Today's post is by Cristina Garza
Cristina Garza, owner of www.accountingprose.com, empowers small business owners by providing accounting software and bookkeeping solutions at a fair price, enabling them to focus their attention on income generating activities. When she is not busy hammering on her ten key; she can be found in the garden, on her bike or traveling with her partner in crime, Salvador.
As a business owner, you are expected to squeeze 15 hours of work into an 8 hour day. There is a steady stream of emails, phone calls, marketing, networking and paying client work to keep you busy. How can you possibly get everything done without completely going mad? A lot of people will tell you to make a space that is conducive to work or to break your tasks into bite sizes pieces. All this does is make you more comfortable working until midnight and checking things off of pretty lists. No one wants to be more efficient at being overloaded. So what should you do?
Outsource.
While the idea of bringing on more employees sounds like a good one, many freelancers or solo-preneurs can’t afford the cost. From payroll tax to benefit programs to training; it is just too expensive to bring on more people when you are just starting out. It’s a no brainer to bring on a competent legal team when getting your entity set up or a CPA to do your taxes at the end of the year. However, there is so much more which can be taken off of your plate and handed to professionals in your area. Things like blog writing, social media tracking, administrative tasks and bookkeeping can all be given to people who not only love to do this but excel at it. Consider how much time you spend each month reconciling your bank accounts. If you are a total novice, which many people are, it can take hours. These precious hours take away from family, friends or growing your business.
Do you have proprietary information that you don’t want to share or have a limited budget? Work with your outsourced professionals and lay it all on the line. Things like non-disclosure agreements protect you and your clients and engagement letters can spell out the terms of the engagement. It might be a little frightening to let go of some of these tasks at first, but once you realize the benefit, it will make life so much easier. So stop fretting about work until midnight. Start outsourcing small pieces of your business today and sleep better tonight.
Cristina Garza
Owner, Accountingprose