Running a business is tough. Of course, you want to make it look easy to your employees, clients, and customers. Seeing how the proverbial sausage is made may not instill confidence in your enterprise.
Gone are the days when you could just hang out a sign and begin selling your products and services. There are hundreds of considerations, like employment laws, regulatory compliance, marketing, contracts, and supply chain management, to name a few. What lies between your mission and your stakeholders are frustrating barriers to success.
Before you get bogged down, you might want to consider some potential solutions. Fortunately, you don’t have to do everything internally. There are tremendous benefits to partnering with accomplished service providers who handle what you would rather not.
Why not focus on what you do best and leave the rest to others who do those things best? With smart outsourcing, you can. Here are three ways the right service providers can transform your business.
They Can Handle Your Workforce
Even if you employ only 10 people, you face most of the same human resources issues as businesses that employ hundreds. Employee classifications, payroll, benefits administration, tax withholding, labor laws, and more are issues you must deal with. But what if you could avoid them?
An employer of record can shoulder these weighty responsibilities whether you have employees in one location or a distributed workforce. This type of HR provider is the nominal employer of your workforce and, as such, handles all those sticky details. You still choose the people who work for you, train them, supervise them, and control what they do.
Before you think your business is too small for an EOR, consider a few advantages. An EOR’s buying power may enable you to offer better benefits packages than you currently do. Working with an EOR can also allow you to hire international employees without having to establish business entities abroad.
If you want to ease into letting someone else manage some workforce responsibilities, you can outsource certain HR functions. For example, there are payroll services providers and benefits administrators who can fill those roles externally.
Service providers that take care of your workforce for you can eliminate a tremendous amount of hassle. Think of the amount of time and resources they save so you can focus on the business itself. That’s a win for you and your workforce, not to mention your customers and clients.
They Can Define Your Brand
When you’re building a business, you have to build a brand identity that distinguishes you from your competition. If you don’t, you’ll be just another face in the crowd. Shouting aimlessly for attention won’t get you noticed.
Brand building is everything, and it’s more complex than ever. All the advantages of digital marketing mean the field is increasingly crowded. Unless you’re actually in the business of marketing, you will benefit from hiring marketing service providers.
A comprehensive marketing strategy has several moving parts, beginning with setting goals aggressive enough for growth but realistic enough to achieve. If you aren’t sure where to begin, you aren’t alone in the business world. It’s wise to seek assistance from agencies that do.
Your digital presence takes center stage in the 21st century, and a website alone isn’t enough. You need a content marketing plan, intuitive technology for sales and customer service, market research and analysis, and social media strategy. Should any of these elements languish due to neglect, your business will languish as well.
If this list of marketing must-haves makes you dizzy, get help. There are marketing service providers who can handle one role or all of them. For your brand to get noticed, it’s going to need some savvy guidance.
They Can Help You Grow
You figured out how to start and run a business, but do you know how to grow it? This doesn’t involve merely selling more products and services. Real growth is going to require resources you may not have and don’t know how to acquire.
Mergers and acquisitions, operational growth, and global expansion require long-term strategic analysis and planning. Your business will also need sophisticated and agile information technology. There are providers for these specialized areas.
Then there are the financial resources growth requires. Do you know how to find venture capitalists and other investors who can help you bring your vision to fruition? How about a legal partner and tax planner who will ensure that every “i” is dotted and every “t” is crossed? Or do you need someone who specializes in accounting for startups?
Significant business growth will touch virtually every aspect of your company. For this reason, any growth you seek needs to be sustainable, as it will have far-reaching repercussions. Evolution will likely affect your brand positioning and alter your existing company culture.
Growth is all about opportunities. While those opportunities may present themselves unexpectedly from time to time, most are created with careful planning. If you know you want your business to grow, partner with service providers who know how to help you achieve it.
Gain Control by Loosening Your Grip
There is always a fear that loosening your grip on some aspects of your business means relinquishing control. But that’s not how it works with the right service providers.
You’re an expert in your industry, and they are in theirs. Forming a partnership where everyone is doing what they do best is a winning proposition. Don’t look at it as letting go but rather as taking your best shot at success.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
