In the current financial climate of rising inflation and spiralling costs of living, many businesses are looking for ways to streamline their expenses without sacrificing growth. Outsourcing may be the answer. It offers a cost-effective way to use dedicated professionals without the commitment or risk of hiring employees.
In this blog post, we’ll look at why you should consider outsourcing, how outsourcing compares to hiring, and how to use outsourcing in your business.
As the CEO or founder of an established company, you can’t (and shouldn’t) be doing every single job in your business. A good leader recognises that while they have strengths in some areas of business, they need input from other professionals to optimise performance and growth.
In most cases, there are two ways to do this: hire employees or outsource some work.
Hiring employees comes with its own unique challenges.
There is a financial burden of hiring staff – you have to be confident you can pay their wages month after month or face the difficult decision to let them go, something no business owner wants to do.
Here are the average salaries* of some of the job roles you might need in your company:
*Salary information from talent.com.
On top of salary commitments, you also have other payroll costs to consider, like Employer National Insurance and pension contributions.
There are legal and moral obligations to taking on employees, and it’s wise to consult with an HR specialist to ensure you do everything correctly and avoid complications further down the line.
As a responsible employer, you also need to identify training needs and provide ongoing learning and development opportunities for your staff.
Outsourcing bypasses some of the difficulties of hiring employees.
It costs less to outsource work to other professional service providers than to hire in-house. For example, outsourcing your marketing to a digital marketing agency typically costs between £600-£1000 per month, depending upon the complexity of the work (less expensive than hiring just one of the marketing professionals listed above).
Another advantage of outsourcing is the option to expand or contract the support according to your business finances and strategy. You can easily and quickly increase your service package in times of growth without the commitment of taking on an additional employee.
Outsourcing is considerably less complex: you don’t need to think about employer taxes, pensions or employment law. When you team up with another specialist service provider, they are already experts in their field – you don’t need to spend time and resources training them up as you would with a new employee.
However, before jumping into outsourcing, do your research. Take the time to find a business you gel with and can trust. A good agency should be happy to talk you through your options without any pressure or obligation.
If you’re considering outsourcing your marketing and want to know more about how it works, get in touch for a no-obligation chat.
