When you’re a small business owner, you’re basically every department… Which can actually be great! No waiting on people for updates, or approvals, no having to fill a form every time you want to do something. You can just do what you want and have everything how you like it.
You can be in control.
But what happens when you need to start outsourcing? If your goal is to grow your business, it’s inevitable you’ll need to offload some tasks at some point. And then that need for control can get in the way…
But you can do it! Here are some tips to make outsourcing not so scary.
Be open about your fears
For this blog, I’ll use Virtual Assistants (VAs) as an example. Just as no VA is the same, no client is either! Some people just want to hand off all their tasks and give their VA full control, other clients want the exact opposite and, like you, may be nervous about giving up control. Make sure your VA knows which one of these clients you are so they can best support you.
Start small with 1 specific task
Instead of handing over a huge chunk of your operations right away, start with a single, manageable task that you can easily keep an eye on. Choose something you know well and won’t dramatically impact your business if it doesn’t go perfectly at first. This approach helps you test the waters, understand how the process works, and build up that trust.
Define your rules and boundaries
Let’s take something like inbox management: Maybe you have a rule that only you respond to certain clients. Maybe your VA doesn’t respond to emails at all and their job is just to organise your emails and flag the ones that need a response. You’re in control to set whatever boundaries you like.
Clear communication from the start
If you could choose a superpower, would it be invisibility or telepathy? If you’re not communicating exactly how you want work to be done, you better pick the second option! People aren’t mind-readers, so you need to give clear instructions if you want things done a certain way. It could be an essay email, rambling voice notes, or just some quick bullets - whatever gets the info across.
Write up some guides
If you don’t want to spend loads of time instructing someone regularly (the whole point of outsourcing is to save time, right?), you could write some guides that your VA can come back to over and over again without needing to check with you. One example could be a simple FAQ doc with answers to regular enquiries you get. Then your VA can copy and paste the exact response so it’s always right.
Outsourcing your work for the first time doesn’t have to be hard. Just be open about your fears and have clear boundaries and instructions - and you’ll be fine. If you’d like to have a chat about outsourcing some of your work, pop me an email (I don’t bite) and we can talk about how to do it in a way you’re comfortable with.