Outsourcing has come a long way since its inception. Not only has it become an accepted part of the business but the tasks that can be outsourced has also increased. In fact, you can outsource almost any task. However, there are still a lot of business owners who have no idea or are not confident which tasks need to be outsourced and not.
It might come as a surprise but the truth is, there is no fixed checklist which tasks can be outsourced and which ones can’t be.
Why?
Each business is different; thus, each of their needs is unique as well. If such is the case, how then can a business owner know for sure? One helpful strategy to categorize tasks is by asking these questions:
Is this task important to your overall strategy?
If a task is important to your overall strategy, this also means that the task greatly impacts the competitive advantage of your business in general. Therefore, it makes sense that tasks which fall under this category should remain under your control and under your watchful eye. These are the tasks that should never be outsourced.
For example, if a company owes its success to the great relationship they’ve built with their buyers and customers, they need to protect that relationship because a relationship fallout can mean a decrease in revenue. To ensure that these great relationships are maintained, it is much better to keep the customer service staff in-house.
Does this task impact the daily operational success of your business?
The tasks that fall under this category are those that have an impact to how the daily operation of your business runs smoothly. For example, if you are selling your merchandise on Amazon and you want to build your own eCommerce site, you need an expert marketing agency that will work with you hand-in-hand and help you with this transition. Although this is important to your business, it has no impact on the daily operations of your business.