maintains her own website, etc.  Sue is a very talented individual, and no doubt can do all of the administration associated with her business excellently.  But it leaves her no time to do what she loves:  interacting with her clients, and thinking about new business ideas.

When you insist on doing everything in your business yourself, you are doing yourself and your business a disservice.  Here are some reasons why:

1. You tend to procrastinate tasks you don’t enjoy doing

Some tasks you don’t enjoy doing are very essential to the survival of your business.  When you procrastinate on those tasks, your business suffers in the long term.

You will be happier and more productive if you did only those tasks you are competent at and love doing.

2.  You lose money

Why spend your valuable time and energy on tasks you struggle with?  Instead of spending hours figuring out how to do certain things, like building a website or designing a logo for instance, you could have paid someone else to do it while you were increasing you income with tasks you excel at.

3.  You lose your focus and creativity

When there are so many details in your business to take care of, it is easy to focus on these details and forget the big picture.  You no longer have the time to take a break and see the big picture, part of why you enjoy having your own business.

4. Your “I-can-do-it-myself”  attitude robs you of the expertise you could                have access to

Yes, you may be able to do lot of things alone.  You may have issues with trusting people to become part of your business.  But in the end, while you are spending time doing all the things you feel you can, you are neglecting your core business strengths.

Nobody is an expert at all aspects of running their business.  Why not partner with someone who runs certain aspects with more expertise than you do?

There are plenty highly trained professionals that work online.  People who can do your website development, bookkeeping, SEO, social media, article writing, etc.  If you are in doubt on how to choose the right people, you can read my blog post 6 Steps to Find the Best Online Workers.

5. You forget why you started your own business

People often go into business for themselves because they want to achieve a better work-life balance.  Yet it is so easy to fall into the trap of being overworked, rushed, and stressed.

Would you not rather want to have the peace of mind that accompanies having competent people helping you grow your business?

About 56% of new businesses do not survive for at least 4 years.  Many entrepreneurs that survive, work 60+ hour work weeks and cannot take time off, because if they are not working, they have no income.

Successful entrepreneurs outsource so that their business can grow and thrive.

When you outsource work, you start enjoying your business again, because you will remember why you started it in the first place.

Your success and freedom as a small business owner depends on your ability to focus on what you love and do best, and to eliminate or outsource everything else.

Ask yourself:  What would it be like to be a successful business owner?  What are the first steps I need to take?

Do you know what a wonderful feeling of freedom you have when your business runs like clockwork without you having to micromanage everything?  This feeling could be yours within a month.

Contact Virtual Productivity Solutions and find out how we can help take the everyday burden of running your business off you and help you become more successful.

6 Steps to Find the Best Freelancers Online

As a small business owner you can outsource the tasks that you are not good at, so that you can focus on growing your business.  You don’t need a huge budget in order to outsource.  In fact, you can hire freelancers for small things, and then work your way up as your business grows.

But you could, however, feel that there is too much risk involved.  How do you ensure that a person you have never met face-to-face is the perfect person to do the job?  There are a few things to keep in mind.

1.  Be very clear with your instructions

Whenever you give instructions to people, be as clear as possible.  Many people overlook this.  But if you are paying by the hour, you want to save money by avoiding any confusion or uncertainty.

When you advertise your requirements, do it in a clear Step by Step format.  Beside avoiding confusion, you will be able to identify any potential bottleneck in the system.

You should also be clear on important items like deadlines, payment terms and any other expectations.

2. Check the credibility of your potential candidate

You want to work with a professional who provides quality work.  Some ways to check the candidate are what they say they are:

  • Have a look at the candidate’s portfolio.  Ask for examples of similar work done before.  Make sure that the candidate has worked on something similar before.
  • Contact the references given, or check for online references.
  • Google the person’s name, website name, and e-mail addresses.  You want someone with an established history.

3. Work according to milestones

If you need to outsource a big project, pay according to specific deliverables.  This protects you.  The worker is also protected if you provide an upfront deposit.

4. Expect short daily updates

Have the freelancer give you a short summary on:

  • What they did and the results they got
  • Any problems or challenges they faced
  • Any questions they might have

This way you keep on top of things.  Someone may forget to send you the summary.  It reflects on their calibre.  But for those that do remember, you can see how they are doing and fix any issues before they escalate.

5. Give regular feedback

Whether the work is done well or is subpar, give feedback.  Let people know exactly what they are doing right or wrong.  Focus on the positive, and build a strong relationship with your worker.

6.    Never hire someone full time immediately

Start by hiring a candidate for a small project.  You can then ask for more complicated work if you are satisfied.  Be sure that the candidate communicates well with you and that you feel comfortable with him/her.

It is actually very easy to ease the burden of your day-to-day tasks with a little planning and foresight.  You also have the opportunity to finish essential projects you simply don’t have time for.  If you would like to find out how Virtual Productivity Solutions can help you in this regard, visit our website.