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The 5 Jobs Every Small B2B Business Should Outsource in 2020
We are closing out Quarter 3 this month and headed into the final stretch of Fiscal Year 2019. 2020 is right around the corner and right now is an excellent time to start examining what went well, what could be improved, and what simply failed (which is OK - we all learn from our mistakes) within each department line of your very tight startup budget.
The same goes for if you plan to launch the next great B2B product or service in 2020. It’s now or never to examine the pieces of your business plan where you know you can’t do it all on your own and how you'll get profits off the ground with limited headcount and zero to little dollars.
It’s a lot for anyone to deal with alone, and the pressure could soon see you looking for help. Employment would be the most obvious option here, but this isn’t always a practical solution at first. Ongoing salaries on top of the need for employment benefits could soon drain your business account before it flourishes.
But, that doesn’t mean you need to juggle every aspect of your B2B business alone.
By turning to outsourcing instead, you could enjoy all the benefits of employment without the financial burden. According to a survey report from Clutch, 52% of small businesses outsourced at least some of their processes in 2019. Even big names like Google and Opera have used certain outsourcing services to build their names. And, it’s not surprising when doing so can bring benefits including:
- Increased efficiency and expertise
- Reduced costs
- Focus on core areas
- Faster and better services
- Increased ROI compared with employment
Luckily, it’s easier than ever to access these benefits right now. A quick online search can uncover endless outsourcing providers. Even just asking around could lead to personal recommendations which take the pressure off.
First, though, you’ll need to consider which services you should outsource. Understandably, you'll want to keep certain things close to your chest while still building your company's reputation. Even so, there's plenty of outsourcing options which can help you to build your business without completely letting go.
To help you make a decision here, let's consider the five jobs that every small B2B business could benefit from outsourcing this coming year.
#1 - IT Services
IT is one of the most commonly outsourced services today, and there are good reasons for that. Businesses are, after all, becoming increasingly reliant on the use of information technology in everything they do as well as more focused attention on efficient cybersecurity practices to protect company (and customer) data.
The ability to interact online 24/7 is now practically a requisite to success, and specialized knowledge of certain products and processes is essential. The trouble is that training an in-house team to take care of this can get costly, and isn’t always worth your while.
By outsourcing instead, you can gain access to managed IT services at a manageable monthly fee. That can save you on training costs, software and tech tools costs, and also ensures that you aren’t wasting money on IT repair professionals when they aren’t needed. You’ll be able to implement even complex systems and computers, all without once having to worry about downtime.
In an age where digital protection is also a priority, outsourcing IT can see you gaining the best antiviral and data protection capabilities. That guarantees you’re able to keep the businesses you deal with protected at all times with no added cost.
#2 - Accounting
Accounting is another popular choice, and it’s sure to transform your business operations. Let’s face it; running a business does not make you an accounting whizz. From the moment you have to choose which small business accounting software you want to use, you might start to feel in over your head.
Yet, mistakes here can lead to inconsistencies in your books and even legal trouble. Not to mention that keeping accounting books yourself can eat up time that you should be spending on other aspects of business. That’s an issue which only gets worse as your company grows.
By outsourcing your accounting, you can take the pressure out of everything from your profit margins to your tax allowances. The improved efficiency of outsourced accounting could also see you making savings you wouldn’t have known about otherwise. And, savings are a goal that any business manager should work towards.
#3 - Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is vital for every business in the modern age. For your business to stand any chance at success, you need to make time for everything from social media management to website design and content creation.
The trouble is that each of these can take up a ton of time. How many times has your blog or social media channels taken a back seat to more pressing matters that depend on getting your business off the ground? Content and digital marketing take a ton of planning, niche expertise, and thoughtful design (if you want to do it well.)
Even if you were to employ in this area, there’s too much work for one person alone. As such, you would end up having to take on an entire team to make this work.
Or, you could just outsource for a fraction of the cost. Even better, outsourced digital marketing companies tend to take care of every aspect of your digital marketing in one easy service. Your set fee for the month ensures you social media posts and a web design which converts those inbound leads. All without once having to worry about this aspect of operations.
#4 - Human Resources Administration
Before you can consider taking physical staff onboard, you’re going to need to think about a human resources department. These are, after all, the people who take care of everything from legal rights to pay packages, holiday, and PTO.
If you want to stay on the right side of the law and keep your employees happy, then, HR is a must. The trouble is that hiring an HR team when you have minimal staff can cost as much as your employment. And, that’s rarely worthwhile.
It should come as no surprise, then, that HR has seen significant shifts in recent years, mainly the rise of affordable HR outsourcing agencies. When you outsource HR, you’ll be in a position to hire staff for less, while still ensuring that you can avoid workplace dissatisfaction and legal issues.
Your outsourced HR team can even take care of employment for you if necessary. As if these weren’t benefits enough, many managers also find that out-of-house HR can produce better results. That’s because the increased expertise and distance from the physical office tend to make it easier for employees to approach a team like this about issues.
#5 - Sales Development
Of course, using methods like digital marketing is only as useful as you make it. A digital marketing team can get people inbound to your site, but those leads can be varied and untargeted.
For B2B businesses, a key ingredient to your lead generation strategy should be some sort of outbound strategy with the ability to be hyper-targeted in reaching out to the contacts, job titles, companies, and industries you are selling to.
Again, though, hiring here would involve bringing a whole team on board. You would also need to invest in expensive software which is sure to be out of reach during these early stages.
By comparison, when you outsource with Leadium, we handle the entire top funnel process of the sales pipeline for you. That way, you can enjoy affordable insights from top sales development technology, while also gaining the benefits of an educated and global team of sales strategists, data specialists, and even content writers. All of whom will work to improve your profits (and fill your pipeline with sales appointments) at one easy cost to you.
(P.S. - we also wrote a whole guide about the costs you should consider when deciding between an in-house vs. outsourced sales development team.)
2020: The Year for Outsourcing (Especially for SMBs and Startups)
We understand that choosing to outsource can be difficult. Your business is your baby, after all, and it’s natural to want to keep everything close to your chest. As you can see here, though, the benefits of outsourcing speak for themselves, and you don’t need to give up the actual production side of your company to feel them.
If you’re fed up (or becoming increasingly worried about) managing everything alone, then, put down those juggling balls and consider which services in 2020 you would be most comfortable seeking elsewhere.
2020 is right around the corner and right now is an excellent time to start examining what went well, what could be improved, and what simply failed (which is OK - we all learn from our mistakes) within each department line of your very tight startup budget.
