So where can you start in outsourcing various business tasks? There are different needs for different companies, but the most outsourced procedures can be split up into the following categories: payroll/HR solutions, calendars/scheduling, brainstorming/diagrams, collaboration and customer relations.
Payroll & HR
Many small businesses need to be able to run multiple processes with few people. Payroll is a necessary part of any successful company, but also requires seasoned specialists to run with any hint of smoothness.
These professionals can be expensive, so it behooves small business owners to use online payroll systems or HR software. Letting the pros handle the HR and payroll gives owners and employees more time to develop the business.
Calendars & Scheduling
Keeping everyone on track is easier to do today than it was 15 years ago thanks to mobile phones and the Internet, but it can still be difficult to keep schedules synced across the galaxy of online profiles and devices that employees keep in their arsenals.
Services like Appointy or Scheduly address the need to keep everyone on the same page to avoid the awkward moment when one person is sitting in a meeting room waiting for someone who will never show because their phone didn’t sync to Google Calendar.
Brainstorming & Diagrams
An undervalued piece of starting and running a business is thoughtful organization of ideas. Coming up with innovative ways to remain relevant is arguably the most important part of any business and there are a few outfits on the Internet that can help business owners with that.
Exploratree gives thought leaders templates, plans and ways to gather feedback and move forward. Scriblink is a more basic idea organizer – the service is essentially a web-based whiteboard.
Collaboration
Sharing files and increased access is only two parts of the Triforce promise of the cloud; the ability to simultaneously collaborate with people across the vastness of the Internet is a way to help companies solicit the expertise and services of experts who may not necessarily be in their employ.
Yammer has gotten some accolades from the community as an effective Facebook clone designed specifically for business.
As these types of platforms gain popularity we could continue to see them evolve and take on forms that more closely mimic the seamless collaboration achieved through sophisticated platforms like Citrix.
Customer Relations
Operations that can’t afford customer relations teams now (finally!) have the option to outsource friendliness to the Internet! It can be difficult to divide time between innovating ideas, executing the ones you have to perfection and also making people happy.
It’s an important niche to fill, and a few companies like Mojo Helpdesk offer customer services for a fee.
Growing a business is stressful and not to mention expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Outsourcing tasks using the talent pool found on the Internet is a cost efficient and timely option for business of all sizes to manage their workload.
The results are often cheaper, and it can be accessed when demand is high without worrying about it when things slow down.
