Many business owners try to do it all themselves rather than relying on an outside contractor, but while they might think they’re saving money, the opposite is often true.
When you and your staff are trying to handle things in house that require a certain amount of expertise, like IT support or shipping logistics, it can mean mistakes, additional costs, and falling behind your competition.
Why hire a managed IT service contractor over an inhouse CTO or IT manager? Why use a payroll service rather than doing it yourself?
Companies that use outside contractors can benefit in a number of ways, including:
- Reducing costs
- Ability to focus on core business
- Solve capacity issues
- Improve service
- Gain access to expert knowledge
78% of businesses feel positive about their relationship with outside contractors.
If you’ve been on the fence about whether to outsource or not, you’ll want to read on to learn the pros of using outside experts to bolster your business and the best areas of your operations where you should utilize them.
Pros of Using Outside Contractors
It can make sense at first to just decide to hire a CTO to run all your inhouse technology or a social media guru to handle your marketing but hiring and retaining the right person for the job isn’t always easy.
A full 82% of companies don’t believe they’re recruiting highly talented people, and for the ones that do, just 7% of them feel secure they can retain them.
So, the time and effort put into hiring and training an employee to perform a highly skilled and specialized task that could be outsourced instead, often ends up costing companies more, and they may end up having to rehire for the same position in a few years.
Another issue with hiring an employee to handle a critical position is that they will naturally have sick days, vacation, and other events that impact their availability. This can leave your company having to call in an outside contractor anyhow for coverage or go without a critical function.
Three key reasons to outsource a business function include:
- If it’s highly skilled with a typically high salary (CFO, CTO)
- If it includes highly repetitive tasks (shipping, data entry)
- If it includes specialized knowledge (tax accounting, IT support)
Business Functions That Benefit from Outsourcing
Here are some of the most popular and helpful business functions to outsource to both save your company money and improve operations.
Technology Services/IT
Technology makes up the backbone of just about every part of business operations these days, and keeping your company prosperous depends upon that technology running efficiently. Trying to do your tech inhouse with a CTO or IT support person often leads to paying more than you need to and having a single person get overwhelmed with staff support requests.
Working with an outsourced MSP provider, means your organization is receiving years of combined IT knowledge and expertise delivered in a proactive management plan.
Outsourced IT providers also act as help desk support for your team, strategists when it comes to choosing the most cost-efficient IT software, and provide 24/7 monitoring of your systems for an affordable flat monthly rate.
Payroll/Tax Services
Companies that don’t fully understand payroll tax reporting can end up getting into trouble with regulatory agencies or spending hours going through forms. Many small businesses doing it themselves end up with fines for late or incorrect tax filings.
Payroll services are up to date on all the latest tax requirements and can ensure your filings are done on time with no mistakes. Many businesses find they’re saving money on payroll activities and they’re getting done more efficiently after outsourcing them.
Social Media/Online Marketing
The marketing world has changed quite a bit in the past 20 years. Instead of focusing on mailers and cold calls, today’s marketing is mainly online, and it involves keywords, hashtags, and search engine optimization (SEO).
Companies trying to handle things like Google Ads or social media posting themselves, may find their sales stalled because they don’t understand all the nuances of modern marketing. This is another area where it makes sense to outsource to an expert that knows the territory.
Data Security & Business Continuity
Although part of the IT realm, data security and business continuity has really become its own operational area. Some small businesses try to handle their security with a simple antivirus program and their backup and recovery using a local hard drive backup.
Data breaches and malware attacks have become so prevalent and costly, that doing it yourself is asking for trouble. 60% of small companies go out of business within 6-months of a data breach and the average cost of a cyberattack is $200,000.
Your business livelihood is at stake when it comes to data security, so it’s best to have it handled through a managed IT security plan with a professional that can ensure both backup and recovery strategies and robust system security.
Get Expert Support for All Your IT Needs with Skillio Networks
Skillio Networks provides expert IT managed services and data security to small and medium businesses in the Bay Area. When you work with us, it’s like we’re an extended part of your business, always there when you need us.
Contact us today and let’s discuss your custom IT plan! Call 1-888-926-1985 or connect with us online.
