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Why You Need to Outsource
Besides freeing up your time to focus on important things, outsourcing is usually a cheaper option than hiring on a full time person. If you can hire them on as a 1099 then you don’t have to worry about, “health and life insurance, as well as make contributions to retirement plans,” according to Wise Geek.
The OutsourceBlog goes on to say, “the United States Bureau of Labor determined the “true cost” for an experienced in-house administrative employee is currently $45.54 per hour. On average, the Virtual Assistant industry estimates the starting rate for a Virtual Assistant is $40.00 per hour. Five hours of in-house administrative labor will cost a company $212.70 versus $175.00 for retaining an Independent Virtual Assistant for the same time period.” Figuring out ways to keep your business growing without losing revenue is a must for start-ups. Outsourcing is a great option that more small business owners are taking advantage of. Being able to think ahead and realize you can’t do everything is a great step in the right direction.
Shannon Suetos is an expert writer on phone systems based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as VoIP service at Resource Nation
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We are Fee Fighters. We are the ones who aren’t afraid to go out there and make sure you’re getting a good deal on credit card processing. We take those extra fees on confusing statements and turn them into completely transparent, lowest cost, great customer service processors who go through a tough screening process to be on FeeFighters.
We are still passionate about transparent financial services, and offer only that, but now with a kick as we move into overdrive to save you money.
Bottom line: We may be getting a face lift, but that’s the only change you’re going to see. Same great site, same value proposition, just a little more badass.
[Via: ZippyCart.com: The Best Ecommerce Software Reviewed]
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Wake Up Your Creativity
In a recent poll, 1,500 leading business owners from 60 countries were asked what, in their opinion, was the most important aspect of running a successful business today.
The answer might surprise you. 80% said the most important aspect is creativity. The business world is becoming so complex, they said, that it demands new ways of thinking.
But creativity is not easy to come by. We are so engrossed in the everyday running of a small businesses that we tend to leave our creativity behind, dormant.
Here are 5 ways to awaken and fuel your creativity:
- You can’t change what you don’t notice. Question the ways you are conducting your business. Are you falling into patterns? Is there a better way to do what you are doing? New technologies, maybe?
- There are 5 stages of creative thinking, according to an article in The Huffington Post: insight, saturation, incubation, illumination and verification. These stages provide a guide to developing creative ideas. More information can be found in Betty Edward’s book “Drawing on the Artist Within” which elaborates on those stages and talks about training your brain, moving between the left side of the brain which controls analytical deductive functions, and the right side of the brain which controls the big picture and pattern seeking.
- Use your passion. Find the aspects of your job that are meaningful to you. Operating without passion might pay your bills but it won’t move you forward.
- Think creatively how you can overcome obstacles and generate new solutions. Not only in your field but in those of your coworkers as well. Helping others might help you think more creatively.
- Have an open mind to suggestions. An idea a coworker brings to the table may excite you enough to think of solutions you haven’t thought of before.
- Creativity needs time. Try to set some time every week when you are not answering phones and not solving problems. Dedicate that time for reflection. Talk a walk, meditate or listen to music. Let your subconscious through by not concentrating on the problems. Sleep on it, as they say, if that works for you. Those moments of rest are very important for clearing your mind and coming up with new ideas.
Creativity is something a lot of us crave, but it is not easy to obtain. We tend to concentrate on solving problems the same way we have been doing it for years. Taking a step back, thinking about the big picture and finding unorthodox solutions will wake up your creativity and make you a better business owner and a happier person.
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These days it’s common for workers to be extremely specialized in a subject which you, the boss, know little about. So how do you handle those workers and keep them at their best? That can be a tricky situation.
Here are a few tips on how to work with knowledgeable workers from the Harvard Business Review:
1. Workers take the cue from you. If you are passionate about what you are doing, there’s a good chance you will ‘infect’ your workers with your enthusiasm. It’s a win-win situation.
2. Look beyond your immediate needs. If you have good and ambitious workers, you should help them get more knowledgeable in their field by taking time to learn new things and participate in courses. Think of skills you might need in the future. Stir your loyal workers in that direction.
3. If you hire workers to do a certain job, make sure they does what they are hired to do. Don’t waste their time by giving them other jobs because it looks like they have free time: this may lead to discord and frustration. You need your workers to be happy and producing, not miserable because they are ‘wasting their time’ doing things they were not hired to do.
4. Encourage your workers to build a network of business acquaintances inside and outside the company. Professional networks allow workers to increase their knowledge and it may help your business with contacts.
5. Allow workers to make suggestions on their own. If they are enthusiastic about a certain aspect of the business, let them show you how their ideas can help grow your business. After all, this is what you want, isn’t it?
6. Create a work atmosphere that will allow your expert workers to come to you with ideas without ridiculing them. You might not like today’s idea, but tomorrow’s might revamp your business and make it more profitable.
7. When you implemented an idea your worker had, and it made your company grow, reward the worker for his contribution. This way he’ll feel part of the company and will be encouraged to innovate.
Hard working and talented employees are not easy to come by. Encourage them, ask questions, and let them be the experts in their field. Appreciate the work that goes into what they do and create a work atmosphere that enables them to come to you with ideas. If you cut them short, their best ideas might go someplace else, like to your competitor, who may have the time to listen to them.
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In an effort to provide ongoing quality content for our readers, I decided to seek the services of a guest blogger. But where to find one? Clearly, I turned where everyone first looks for quality information
1) Facebook- Clearly the source for all things important. I chose Facebook over Twitter because 1) I have a stronger presence 2) There are more people I directly know and trust and 3) I did not want to be spammed by people on Twitter. However, posting also opened it up for Facebook friends to suggest writing themselves (a few did, but no one followed through). A friend, suggested trying oDesk.
2) On oDesk, I submitted a job, and people started responding with applications. Initially I was excited at the number of submissions, but my excitement quickly turned into frustration when I noted that none of the applicants were native English speakers, or had the level of English required to produce quality content for our blog. I was about to give up when I decided to search by country. Alas, a lone American showed up who had applied, and she seemed to have contributed a lot of content to the site. The great thing about oDesk is that applicants have multiple criteria for evaluation: number of logged hours working on oDesk projects, recommendations from past employers, and scores on tests assessing their knowledge of English.
3) I reached out to the applicant and asked for a writing sample. The relationship was established when I paid her for her post using oDesk. (they charge a 10% fee).
I feel that I was lucky in finding our guest contributor, because finding a quality writer was much more difficult than I expected.
Hiring outside salespeople may be a good idea for businesses wanting to expand without spending too much money. However, if those salespeople are successful, there may be a creeping skepticism present as to why they are making so much cash.
Jay Goltz discusses this issue in the New York Times, and tells a story of one such business owner and what he learned from his skepticism. He has a few pearls of wisdom for the up and coming small business owner regarding his relationships with outside salespeople:
- Rejoice in their money making capabilities. If they make a lot of money, you are making even more.
- Be respectful at all times. Don’t resent your salespeople.
- Check your calculations and make sure salespeople are working as you intended them to work, even for unexpectedly large orders.
- Sign your salespeople to some form of noncompete agreement.
- Sometimes, befriending your outside salespeople can be counterproductive. (read the story)
Good salespeople are not easy to come by, says Jay Goltz. Not many people can stand the pressure of initiating contact and hearing many rejections. What seems easy for one can be very tough for another, so if you found a great one, it is worth hanging on to him/her, especially in this economy.
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A TransFS user recently asked:
Will processors perform a credit check when I sign up? Do I need to give my social security number?
Here’s our answer:
Yes. As part of the underwriting process, all processors perform a credit check check and will require your social security number.
Being a small business owner means dealing with all kinds of customers. They are your bloodline and maintaining good relationships with all of them is increasingly important.
But sometimes it doesn’t work. You try your best, but the business relationship, like any other relationship, is not quite working. What to do?
Bob Reiss of Entrepreneur magazine warns of 5 signs that should prompt you to consider firing your customer.
- The customer pushes relentlessly for a big discount. If you grant the discount, forget about getting full price next time. Other clients might hear and get upset. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to say no to a big and important customer. Think of other ways to make it up to him; better payment terms, a bigger order, throw in extras like shipping or advertising but don’t change the price. If this doesn’t work, proceed to stage 2.
- The relationship between you and your customer should be like a relationship between a doctor and his patient. His secrets should be safe with you. If you divulge information about his competitors, can he really trust that you won’t do the same with other ‘favorite’ clients? Business is business and friendship is friendship. Do not confuse the two.
- If you come across a rude customer, don’t allow it. If you allow it, it will continue. Same goes toward your co-workers or employees. If a customer is harassing them, you have to get in the middle. This behavior will not change if you tolerate it or brush it off.
- Customers that break agreements. If a good customer has fallen on hard times, by all means help him with all you can, but if a customer breaks an agreement more than once, it might be time to say good bye. It causes too much aggravation, and it costs you time and money.
- If a customer asks for a kickback or a payoff of any kind.
The goal of the customer is to get the best deal he can, and you have to respect him for it. Your goal is to set the limits to your flexibility, and adhere to your rules. In the long run you will better off and much, much happier.
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