Far too often solopreneurs try to do everything
themselves in their business. There is a misguided train of thought that if you
do all the work yourself you are saving money. The fact is you may be costing
yourself and your business if you try to be a “Jack/Jill of all trades”.

Granted, when we first start out, it may be necessary
to do many tasks that at some point we will be able to afford to outsource.

A primary reason not to do everything yourself is there
are some things you are really not qualified to do. For example, I do no design
work in my company. None! The reason is, I am not a designer, and I know the
importance of presenting a professional image.

Those of us who make our living by way of the Internet
do outsource. The best part of all is the number of outsourcing resources
available. Your choices of who to work with are plentiful.

According
to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the average small business
owner spends up to 40% of his or her time on routine administrative tasks.

Constantly working on non revenue-producing tasks that
could be more productively and cost-effectively performed by a highly skilled,
knowledgeable assistant is losing your business significant income.

As you grow your business, it will be necessary to
consider outside help also known as outsourcing.

Outsourcing
is where you hire someone, usually in a contracted position, to perform
specific tasks for you, your company and/or your clients.
Steps in
determining what to outsource
Step 1: Determine what tasks are taking up
a considerable amount of your time or you are simply not qualified to do, such
as article distribution, transcribing, bookkeeping, social marketing, etc.
Step 2: Determine how much time you use for
each task.
Step 3: Determine what you will do with the
time that has been freed up from outsourcing.
Step 4: Determine the tasks which cannot be
outsourced. For example, highly confidential information may not be something
you can outsource. Or things that you are most qualified to do, such as host a
teleseminar. Not everything can be outsourced.
Step 5: Prioritize the tasks.  When you first outsource, avoid giving too
much responsibility the first time you outsource to someone unless they come
very, very highly recommended.
Step 6: Assuming you have someone you
outsource to, write either a daily or weekly task list if appropriate.
What’s
your experience? To outsource or not to outsource?