Outsourcing: how much is your time worth?

When we think of outsourcing, our first thought is often the cost. Should you pay someone else to do something that could be done in-house?

On the surface, outsourcing can sound wasteful. If it’s possible to do something within the business, why pay to send that task elsewhere?

If you’re considering outsourcing data entry, then it might be time to change your thinking.

– What’s the actual cost of doing a job in-house?

If you’re avoiding external data entry services, then you’ll be keeping these tasks within the business. You’ll be paying someone to do data entry, even if you’re not outsourcing. You may also be paying for their lunch breaks, time spent on admin and HR, and a whole host of other additional costs.

You start with the hiring process. You might need to pay for recruitment, there will be time spent interviewing to find the right candidate, and you’ll then need to provide ongoing training and support.

Employing someone for data entry is both time-consuming and expensive, and it’s also difficult to scale up. If you require another member of staff, you’ll go through the entire process again. You can’t just add someone new, letting them use your existing employee’s knowledge. You’ll need to advertise, interview and train all over again.

Once you have data entry staff in the right roles, you’re in charge of everything from tax payments to sickness and maternity or paternity pay. It’s a lot to keep on top of!

– Why outsource data entry services?

Instead of thinking about the cost of outsourcing data entry, think about what your time is worth. Think about the time and money that you’ll save by avoiding in-house HR administration, recruitment, lost days due to sickness and staff holidays, and the other responsibilities of hiring a new member of staff.

Think about how your existing employees could better use their existing time, instead of being required to input data. It is better to have separate people doing separate tasks than to make your existing employees set aside time for data entry.

When you outsource data entry services, you free up your time for everything else. You can save precious hours every single week, which is often well worth the money.

3 signs it’s time for your business to start outsourcing

There comes a time in all companies’ lifespans when they need a little extra help in order to maintain growth and build the company. This concern is often solved with new employees, but is there another way? Outsourcing can be an affordable and scalable alternative – but does your business need it yet? Here are three signs that you certainly do.

1. Your business growth has stalled

The growth of a business is an excellent reflection of its current status, so if your growth has stalled, it might be time to outsource. Time-consuming tasks such as entering important data can absorb all of your time and prevent you from working to grow the company. The solution is to outsource data entry services and other time-stealing tasks so you can grow the business on your own terms.

2. Your workload is exceeding your available time

If your business is a start-up or still quite small, it’s very easy for the workload to become overwhelming. This can lead to a reduction in the quality of your work as you rush to get things done. But when it comes to complex tasks such as data mining, the last thing you want to do is compromise on quality. By outsourcing work like this, you’ll save yourself time and free up your workload.

3. You’re having to turn down new clients

This is definitely the biggest indicator that it’s time to start outsourcing some of your work: turning down new clients. No business should ever find itself having to turn away business if it’s been scaled properly – and outsourcing can be crucial to this scaling process. All of the small tasks which currently take up your time will be gone, leaving you free to welcome new customers into the fold. With a good outsourcing solution in place, you can have the confidence to know you’ll never have to say ‘no’ to a new customer again.

For expert advice on getting started with outsourcing in areas such as data digitization, e-commerce data entry, and more, get in touch with our friendly team today. We’d love to show you how easy it can be to start outsourcing and boost your business.