For small to medium sized businesses, it can be difficult to cover all your bases within a small team. SME business owners, and even employees, are often required to know a little about every aspect of business management, which can result in the workforce being spread too thin and too much attention diverted from the core work that needs to be done. Outsourcing or co-sourcing of some business services is often the best way to save on hire costs while getting the professional services that you need. Here we take a look at the most important services to outsource.
Office Cleaning
This seems like a very minor one, but hiring a commercial cleaning service will not only save time, it also saves a lot of headaches and can increase productivity. Mess and clutter in your surroundings can lead to unfocussed and demotivated staff, while a clean office promotes clarity and focus. Not to mention messy office kitchens are a huge bug-bear for many people, so allowing an outside company to be in charge of cleaning your office area can also help to eliminate arguments among employees and time wasted cleaning up after untidy co-workers or posting passive-aggressive notes on the fridge door! If you’re not sure what to look for in a commercial cleaning company, the idealcleaning.co.uk
Accounting
Accounting is frequently a business service that is co sourced along with a company’s bookkeeper or sometimes outsourced completely. A professional accounting firm can provide your company with appropriate tax and audit information, saving you a lot of time as they will know about any new legislation that is required. An audit for a business is not something that is easily recovered from if the records are not up to code. Having an outsourced accounting firm for a business can help to avoid any auditing for taxes or other business matters. Not having an outside accounting service may be a risk that you may not want to take.
Legal
It’s always advisable to have legal counsel on retainer for any company. Just like an outsourced accountant, a legal team will be able to keep you abreast of any new legislation and laws pertaining to your industry with which you need to comply. It’s also handy to have a lawyer on retainer in case they are required for lawsuits against the company or for any unfair dismissal situations.
Counseling and Human Resources
Counseling and human resource management are often professional services that are better outsourced than handled in-house because of their confidential nature and impartiality required. A third party firm is better placed to handle internal disputes or problem workers. Outsourced HR can also cover recruitment – helping you to find the best person for any vacant positions in your company without wasting time sifting through all the applications.
Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine marketing and optimisation is one of the most effective and necessary marketing initiatives for a small or medium sized company. However, it’s not something that should be done half-asked or without the proper knowledge. While SEO is incredibly effective when done right to position your business in front of the right buyers for your company’s particular product or service, when done wrong you can actually do more damage than good – possibly causing a penalty on your website. Similarly, online advertising is often only successful when managed by a professional online marketing company to avoid paying too much for the wrong kind of keywords or targets.
About the Author
Jessica Noonan is a freelance writer who writes for Total Concept Cleaning – commercial cleaning professionals in Perth, Western Australia. Got an opinion on something within this article? Connect with Jessica on Google+ to discuss!