“Do what you do best, and outsource the rest.” — Peter Drucker
I bet it is safe to say that you started your business because you know you are good at what you do. I bet it is also safe to say that you thought what you do best could make you as much or more money than what you were doing before you ventured out on your own. Both of these details and motivations highlight why outsourcing is a vital option for all businesses, but most notably, small and growing businesses. As it pertains to government contracting, it’s even more of an asset to outsource. Let’s discuss in some detail.
1. Are you looking to be the King of your company, or be a leader the team can count on?
Fact is, most CEOs are functioning operators. They started the business and their best function is as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), but due to limited resources in the beginning they all too often try to do it all. Even at their own expense, literally and figuratively. When building your business plan you layout operating expenses that should include some thought into how much your time is worth. Your time doing what you do best. But how much of your time are you spending on what you are actually in business to do if you are wearing every hat it takes to run it. Many business leaders have told me that they wish they would’ve outsourced everything they didn’t do best from the start. A fractional resource that can do it better, in less time, and for less money is a benefit you can’t afford to hold off on.
2. How much is your time worth?
As the SME and growth operator of your business, you need to consider how much your time is worth on an hourly basis. With that in mind, and the fact that the growth of that company is dependent on your finding places to do business, how much of your time is spent doing non-revenue generating activities and not on finding viable opportunities? Non-revenue generating activities include payroll, tax filing, HR, new employee onboarding, and countless other strictly operational tasks. If you are doing what you do best part of the time plus all of the aforementioned, you may be losing up to 40% of your time to actions that will do nothing to grow your business. These are also activities that can be outsourced on a fractional basis, without the need for full-time coverage, and save your company money by eliminating burdening your schedule that costs your business time, money, and the risk of being non-compliant if you’re inaccurate in some of the work.
3. If you mess up, it will cost you exponentially more to fix it
Most business owners who have sustained growth and have made it over the early hurdles and landed somewhere near success will tell you that the best time to outsource is from the start. Let’s take accounting and finance for starters, especially for government contractors. Pricing, cost analysis, invoice accuracy, and timely submission, are all vital aspects to being sure you actually make money on the projects you win. If you are inaccurate in any of the above referenced areas, you are lessening the chance of creating profit that makes a difference to your growth as a company. Additionally, tasks like tax filing, payroll, and employee benefits are required to be done accurately and if you mess those up, you are for sure going to pay for it. Are you seeing the trend yet?
As the leader of your company, you are better suited to stay in your lane of what you do best and leave the rest to resources that can do it better and for a fraction of the cost. Being afraid of spending money on aspects of your business that supports you actually making a profit is a counterproductive activity. Not only that, it’s not a revenue-generating activity and if you learned anything above it is that your time should be spent growing your business and increasing revenue and not on cutting corners to make yourself believe you’re saving a buck or 2. A good place to start is outsourcing for accounting services, and the next step would be 2-fold: a good business development plan and a financing partner. And if you need help with any of the above, reach out to me! I know a guy, (or gal) that can help you!