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.

5 Key Benefits of a Standard Operating Procedures Manual

One of the most useful systems to streamline your business is having a Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual.  This manual lists the all the tasks that are essential for your business success, how to do these tasks, and who is responsible for the tasks listed.

This sounds useful, but are there specific measurable outcomes if you have a SOP manual in place?  The answer is a very definite YES.

Your productivity improves, and as a small business owner, you need to be highly productive to succeed.  Five benefits are listed below.

Reduced learning curve/training time for new employees

When someone is new on the job, your well-written and researched SOP can be a lifeline to them to be able to know how things work.  For instance, you can ask your new employee to make all the arrangements for you to organize and attend a workshop in another city.  By referring to the SOP, your new employee will know exactly which travel agency you use with their contact details, which type of car to hire/service to use, how many quotes to get regarding the venue, how to communicate with the workshop delegates, etc. without having to ask you about it all.  It’s a great time-saver and confidence booster for the new employee.

Ensured business continuity

When a key staff member is on leave or not in the office for some reason, work does not have to stand still.  By referring to the SOP someone else can take over the urgent tasks and do them correctly the first time.

Standardized processes

The SOP makes it easy to find out what policies and procedures are in place to handle repetitive situations/tasks.

Delegating tasks becomes a no-brainer

A good SOP will include the organogram of the business, as well as have a short job description and contact details for each staff member. If you need to delegate a certain task, you can see at a glance who will be able to help you or advise you.  You can stop micromanaging, as it is clear who is responsible for what.

Ensure that your clients are getting the best possible experience with you

Because there is a standard way of dealing with client queries, refunds, promotions, follow-up etc., you can make sure that each client is treated fairly and equally, enhancing their interactions with you.  You thus provide the best possible client service.

A SOP is a living document, which is subject to change.  (It is good to review it quarterly). It is therefore useful to have it in electronic format on a web-based collaborative system so that all employees have access to the latest version.

Do you need to put together a clear and straightforward SOP, compiled in simple language to convey practical information?  Please don’t hesitate to contact Virtual Productivity Solutions to help you put it together.  Your business will thank you for it.

Be more productive: get on the fast track to business success by outsourcing virtually

If you’ve been working in your business for a year or longer without support, you may find yourself going nowhere fast. It often feels like there just isn’t enough time in the day to get it all day! Do you find yourself saying:

“There aren’t enough hours in the day…”

“I don’t have time to do that…”

It’s a common belief among entrepreneurs that they can (and should!) take the hard road, or that their success doesn’t mean anything if they have help. On the contrary, quick and dramatic business growth is often impossible in the hands of one person alone. To truly succeed in your business involves building teams of professional to support your business in areas that you can’t perform. You can make better use of your time as the owner of your business doing other things.

The idea behind building your own business means you will have ultimate financial freedom and plenty of free time, along with the ability to do work that you love. The key to realizing these goals in a reasonable time frame lies in finding others that you can trust to help you.

Compiling a team of professionals who all have unique abilities but possess the same mindset for success will be beneficial for you to be able to focus on “big picture” thinking to grow your business. Whether you are just starting your business, or stuck at your current level and want to expand, you can easily begin to network to find like minds. These like minds may be missing links to help you find what is needed for your potential. By doing this, you will become more productive as you work with others on the success of your business.

Even though many business owners quit their jobs and get into business because they want to do things on their own and in their terms does not mean that they have to go it alone. By building a reliable support team, you will find the ability to expand on the success that you have only begun to envision.

Are you ready to get on the fast track to your success? Contact us to find out how we can provide the support you need to get there, fast!