Outsourcing functions to operate your small business makes sense in some cases. As a small business owner, it is often difficult to let go of specific tasks, the thought of paying someone else to do something you feel you can do. Here are a few ideas to consider when trying to determine if outsourcing makes sense: 

• Lack of expertise in a specific knowledge area - One of our colleagues is a great graphic artist, creativity is her specialty. Unfortunately, and she admits to it, balancing her accounts is not something she enjoys, nor fully understands adequately. If you lack expertise in a specific area you will probably find yourself spending an inordinate amount of time working on that task which costs you money and worse, you are more prone to errors. 
• Cost effectiveness - We often think that doing something ourselves saves money. Not always true. One business owner had her employees assembling product packages. Something the manufacturer would do for an added cost. Her thinking? "I don't pay for it if we do it." When considering the cost per hour for employees and then compared to the added cost from the manufacturer, it was cheaper to pre-order product packages ready to go. 
• Improve your business operations - Not all outsourcing ideas will save money. They can greatly improve your business operations that make owning and operating a business much easier for you and your employees. Consider the time savings, and how obtaining expertise in a specific area can help grow your business. Consider it an investment, rather than a cost savings. 

These two ideas to consider make great business sense. Often small business owners continue to complete the work themselves. Here are some areas to consider for outsourcing: 

1. Accounting - Tax laws are complicated, ever changing. Hiring a competent accountant will help you with the daily financial operations, ensuring you maximize your tax filings, and will save you money. 
2. Virtual administrative assistants - Virtual assistants are a great benefit to consultants and businesses with only one or two employees. Chances are you don't need full-time assistance and with the various options available for virtual assistants you can pay for what time you need or use. Having someone answer your phone while you are at an appointment, making travel arrangements, and confirming appointments will also make your life much easier, allowing you time to focus on the work. 
3. Web and IT Services - Maintaining a web site to support your business can be challenging if you are not familiar with technology. Using "templated" websites, or "free websites" can negatively impact your business's reputation. Having someone to monitor your website, ensure it has a clean professional look, and they update it regularly will help keep your business looking fresh, active, and successful. There are services available for less than $25 a month.
4. Using cloud based services - Using cloud based services for email, business office functions is a passive way to outsource. Purchasing software products off the shelf may not always be the best option. Consider cloud based products to allow you anytime, anywhere access. Services such a G Suite is like having an IT professional on staff that is protecting your data, ensuring your software is always up-to-date and working properly. 

Outsourcing can make a lot of business sense to improve your business in several areas. Outsourcing will help you grow your business, increase customer satisfaction and provide you with time to focus on aspects of the business that are important to you. 

Only a few days before the new year is here!!!! Following are a few ideas, tips to help you prep for 2019: 

Get Organized:

• Create New "Paperwork" Folders - Whether creating folders for hard copies, and/or folders on your computer, create your 2019 folders to start the new year. Identify general categories such as; Finances; Advertising; New Products/Services; etc. Creating these folders will keep you organized in the new year. 
• Holiday Clean-Up - Schedule a few minutes each day to file documents, emails, and complete other tasks to clean up your desk and your desktop. Workspaces are another area to focus on. Organizing equipment, tools, and supplies will reduce the time required to complete tasks in the new year.

Create a schedule:

• Say no to procrastination - There's a lot to do, but putting off even the simplest of tasks only creates more work in the new year. Get those 2018 receipts together, clean up workspaces and prepare for the new year. Encourage employees to do the same so everyone can return from the holidays with a renewed energy. 
• Set deadlines to complete year end work - Setting a deadline to complete your year end tasks will keep you motivated to complete the work. Setting the deadline before the holidays will ease your stress when at home with friends and family during the holiday season. 

Prep for a fresh start for the New Year:

• Inventory your supplies, materials and products - Completing an inventory will help you with your taxes and create a new year inventory from which to start the new year. (Hint: You may find some great deals on supplies during the holiday season to stock up for the new year)
• Make strategic purchases - Retailers often offer great deals during the holiday season. Review your technology needs and look for opportunities to replace aging computers, and equipment. Check with your tax advisor to see if making investments will help with your taxes. 
• Review your strategic plan - The end of the year is a great time to review your  business strategy. Identify what is working, and what is not working to help you grow your business and your bottom line. Review successes from the year and recognize your accomplishments and those of your employees.

Happy Holidays!!!!! 

Meetings are an important part of getting work done, sharing information, and ensuring everyone is on their tasks. However, we often see there are too many meetings, and the majority are not productive - actually they are counter productive. 

Things to consider about holding meetings: 

1. It costs money! - Think about a meeting you recently attended. How many people were there? Then estimate how much each person makes an hour and add that up. Also consider time for IT support, admin work scheduling the meeting, and other tasks that must be accomplished to conduct the meeting. It all adds up to a realistic cost. 

2. It takes time away from other work - There are meetings that are important, but consider you are  taking employees away from their daily tasks to attend a critical meeting. 

3. Technology has greatly improved communication - There was a time, before cell phones, online chat, email that meetings were critical to improving communication. 

So when do you hold a meeting? 

• Brainstorming - you have a problem that requires a group of people to help identify a solution. Meetings that are problem-oriented, solution focus are often worth the time and effort. 
• Share information that requires feedback of those attending - Maybe you have a new process and you require feedback from employees to ensure they understand it. Good opportunity to hold a meeting. 
• Training - Time to roll-out new processes, procedures, or policies. Conducting training not only helps employees understand what is expected, it gives them the opportunity to ask questions, and for you to gain feedback. 
• Project kick-off meetings - These are important as it allows you to clearly identify the project and the expectations of each team member. 
• Social Interaction meetings - It is a great idea to periodically get people from the same working group in a meeting to help meet social needs. A group lunch, holiday get-togethers and team building have a great purpose. 

​There are other good reasons to hold a meeting, but ensure they have a specific purpose, a deliverable that you can point to after the meeting is over.

When not to meet?

• Meet to Meet - Monthly or weekly recurring meetings without any of the needs above being met are not a good reason to meet. 
• General Update Meetings - Sounds like a good idea. Holding a meeting so everyone knows what everyone else is working on. But, does this information provide concrete steps for others to take once they learn about others tasks? 
• Staff Meetings - Generally these are not a good idea. They were before the advent of technology to improve communications, but today, you need to consider that most people attending a staff meeting interact daily through email, text, online chat and one-on-one conversation. 

The next time you consider calling a meeting together ask yourself a few questions; "What will I learn from the meeting that I could not learn some other way?", "What is the deliverable to expect from the meeting?" Yes, you should have something to show from your meeting. (See our blog articles on agendas such as "Effective Meeting Agendas." Most importantly, "How much will it cost in money and lost time from work and is it worth it?" 

For many small businesses hiring a market research firm to get a better understanding of their customers wants and needs may not be financially feasible. As a small business owner you can conduct your own market research that will only cost some of your time. 

Here are a few ideas to get you started: 

• Customer surveys - simple customer surveys are a great way to learn more about your customers and how they view your business. There are several online survey programs, many are free with some limitations, where you can develop brief surveys to share with your customers. In developing the survey, be specific about what you want to learn. For example; how did they learn about your business; do they have suggestions for additional products or services for your business; etc. 
• Ask them! - Another way is to simply ask your customers a few questions as you would in a survey. 
• Web page tools - There are several web page tools, many that are free, that can help you gain a better insight in to who is visiting your web page. These tools, such as Google Webmaster Tools, will help you gather some important information such as; What devices do they commonly use to visit your site, i.e. tablet, smartphone, computer; Which web pages do they visit the most; and where are they located. 
• Demographic data - For store front businesses, understanding the demographics of your area is also helpful. There are several tools available on the Internet that will allow you to generate a basic report that will provide you with the estimated population. average income, and more information that can be important to know. 

All of these ideas can be accomplished with little to no expense. The information you gain from them can be worth a lot of sales. With the information you collect, you can predict and plan for growing your business more effectively. 

For many small business owners, the client/customer meeting is critical to making the sale, negotiating or ensuring expectations for services or products are met. To get the most out of your meetings follow these simple tips: 

1. Create an agenda, or at least a list of topics - Meetings can be short depending on your needs, but make sure that you cover everything you need to by having an agenda. 

2. Schedule a meeting time - The best way to get your client/customer's attention is schedule a conference call or meeting time with a beginning and ending time. This allows them to prepare and focus on your meeting. 

3. Share information in advance of the meeting - When possible, share information in advance of the meeting. This reduces meeting time and allows you to dive right in to the important aspects and outcomes for your meeting. Sharing an agenda where appropriate is also a good idea as it allows you and the customer the opportunity to track the progress of the meeting. 

4. Close the meeting on time - Time is valuable for everyone. Respecting the time of others is critical to earning their respect and trust. If you schedule a ten minute meeting, then stick to ten minutes. If the meeting starts to go over, try saying; "This meeting is lasting longer than we originally predicted. Do you have a few minutes to continue or would you like us to schedule a follow-up meeting?" 

5. Always close with an appreciative note - "I really do appreciate you taking your time to talk with me today about this project. Your insight and guidance is really appreciated." This not only reinforces your goal to assist them, but provides them with an opportunity to understand that their time spent with you is valued. 

In today's world, people often look for the short story. Chances are your client/customers are busy people and they will appreciate you making the most of your time spent together.