In starting and running a business, many entrepreneurs are forced to multi-task as they perform varied roles in their business.
From business planning, through to marketing, sales, customer service and cash flow management, entrepreneurs are hard pressed to achieve everything in the 24hours they have in every day -same as everyone else.
However, in order to grow their business and step away from impeding their progress, increasingly entrepreneurs realise that running a business is not about working IN it exclusively, but allowing time to work ON it strategically as well as employing a capable team to work in the business.
Outsourcing has been one of the most practical ways to expand a business through employing more people and supplying more customers or clients.
Internet access and the changing way in which businesses work in fixed locations as well as virtually provides new approaches to accelerating business growth through establishing a credible and reliable team of suppliers and contractors.
One way of minimising time spent on low-skilled tasks in your business is to free entrepreneurs to focus on strategic thinking, managing client relations and providing direction for the business.
This means that the business owners can maximise the return on their business investment through applying their expertise, knowledge and passion to drive performance in their business.
Outsourcing through virtual teams made up of capable, skilled and efficient part-time contractors can be an ideal, cost-effective and invaluable solution for small business owners who need additional staff for their business but cannot afford the salaries and office/production facilities associated with employing staff directly.
When small business owners begin with the skills they need to grow their business and explore options to obtain those skills, it can be a way of doubling or even tripling capability of the business without a similar increase in outgoings for business operations.
To help in developing a credible system to outsource business tasks such as administration, communication, IT, social media, website management and related roles, here are seven tips for outsourcing success:

1. Be clear about what skills or services you need and when you need them.
   Be specific about what will be achieved from having someone else doing the tasks, when you need that person to start, for how many hours every week or month and a realistic budget for outsourcing.
   Giving realistic deadlines for tasks to be outsourced can make a huge difference between overpaying for services and receiving a quality service at a reasonable price.
   
2. Keep a written record of the skills or services you need on your outsourced team.
   Place the written note/document in a place you can see daily, as this serves as a reminder of skills and expertise needed to be contracted for outsourced business tasks.
   Making a note about the skills needed and when can be invaluable with giving you greater clarity and the opportunity to revise/update as appropriate.
   Simple and effective way of reducing the risk of you going off-track.
   Ensure you outsource to the person(s) who will best meet the needs of your business.
   
3. Effective and timely communication is the main key to successful results.
   To achieve the necessary result, you need to communicate clearly and in a timely manner what you would like done and when.
   Such communication should be a combination of written and verbal.
   Skype and other web-based tools can be low cost ways of talking with people in your virtual team are based in another country or the cost of long-distance telephone calls is prohibitive.
   
4. Do not base your decision solely on service cost.
   When outsourcing, you need providers who can give you a good balance of high quality results at an affordable cost.
   That is what delivers great value.
   Avoid the trap of providers who may quote a very low price, as there is the risk that either they do not understand what is required or do not have the knowledge and skills to deliver what is expected of them.
   
5. Evaluate a service provider like you would for a full-time employee.
   When doing your evaluations, do not hesitate to ask questions.
   Check for feedback from the provider's previous clients or employers.
   If they have a presence of social media, check out their LinkedIn profiles for recommendations and posts on their Twitter or Facebook accounts.
   
6. Hire a provider that is fit for the job you are offering.
   Consider suppliers/contractors with relevant and recent experience for the tasks you are outsourcing.
   This will help you lessen the risk of not getting the job done the way you want.
   It will also save you time on training and monitoring your contractor's or employee's activities.
   
7. Always have a scheduled checkpoint.
   It is essential that you check on a regular basis with those you outsource tasks for your business.
   Not only does this ensure that you are still on the right track or it can flag up quite early any problems that have emerged.
   Remember, it is better to terminate the contract early if there are problems, instead of allowing a contractor to continue work on a task and finding out rather late in the assignment that they are unable to deliver what you need.
   

If, increasingly, you find yourself irritated because you are spending a large proportion of your time on tasks that are outside your areas of expertise, tasks you dislike and are repetitive or even having to postpone other tasks because of such delay, then these are signals that outsourcing is necessary.
Time to plan how to bring additional skills and knowledge through new people in your business in a cost effective way.
Outsourcing gives excellent results in an affordable way and represents great value -when tailored for your business and working with the right people.
Outsourcing can be just the solution for you to expand your business and team without exorbitant outlay in operational costs.
This will not only save you time, money and reduce irritation from doing low-skilled task, but it will increase your customers or clients.
In the longer-term, money spent on outsourcing can be recouped many times over!