It
Makes Sense to Outsource to a Business Support Service
or Virtual Assistant ...
"Reprinted
by permission of the copyright holder, American
Business Support Services Information, ABSSI.ORG."
If,
as an individual,
you're called upon to
write or professionally format such projects as résumés,
graduate projects, or personal memoirs; and you lack
the time or skills to do the projects justice.
If
you're involved in a nonprofit organization
that delegates to
volunteers or board members such vital functions as
membership recruitment, retention, and meeting
planning and lacks the benefits of a permanent address
and central contact to serve the members consistently
and effectively, year after year.
If you
operate a SOHO (small office/home office) and
you're prevented from hiring staff, due to zoning or
homeowners-association restrictions, lack of available
space, unpredictable workload, or loss of privacy, so
you have to spend time learning and performing
ancillary tasks that steal from your productive or
billable time and invade your personal time as well.
If you
own or work for a commercially based small or larger
business with employees and
you need to control payroll costs by avoiding
overtime, keeping existing staff productive, and
avoiding specialized training; or if you have projects
that require confidential treatment for sensitive
issues.
How
you accomplish your goals will largely determine your
success—in life or in business. So
if one of your goals is to find more time to do what
you do best, use the following chart to help you
decide whether an employee, a temp, or a qualified
ABSSI member is the best solution for you.
|
Use
Existing Employees |
Hire
Temps |
Outsource |
| Advantages: |
|
|
|
|
Available
on short notice |
X |
X |
X |
|
Confidentiality
is assured |
X |
X |
X |
|
Only
productive time is compensated |
|
|
X |
|
Little
or no training is required |
|
|
X |
| Disadvantages: |
|
|
|
|
Probable
overtime compensation |
X |
|
|
|
Hidden
costs (benefits & taxes) |
X |
|
|
|
Need
for on-site workstation |
X |
X |
|
|
Higher
hourly rate |
|
X |
X |
|
|
According
to Susan Ward ("Determining Your Personal R.O.I.,"
About Small
Business: Canada, http://sbinfocanada.about.com),
"Many small businesses make the mistake of
confusing running the show with performing the entire
show. Are you managing your business, or are you
feeling frazzled and harassed because your business is
managing you? We don't need
to do it all. And if we try, some aspect of
our businesses will suffer. Managing your business
means being able to delegate and appreciate that there
are other performers who will do some of the many
tasks that need to be done ...."
