Increase Your Success and Reduce Your Stress by Outsourcing

When you picture a business professional�s typical office scenario, what comes to mind?

This list gives you some idea of the many tasks that need to be done each day by most small business owners. And, this is only a portion of what is usually required to be done.#7 � (Clean office) Once again, this can be handled by a reputable office or house cleaning service, and for relatively cheap.#10 � (Networking) Again, this is something that can�t be outsourced, although, if the company is large enough, a representative can attend the meeting in the place of an owner.It�s all kind of like a math equation� the tasks ADD up, which SUBTRACTS from running your business smoothly, which EQUALS a less successful business and a more stressed out business owner.If you are anything like me, your workday is full to capacity the moment you walk through the office door. I would say that it's not that I don't have a minute to spare, but in truth, I often really don't. For this reason, and the annoyance factor of someone else's mistake interrupting my work, I absolutely hate having calls transferred to me that are not meant for my ears. Of course, I am polite and courteous to the caller, as through no fault of their own they are now faced with yet another, "let me get you someone in accounting", but it really makes me want to call someone at the main office and give the an expletive laced tirade that would make a sailor blush. You see, for every call transferred to me that should have gone somewhere else, I am forced to find "The Sheet". "The Sheet", as it were, is a piece of paper long ago placed in a plastic sleeve that has been written on, drowned in coffee, and just generally abused over it's long life at my desk. Where it came from is anybody guesses, as is its approximate age. Since the company I work for has been in business since before the advent of the telephone, I will date "The Sheet" at approximately the time the plastic sleeve became available. First, I must find "The Sheet", which on my desk involves a major excavation yielding precious finds so long ago forgotten that paleontologists would be jealous. After this massive effort is expended, I must undertake the dubious task of finding the extension (provided it exists on the sacred parchment) of the department the caller should have been transferred to in the first place. This is not an easy task as the information on "The Sheet" is about as current as the phrase "23 skidoo". If the office Gods is smiling on me that particular day, I will have the caller transferred in about three to five minutes. If "The Sheet" can't help me...I have to find the only thing older than the sheet in the building, which is the department secretary.Bush also wrote about his achievements in legislation which consist of tax cuts, reform in Medicare and education, setbacks in Communal Safety too as immigration reform.Let�s take a look at the typical daily (or so) tasks that are usually needed to be done:

1. Read and respond to incoming mail and email
2. Enter account payables and receivables into accounting software program
3. Prepare a quotation for a potential new client
4. Order flowers for the spouse�s birthday
5. Reserve a spot in the local industry trade show
6. Update pages on the company website
7. Clean the office
8. Update your contact database
9. Book airline tickets and make hotel reservations for an upcoming seminar
10. Attend a networking breakfast

#6 � (Update website) This is something that can be accomplished by an experienced web designer, and usually by way of a contract or retainer agreement for ongoing maintenance.These days, almost any normal (or even not so normal) task that a small business owner usually does, can be accomplished by an outside source.A classy man or woman, dressed in a high priced business suit, an overflowing briefcase sitting on the corner of the desk, dictating memos and delegating tasks to a very overworked secretary?#2 � (Accounting) This task is a perfect candidate for outsourcing. There are many companies that provide exceptional bookkeeping services. If you are lucky enough, you can find one that can take care of all of your accounting tasks, right down to your yearly income taxes.His replies to worst criticisms relating to the way in which he responded to Katrina Hurricane and important evaluation of various methods which could have avoided the Iraq battle.#1-10 � Except for #10 (which is best handled in person), and #7 (which is not something that can be done from afar), the remaining tasks can all be handled by a Virtual Assistant (VA). Now, not all VAs provide all of these services but, more than likely, they can either recommend someone who can or get the details from you and ensure that a fellow colleague will do the work according to your needs.Of the 10 items listed above, only two need to be handled, or at least started, by the business owner.So, let�s look at our list above again and see how many of those tasks can be accomplished by someone off-site; and who would be the best person or business to help you out.He also added his insights on why a failure to provide Bin Laden to justice is regarded as a seriously huge disappointment and why he imagined he was productive in stopping terrorists from attacking America all over again.Some of these small business owners run their businesses from their homes, which means there is the added activities of dealing with �around the house� things (that everyone seems to think you have all the time in the world to do), running errands (ditto), tending to the family, and accepting those calls from telephone solicitors who somehow know you are at home to answer the phone.They say that to err is human, but to forgive is divine. I say to err IS human, so hopefully we can get an automated phone system and I can put "The Sheet" where it belongs...in the cylindrical file.Sure, they still have their offices, sometimes in their homes, but they also have more time to spend on generating revenue or to be with the kids than ever before.How, you ask? Well�.they outsource some or most of their non-core tasks to professional, reliable fellow small business owners who take pride in helping other businesses succeed by providing them with a helping hand.Either of these sound familiar?

Outsourcing is a relatively new concept to most business professionals but, as more and more of them begin to realize the benefits that they can take advantage of by utilizing the off-site services of Bookkeepers, Concierge services, Virtual Assistants, and more, the more successful and less stressed out or overworked our business communities will be.

Author: Janice D. Byer, MVA