Outsourcing May Be Slowing Your Business Down

Like most entrepreneurs, I'm a huge fan of outsourcing to ensure you are more efficient and focused on the right things. The issue is, when overleveraged, outsourcing does the opposite for your business and life. In this blog series, I will be breaking down my advice for what you should outsource, what not to outsource and how to make outsourcing decisions so you can scale your business without chaos and ensure you are spending time in the right places.

First, business leaders need to start with their personal life. We are human, so if your personal life is chaotic, you can expect the same results in your business. The good news is: outsourcing in our personal life typically comes down to cost and personal values, which makes decision making easier here. I will dig more into personal outsourcing at the end of this blog series.

The decision to outsource should be unique to each CEO, Senior leader or business. If your competitor is outsourcing something, that isn't a reason to go out and do the same thing. I use a simple framework when deciding what to do with a task or function of a business:

First ask yourself, what is the culture I want for my teams and my customers. This is an important question as at times, your competitors will be outsourcing something that may not feel right for your business. For example, if high touch customer service is at the middle of your business, then fully outsourcing customer support to AI is going to fall flat for your customers and employees. This isn't to say these functions cannot be a supplement in your customer journey, they just shouldn't be the only option.

Secondly, you should ask yourself what are your and your teams core strengths. It is much easier to double down on your strengths than grow a weakness.

Thirdly, you should then look at your business and the tasks and jobs within your business. Here's how I look at this:

-If the item is repeatable, I recommend automation.

-If it is teachable or not a strength, I recommend outsourcing and/or delegation.

-If it's a core strength of your team and organization or requires deep level of thought on how your business runs, you should keep it.

If you aren't achieving the efficiency and joy you want in your personal life or business, start with outsourcing. That being said, before you do, think about this system and follow along in this series, so you don't fall into a trap of outsourcing things that should have never been outsourced in the first place. Want to know the biggest one I see?

Management.

In my next post, I will break down why outsourcing management in your company may be creating more problems than it solves and what you should do instead.

If you’re trying to figure out what to outsource and what to keep or have outsourced some of the wrong things and need to restructure how you work, you aren't alone.

Most founders don’t need more help, they need better structure around how work gets done.

That’s exactly what I help build.

If you are ready to make a change, I'd love to connect.